Post: Friday, Oct 26th

Hello Everyone!!

   Here are a couple of highlights from our trip down to the California Wildfire Emergency Response. First of all we must acknowledge that this was a quick mobilization with many involved in order to allow us to leave ASAP on Thursday. My personal thanks go out to my employer Walt Miles, Miles Sand and Gravel, for believing in this effort and paying my wages while we take on the cause of feeding the brave men and women who are responding to this catastrophe.  This joint effort is just another in a line of cooperative ventures between the Maple Valley Soup Ladies and Real Life Church’s outreach organization, Real Missions.  

   We were blessed to have been the focus of a KCPQ channel 13 feature report as we were preparing to leave the staging area at Mama Passerelli’s Restaurant in Black Diamond, WA.  It was broadcasted on Thursday evening but you can view it on Q13fox.com.  We then stopped at Les Schwab and got a spare and rim for the trailer at a drastic discount.  Mike and Doug also re-wired our electrical trailer hitch plug in order to get rid of a short, for free. Props to the boys at Schwab for all their support over the years!

   Leaving Auburn at 12:15 pm we arrived in Roseville, (a suburb of Sacramento, CA.) to rest on a mid-trip break at the new and beautiful home of Jeff and Lisa Johnson.  Lisa was such a sport as we pulled in at 1:30 am Friday morning.  Jeff and Lisa moved from our congregation to Sacramento in April so, of course, we had to catch up.  We limped off to bed around 3:00! (Brutal!)

Hitting the phones all day on Friday during the drive down to the LA basin, we finally hit “paydirt” when the long line of connectivity led to a call from the San Diego County Sheriff asking us to report to the town of Vista, CA. to the incident commanders command post for deployment to the front lines of one of the stubborn fires burning in the rocky canyons East of Escondido, CA.

We are staying in a wonderful home owned by Mike and Patty Grable in Costa Mesa.  Mike and Patty were customers of Mama Passerelli’s about a month ago. As Ginger explained the ministry of the Soup Ladies, Mike and Patty spent time and prayed with her for blessing on all they did.  When we had just made the decision to respond, Ginger got a call from this couple offering us their residence while we were here.

Our faith is encouraged as we see God’s hand moving on our behalf. I know there will be more to report shortly.

Kevin Martindale