Rancho Bernardo Baptist Church

If you would like to donate to RB Baptist for helping fire victims (100% goes to those in need) or a fund to help repair fire damage to our church.

You can donate using Paypal or send a check.

Note: Please designate fire victims or RBBC restoration in the memo section of your check or comment section of PayPal.

If you are sending a check please send it to:

RBBC
11616 Duenda Rd.
San Diego, CA 92127

A MESSAGE FROM PASTOR DAN MAXTON

Dear Friends and Church Family,

I drove within a 6 block radius of our church property. I counted 94 homes that have burned to the ground from the fire. Some have begun removing the debris with heavy equipment. There are multiple volunteers sifting through debris at home sites and laying "snakes" of straw on hills to prevent soil erosion. We've spent two Saturdays removing burned out brush and cutting down burned trees.

All of the contents in our main building have been removed, inventoried and evaluated for fire damage. Our worship center is now being gutted by a demolition team of 12 men. They will be working for at least a week to tear out sheet rock, plywood, rugs and fire damaged material. The entire interior of our building will be removed to the studs to facilitate drying and eliminate mold. This is a necessary process that must take place before reconstruction can take place.

It's funny. For the first time I've seen our church as a fire victim. We can't accept help from FEMA or other governmental agencies because we're a church. But even better we are part of a marvelous community of faith. We've received dozens of calls from churches and individuals around the country. They have pledged their support, prayers and financial support to help us through this transitional time. We're humbled and encouraged that we don't have to go through this alone. God is leading us and our brothers and sisters in Christ are behind us!

OUT OF THE ASHES COMES HOPE, BEAUTY AND GOD'S BLESSING!

When I have felt overwhelmed, I have found spiritual strength from Psalm 32:8:
"I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you."

Who to contact: To give or receive assistance, please contact one of these four:

Dan Maxton @ dmaxton@aol.com about anything

Debbie Anderberg @ debbie.anderberg@gmail.com about volunteering, church phone

Suzy Ubry @ ubrsus@gmail.com about all fire relief issues other than volunteering

Karen Maples @ Karen@rbbaptist.org about insurance, church business or finances.

News:

We utilized several RBBC and outside volunteers who helped us distribute food, prepare our new chapel area for worship and recover some supplies from our sanctuary being stripped on the interior.

The Pre-school had a great week receiving families and their children this week. The children are playing inside to avoid the ash-filled air outside. However, everyone worked well together and the kids enjoyed being back in school. Our pre-school teachers and staff has done a great job getting ready.

We met with a possible architect this week. We are forming three teams that will coordinate the rebuilding project. We completed our initial vision statement to communicate our needs to potential general contractors and architects. We will bring our recommendation to the church board in two weeks and then to the congregation soon afterwards.

We hope to be worshipping in our new worship center by Thanksgiving of 2008. We expect the process for our recovery to last 12 months.

We are forming a "Fire Recovery Team" next week to make long-range plans for helping people through this fire and the next one that will no doubt impact our area four years from now.

Walking through the Fire with you,

Dan Maxton, Lead Pastor