Picture courtesy of Pastor Randy White

Show Low, Arizona -- Smoke-filled skies threatened residents living in the White Mountains. Arizona's wildfire had spread out to be as wide as Los Angeles. Its flames jumped 350 feet above the tallest trees and the ground heat sizzled at 2,000 degrees. On June 23rd the raging inferno turned, stopping within a half file of Show Low's city limits. As 1 of 35,000 relieved evacuees from the surrounding area, Pastor Tony Whittal returned to help his neighbors.

Before being evacuated, Pastor Whittal's congregation at Word of Life Ministries International (WOL) began feeding volunteer sheriff and posse teams when the worst wildfire Arizona had ever seen began. Over the next week and a half more than 10,000 meals were served. Being evacuated only halted their efforts for a few days.

In the last two weeks Show Low's summer population of approximately 12,000 have moved back to sometimes destroyed homes and businesses. Founded in 1870 and located at a more than 7,000 elevation, Show Low is in Southern Navajo County. This tourist community won't be seeing many visitors due to the lingering smell of burnt air and fire-licked trees. This leaves many residents on limited or no budgets for food and repair or rebuilding.

Last Saturday, a welcome sight appeared as an Operation Blessing Hunger Strike Force tractor trailer pulled up loaded down with hot and cold cereals, sports drinks, water, canned fruit and vegetables, as well as rice. Word of Life has been a part of OBI's Hunger Strike Force network for more than two years, so disaster relief was just a phone call away! Soon 60 volunteers began filling hundreds of bags filled with these food supplements for their neighbors. A 40-foot truck was filled with these bags of love and was distributed all over the mountain last week. Religion and race didn't matter. They were all in it together. Pastor Whittal and his team shared the bounty with all.

"This is case of being in the right place at the right time," expressed Pastor Whittal. "There is tremendous unity among the churches. This place would have gone up in smoke if it hadn't been for the prayers of those around the world."

OBI partners, thank you for helping us be prepared for this disaster response.

Remember, your gift today, could help us respond to future disasters quickly!

HOW YOU CAN HELP
You can help by making an online donation toward OBI's disaster relief efforts. With your support, we can continue to provide emergency relief and recovery. Please make an on-line donation today.

 

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