Tens of thousands of refugees from the Camp Fire will be spending Christmas with friends and family next week, many of them in Chico. The city has become a safe haven, not just for those burned-out individuals, but for several religious congregations, too.

In the last month, First Assembly Paradise and its sister in Chico, First Assembly, have blended together. Leaders of both churches run the services, including youth pastor Kyle Smith of Paradise and his family. They are currently living in a 26-foot trailer outside his brother-in-law’s house in Chico.

"We just didn’t know where our help was going to come from. But when I opened up my eyes the next day, all the phone calls we received, the funds that came through, the blessings that came in, I saw rivers in a desert place," Smith said, referencing the Book of Isaiah.

Isaiah 43:18-19 New International Version (NIV) 18: “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. 19: See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.

Listen to First Assembly Paradise and its sister church, Chico First Assembly, sing "The Stand" by the Australian Christian band Hillsong United:

The pews in Chico are packed now every Sunday, but Smith says they’re all too aware of who’s not there — or who’s about to leave for good.

"The first couple of weeks we had more, but people have since had to move and relocate out of state, and the Bay Area, different places, just to have someplace safe to be and stay," Smith said. "We have phones. We have social media and we can stay connected that way, but it is hard not to see them like we did in the past."

More than $10,000 in gift cards and donations from other churches have rolled in, which the combo congregation intends to share widely.

Will First Assembly Paradise rebuild? That’s the hope, two or three years from now.

"We don’t have plans. We don’t have a blueprint. One of these days! We don’t know when, but it’s coming," Smith said.

'It Was Easy For Us'

The congregations of Second Baptist Church Chico and First Baptist Church of Paradise sing the classic African-American spiritual, "Go Tell It on the Mountain."

There’s no time limit to the welcome coming from Second Baptist Church Chico. For the last 12 years, Pastor Joseph Kiwovele has been good friends with Sam Walker, who leads two burned-out Paradise congregations: Harei Yeshua, a Messianic Jewish community, which meets on Saturdays, and First Baptist Church Paradise, which meets on Sundays now in conjunction with Second Baptist Chico.