Episode 12 - Joelle Chinnock - Escaping the 2018 Camp Fire and helping in the aftermath

Currently the coordinator for the Ending Homelessness Initiative for the Northern California Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Joelle previously served as the Director of Disaster Recovery & Development for the Paradise Seventh-day Adventist Church in California. She worked closely with Maranatha after the Camp Fire of 2018, which at the time was the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California's history, and the most expensive natural disaster in the world in 2018 as far as insured losses. Over the course of several projects in Paradise, Maranatha constructed 452 storage sheds for survivors of the fire, who were living on their burnt properties with no place to store their belongings.Joelle recounts the day of the fire, November 8, 2018, what it was like escaping the flames with her family, and the subsequent aftermath. She recalls the moment when she felt called to do more to help her community and how she grew into her role with the Paradise Church despite no disaster recovery experience. She talks about the inspiration for the Maranatha shed project and how she helped to coordinate hundreds of volunteers across multiple projects. She also discusses how she’s had to redefine the term “missions” since her community outreach work began, understanding that a person can serve locally without having to travel internationally.Watch two episodes of our television program, “Maranatha Mission Stories,” on the Paradise Shed Projects: https://watch.maranatha.org/videos/mms10e07https://watch.maranatha.org/videos/mms11e03 Thanks for listening! Please subscribe, leave a review, and share the show.Visit maranatha.org for more info on the work of Maranatha Volunteers International.Text us! Let us know what you thought of this episode and the show in general!On September 19, 2026, join us in Sacramento, California, for our annual convention, Mission: Maranatha. You’ll be inspired by volunteer testimonies, stories from the mission field, and updates from Seventh-day Adventist Church leaders around the globe. Plus, be blessed by Oakwood University's award-winning choir, The Aeolians.Learn more at https://maranatha.org/media-events/maranatha-convention/