Scenes of flooding around our Province are stunning. Two days of torrential rain have caused widespread destruction. The impact has been felt by families at VCS who are cut off from their loved ones while they wait for roads to re-open. As we’ve seen in news reports, many people in communities throughout BC are suffering. This includes Abbotsford residents and families at one of our fellow SCSBC* schools, Abbotsford Christian School - homes, businesses, and farms are damaged or destroyed by the flooding.
During times like this, we are grateful to see people pulling together to support one another. Some of our own VCS families have been recipients of the kindness of strangers as they are sheltered and fed in unfamiliar towns, unable to return home due to impassable roads.
Late Tuesday night, approximately 300 volunteers responded to a call to help prevent the catastrophic failure of the Barrowtown Pump Station near Abbotsford, a failure that appeared imminent and could have led to an additional 3 meters of water covering the Sumas Prairie. Those volunteers tirelessly stacked over 40,000 sand bags from midnight until 3:00am and their efforts helped keep the vital pump station running.
We give thanks to God for the hospitality and kindness of strangers. We desire that we too might show the same Christ-like hospitality to others. Hospitality is a biblical theme that we aspire to. We pray for those affected by the floods and landslides, that the words of Psalm 46 might strengthen them:
God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging.
We are called to serve, and if your family feels led to do more to help those who are displaced by flooding in the Fraser Valley, please have your child/teen bring a non-perishable food bank donation to school on Friday, Monday, or Tuesday (Nov. 19, 22, 23). We will collect food for the Abbotsford Food Bank, which will be delivered next week. The most needed items include rice, hearty soups, canned meats, size 4/5/6 diapers, and feminine hygiene products.
If you are able to deliver a car, van, or truck load of donations to an Abbotsford Food Bank location, please email Yvonne Lam at ylam@vancs.org so that we can organize our volunteer drivers.
Thank you for your generosity and hospitality towards others.
*Society of Christian Schools in BC