Maui, Hawaii | As wildfires raged out of control in Lahaina, local churches on the Hawaiian island of Maui that were outside the burn area immediately began grappling how they would respond.
“We’re not going back to normal,” Pastor Jay Haynes of Kahului Baptist Church said. “There’s not really ‘going back to normal.’ There’s no way to move forward acting like nothing happened, that everything’s fine.”
Haynes preached on grief in the weeks immediately after the fire that claimed 115 lives officially so far. In the immediate aftermath, Haynes, along with fellow pastor Rocky Komatsu of Waiehu Community Church in Wailuku, helped deliver supplies on trucks down into Lahaina to help meet the most pressing physical needs of those displaced by the wildfire that consumed nearly the entire town of Lahaina.
Valley Isle Fellowship in Wailuku became a staging ground for relief ministries that needed a base of operations. Its pastor Nick Love has been serving in his role as a chaplain to support the efforts of the Hawaii National Guard and U.S. Air Force as they maintain order and utilize cadaver dogs to identify human remains.
The process of searching for bodies is highly specialized and very time-consuming, meaning those carrying out the task have been putting in extremely long hours.
“Hearing their stories has finally started catching up to me,” Love said, “hearing what they’re seeing and what they’re going through. They’re professional, but it’s difficult on them.”
“Many of the pastors we’ve been meeting with have been young pastors,” said Send Relief President Bryant Wright. He met with pastors and other ministry leaders on the island of Maui.
“They’re in the midst of leading churches to engage their communities in the fallout of one of the most historic tragedies, not only in Hawaii’s history but in the history of the United States,” Wright said.
At the Ashland, Ky. Send Relief warehouse, a volunteer loads fire recovery supplies, including Tyvek suits, goggles, N-95 masks, and work gloves, for a shiment that left for Maui Aug. 21. – NAMB photo
Long-term response needed
Gay Williams and her husband John have been leading disaster relief efforts for the Hawaii Pacific Baptist Convention (HPBC) as Southern Baptist Disaster Relief (SBDR) volunteers from around the Hawaiian Islands have joined the effort.
“Here on the ground in Maui, we have been working with some of the first responders and other partners in response with their housing,” Williams said. “We are preparing to bring in our teams who will eventually do personal property recovery, or ash sifting, for the homeowners when they are allowed into their properties.”
Williams anticipates that there will be opportunities for SBDR teams from the continental U.S. to serve in the efforts to help residents recover their belongings, such as jewelry or other items, that may have endured the inferno.
Wright, along with Robert Miller, director of regional ministries for the HPBC, began exploring ways to connect churches on the mainland with those on Maui.
“The recovery here will take years as there are thousands of people who have lost loved ones and their homes,” Wright said. “Beyond that, even though Maui and Hawaii remain open for people to visit, there has been an impact on the tourism industry and some have also lost the ability to earn a living.
“And there will be needs for these churches in Hawaii to meet for weeks, months and years to come, and we want to see mainland churches explore ways to empower the local church for ministry.”
– Baptist Press
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