As you likely know already there have been major fires burning throughout San Diego County. Both my parents and my wife’s parents had to evacuate their homes. Their neighborhoods were burned, but neither of their houses were destroyed. However, my parents’ detached garage was burned to the ground. Our neighborhood has not been in any immediate danger. There are currently fires burning about 2.5 - 3 miles from our home, but the latest reports state that the firefighters have made significant progress in containing the fires.

Yesterday morning we packed up some of our belongings and prepared to leave since many of the roads and freeways were being closed. We didn’t want to get stuck if the conditions became very unhealthy. We headed north to Murrieta with a few friends to stay with relatives. This morning we headed back to San Diego. We had to pass through Fallbrook where there were fires burning at the time. The I-15 freeway was fairly empty. The smoke made visibility very minimal. There were also spots where the flames were right next to the freeway. It was one of the eeriest experiences of my life.

It’s very smoky and ashy where we’re at, but we’re glad to be safe and at home. Below are photos I took yesterday morning before we left our home and this afternoon when we returned. If you’re reading this in an RSS reader you will need to visit the link to this post in your browser in order to see the slide show.

Search Flickr for firestorm2007 or witchcreekfire to see more photos of the fires in this area of San Diego.

I’m strongly considering beginning a new blogging project. It would involve a new domain name and a specific focus. All I’ll say right now is that focus would have to do with the gospel. ryan.thewentzels.org would still be around, but I think I would use it mainly for posting photos (since I’ve taken up photography again after having dabbled with it years ago in high school) and other odds and ends.

There a several reasons for a new blog. During my last year of school I didn’t post very consistently here and as a result there has been a significant decrease in readership. In addition there has never been a specific focus at this blog and so the content may be too diverse to hold anyone’s attention. I think a fresh start with a new blog would be the best path to take. I’ll be sure provide more details as I hammer them out.

This past Sunday one of the missionaries our church helps support was in town and spoke at our evening service. He and his family have been working as church planters in Israel for over 20 years. In the past I’ve had contact with Christian groups that are heavily involved in Israel, but the Gospel had little place in what they were attempting to accomplish. That is not the case with this family. Tom’s passion for spreading the Gospel throughout the land of Israel was very impressive.

He mentioned that a Messianic congregation in southern Israel has experienced much persecution at the hands of a group of Orthodox Jews. An 18 year old member of that congregation made the following video about the persecution.

[tags]Gospel, Israel, persecution[/tags]