News by email Donate

Suggestions

Top Stories

Most Read

Popular Videos

California-fire-Sept-2017-main_article_image.jpg
AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli
World News

EXCLUSIVE: 'I grabbed Bible before escaping wildfire danger'

Sara Noah, who lives near the western edge of the Tahoe National Forest, explained how she scrambled for a phone, medication and her Bible when her family had to evacuate their home (not pictured) in the middle of the night.

The 55 year old teacher from Grass Valley near Sacramento explained: "We had to get out really quickly. We were driving to the evacuation centre.

AP Photo/Ben Margot

"As we were driving along, there were three or four homes right on the road which were completely engulfed in flames. That was very, very scary."

Mrs Noah, her husband John (58), their daughter, son-in-law, two grandchildren and a dog were evacuated to a nearby Baptist Church - staffed by Red Cross workers - at 1.30am on Monday. They have since able been to return home.

Jeff Gritchen/The Orange County Register via AP

The death toll from the blazes has risen to 17, while more than 180 people have been injured and in excess of 2,000 properties have been destroyed.

Mrs Noah said: "The biggest prayer [request] would be that people could come together as a community. I think this a great opportunity for the Church to come forward and offer physical helps, and spiritual help too."

Nick Giblin/DroneBase via AP

She described how flames have been jumping across roads and speculated that the fire in her neighbourhood could have been started when strong winds brought down a transformer.

Explaining why she took her Bible with her during the evacuation, Mrs Noah said: "To have God's word as something that I can cling to if I need it, that's something I just didn't think about. It's right by my bed and I grabbed it because I thought we would need it."

Click here to listen to Premier's Alex Williams speaking with Sara Noah in California:

A Monthly Gift Of $11 Makes A World Of Difference

In a world of fake news there’s never been a greater need for quality Christian journalism. Premier’s mission is to provide the Church with the most up to date and relevant news, told from a Christian perspective. But we can’t do it without you.

Unlike many websites we haven't put up a paywall — we want to keep our journalism free at the point of need and as open as we can. Premier’s news output takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce. No one in the USA is sharing news like we are across radio, magazines and online so please help us to continue that today.

For a monthly gift of $11 or more we’d also be able to send you a free copy of the brand new Premier Bible, a wonderful Anglicised version of the NLT packed with exclusive bonus content, reading plan and resources to help you get the most out of scripture.

Your monthly support will make a world of difference. Thank you.

Support Us
Continue the conversation on our Facebook page

Related Articles

Sign up to our newsletter to stay informed with news from a Christian perspective.

News by email

Connect

Donate

Donate