Sunday, September 17, 2023 Video Update
Video Update from September 7, 2023
Video Update from Wednesday, August 23, 2023
Send Relief Interview with Rocky Komatsu of Waiehu Community Church on Maui
Send Relief Interview with Pastor Jay Haynes of Kahului Baptist Church
Maui Fires Update – August 14, 2023:
Updates from Hawaii Pacific Baptist Disaster Relief
Last night, John and Gay (Hawaii Pacific Baptist Disaster Relief co-directors) flew back to Oahu from Maui to get clothes and disaster relief supplies; this morning, they are back on Maui. This is what they want you to know:
Prayer is the greatest way you can help. Pray, pray, pray.
Hawaii Pacific Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers are on Maui, and others are arriving today. Please pray for them as they serve.
Remember, do not self-deploy. Only deploy if you have been requested and know have a place to stay while serving.
John and Gay are working with the Mayor’s office on a project to support the housing of relief workers and other essential workers.
Updates from Hawaii Pacific Baptist Churches who are serving their community:
Kahului Baptist Church (Pastor Jay Haynes) and Waiehu Community Church (Pastor Rocky Komatsu) have been working with other Maui churches to provide a variety of practical help to their community. Please pray for them.
Pastor Rocky Komatsu of Waiehu Community Church asked us to share this: “For those wanting to come and help or send supplies, hang tight right now while we figure out a game plan to best use our resources and manpower as partner churches. As soon as we have a better idea of how we’ll move forward, we will let everyone know. Remember, this will be a long process, and we will need your help for months and years to come.”
Update on the Lahaina Baptist Church building.
While we previously reported that the Lahaina Baptist Church building was destroyed, it’s been confirmed that it was not. Everyone thought it burned down because of the destruction of almost all the other structures in the area. Photos indicate that the main building is in good shape, but leaders have not been allowed into the area to determine the extent of the damage. There is apparent damage to the roof of the Fellowship Hall from the high winds.
You may give to Hawaii Disaster Relief and designate the gift as “Hawaii Fires.” You may send a check made out to Hawaii Pacific Baptist Convention and send it to 2042 Vancouver Dr., Honolulu, Hawaii 96822. Give online at hpbaptist.net/give
We are thankful for your generous financial gifts. You’ll be encouraged to know that Hawaii Pacific Baptist Disaster Relief has received generous financial support from Send Relief, which is a ministry of your North American (NAMB) and International (IMB) Mission Boards. We have also received generous donations from many sister Baptist State Conventions.
Maui Fires Update 8-12-2023
John and Gay Williams, your Hawaii Pacific Baptist Disaster Relief co-directors, have represented Hawaii Pacific Baptists on Maui since early Friday morning.
Here is the information they want you to know.
#1 – Kahului Baptist Church in Central Maui (Pastor Jay Haynes) is doing a fantastic job distributing supplies from their location. Besides their church distributing essential items and care, Jay Haynes and Rocky Komatsu (Waiehu Community Church) have persons who have made flatbed trucks available and have been able to take supplies to the Lahaina side and distribute them.
Other Maui County Baptist Churches are also involved in the efforts.
Pray for these pastors and church leaders.
#2 – John and Gay Williams met with Pastors Ken Tanaka and Yasushi Nemoto from our newest HPBC church, Kahului Union Church in Central Maui.
They are exploring Kahului Union housing Disaster Relief volunteers. The church has some showers in their bathrooms, but we would likely need to ship the HPBC Disaster Relief Shower Trailer from Oahu to Maui to support it. Would you pray for this effort?
#3 – Maui County officials contacted John and Gay Williams yesterday to request that Hawaii Pacific Baptist Disaster Relief support the effort to house first responders and essential workers.
John and Gay have responded to this request and have been assisting. Disaster Relief’s Michael Fujimoto of Hawaii Kai Church is now on Maui for the next two weeks. Would you pray for this effort?
Reminder from John and Gay: Please do not send items to Maui unless they have been requested by someone official in Maui. As you can imagine, Maui County is overwhelmed with item donations.
#4 – Our primary way to respond is to pray and give.
You may give to Hawaii Disaster Relief and designate the gift as “Hawaii Fires.” You may send a check made out to Hawaii Pacific Baptist Convention and send it to 2042 Vancouver Dr., Honolulu, Hawaii 96822. Give online at hpbaptist.net/give
We are thankful for your generous financial gifts. You’ll be encouraged to know we have received generous financial support from Send Relief (North American Mission Board) and several sister Baptist State Conventions.
A message from John and Gay about Hawaii Pacific Baptist Disaster Relief:
Here are a few lessons we have learned in the past several years about how to best serve those in our community.
First, we must each be prepared.
By making sure our families are ready, we will be in a better position to help others. As hurricane season approaches, prepare yourself and your loved ones by having the recommended hurricane supplies.
Second, we must make sure our churches are ready.
Only then can we truly be in a place to help and serve our neighbors. Should a major event happen in our beautiful Island home, we can’t always rely on others to come from the mainland.
Unlike disasters on the mainland, where help can arrive from neighboring states, we need to stand on our own. This has become very apparent with the current travel restrictions and possible transportation issues during a disaster.
The good news is our HPBC Disaster Relief ministry has a strong core of trained volunteers and great equipment. What we need most is you! By training as a disaster relief volunteer, you can be better prepared as an individual and as a member of your church. There truly is a spot for everyone to serve. We get the unique privilege of serving those in crisis. The ability to demonstrate, in a very real way, the love of Christ is a privilege we want to share. We would love to have you volunteer and look forward to serving with you.
The Southern Baptist Disaster Relief logo incorporates two types of ministry, physical and spiritual, exemplified by Christ.
Bringing Help, Hope, and Healing,
disasterrelief@hpbaptist.net