Hundreds of thousands of residents of southern California have been routed from their homes by raging wildfires. Evacuees include seven InterVarsity staff families and the parents of two other staff in the San Diego area, according to San Diego Divisional Director James Choung.

San Diego area staff, whose homes are in mandatory evacuation zones, are temporarily moving in with family and friends. There are no reports of InterVarsity staff homes actually lost to the fire at this point. Staff in other parts of southern California do not live in affected areas, according to Regional Director Doug Schaupp.

InterVarsity works with students on eight campuses in the San Diego area. Some if not all of those campuses have been closed because of the fire situation. Many businesses and offices in San Diego are also closed.

Wildfires also disrupted ministry earlier this year when a blaze broke out on Catalina Island in May. The inferno threatened InterVarsity’s Campus by the Sea until a providential change in wind direction blew it in another direction.

James Choung requests prayer for the winds to die down so that the fires will stop spreading. Please also pray for the health and safety of the staff and other evacuees, as well as students in the San Diego area.

Mission Network News interviewed InterVarsity’s Mira Costa College team leader Natalia Kohn, who said that she expects to see many people turning to God during this crisis.

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You can make a direct financial donation to support InterVarsity’s San Diego area staff as they cope with this disruption by following this link.