Wildfires recently ripped through the Hawaiian island of Maui, leaving a trail of burned-out homes and dead Hawaiians in their wake, with over 2000 buildings destroyed, 100 people killed, and around 1000 people missing. It was a disaster entirely unexpected in the modern age, one for which the federal government has been attacked for not providing enough help.
But while Slow Joe mumbles about almost losing his Corvette, churches across the island have brought the light of God to a dark situation and are providing emergency aid and shelter for those who so desperately need at as they search for missing family members in the burned out husks of their former homes and neighborhoods.
One such church providing that emergency aid is King’s Cathedral, one of the largest churches on the island. It has sheltered nearly a thousand people since the fires broke out in Kahului, a community on the island of Maui. In addition to sheltering needy community members, it has provided emergency aid to many more and been a locus of community support to the survivors.
The church’s pastor, Shannon Marocco, said that King’s Cathedral is now working with the government to find hotel rooms for those who are at the shelter, so it does not need to shelter people for the long term. “And of course, some people didn’t want to leave, which was shocking to us, but they felt so loved. So taken care of,” Marocco said.
Marocco also commented on the massive amount of aid that has poured into the community from those with the means to do so, saying, “We had thousands of Amazon boxes show up to our church. We’re really praying that God would allow us to be a storehouse.”
That aid was organized by the more than 400 congregations King’s Cathedral has worldwide, with one member posting an Amazon wish list that then led to a massive amount of aid pouring into the community to help the needy.
With the resources at its disposal and the aid flowing it, the church offered survivors of the disastrous fires three meals a day, 24-hour first aid care, clothing, and even toiletries. The aid came not just from the Amazon wish list supplies sent, but also companies, individuals, and non-profits from around the world.
Speaking about the longer term and the 10 acres now full of small, portable houses that King’s Cathedral bought, Marocco said that the church will help be a locus of aid for those that want to rebuild in the wake of the fires rather than flee the devastation.
“We understand there’s so many people in the area that don’t want to move off the island and want to rebuild, and that’s going to take time. We can be support for in that interim time,” Marocco said, giving yet another example of how God’s children are offering aid.
Here’s a video the church posted of the groundbreaking of those 10 acres:
“Every day brings new joys and new sorrows and new problems and new solutions. That’s what I’m seeing in this time. God’s really giving us wisdom on how to help people — how to surround them physically and spiritually,” Marocco added.
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video
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