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Situation Report #2: Maui Wildfires

Situation:

On Aug. 8, 2023, multiple wildfires broke out on Maui. Exacerbated by strong winds, they destroyed homes, businesses, and lines of communication. The town of Lahaina was the most impacted, although there was also damage from smaller fires near Kihei and Kula.

Response:

Lutheran Disaster Response is supporting the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement (CNHA). The grant will assist their continuing work with fire survivors through the Kākoʻo Maui Relief & Aid Services Center, the resource center CNHA opened within weeks of the fire at the Maui Mall. The center brings service providers, including legal, mental health, government and FEMA support, to one place for survivors to meet with and address their needs. CNHA also operates mobile outreach and provides workforce development training courses. The new grant will enable CNHA to keep the Kākoʻo Maui Relief & Aid Services Center open for 12 months, continuing to care for and serve fire survivors by responding to their evolving needs.

Additionally, Lutheran Disaster Response is supporting Pacific Health Ministry. Pacific Health Ministry provides direct spiritual care and group support to wildfire survivors, and capacity building for local spiritual care providers on Maui in order to provide needed care and support to community members.

 

Be part of the response:

Pray
Please pray for those impacted by the wildfires in Maui. May God’s healing presence give them peace and hope in their time of need.

Give
Thanks to generous donations, Lutheran Disaster Response is able to respond quickly and effectively to disasters around the globe. Your gifts to Lutheran Disaster Response will be used to assist survivors of wildfires.

To learn more about the situation and the ELCA’s response:

  • Sign up to receive Lutheran Disaster Response alerts.
  • Check the Lutheran Disaster Response blog.
  • Like Lutheran Disaster Response on Facebook and follow @ELCA_LDR on Instagram.
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Situation Report: Hawai’i Wildfires

Situation:

A row of domed tents with box of supplies inside.

Supplies at the Kelawea Community Partnership Hub in Lahaina.

On Aug. 8, multiple wildfires broke out on Maui. Exacerbated by strong winds, they destroyed homes, businesses, and lines of communication. The town of Lahaina was the most impacted, although there was also damage from smaller fires near Kihei and Kula.

Response:

Lutheran Disaster Response is providing support to Kihei Lutheran Church, which is working with the Kelawea Community Partnership Hub. The hub collects and distributes items including drinks, food, clothing, baby formula and diapers for families impacted by the wildfires.

 

Be part of the response:

Pray
Please pray for those impacted by the wildfires in Maui. May God’s healing presence give them peace and hope in their time of need.

Give
Thanks to generous donations, Lutheran Disaster Response is able to respond quickly and effectively to disasters around the globe. Your gifts to Lutheran Disaster Response will be used to assist survivors of wildfires.

To learn more about the situation and the ELCA’s response:

  • Sign up to receive Lutheran Disaster Response alerts.
  • Check the Lutheran Disaster Response blog.
  • Like Lutheran Disaster Response on Facebook and follow @ELCA_LDR on Instagram.
Share

Reflecting on the United Nations High-Level Political Forum

 

In July 2023, four leaders from across the United States joined ELCA World Hunger and the Lutheran Office for World Community in New York City as delegates of the Lutheran World Federation at the 2023 United Nations High-Level Political Forum. The forum was an opportunity for UN member states, agencies and organizations to share updates on progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals. As our delegation learned, progress against the goals has been slow and, in some cases, has reversed. The delegation, representing the 149 member churches of the Lutheran World Federation, including the ELCA, was able to hear from leaders around the world, meet other advocates, connect with staff from the ELCA’s advocacy office in Washington, DC, listen to stories of changes and challenges, and consider together how each of us can be part of the work toward the Sustainable Development Goals in our communities.

Below is a reflection from one of the participants, Pastor Brianna Lloyd. Rev. Lloyd currently serves as pastor of Ka Hana O Ke Akua church (UCC) on the leeward side of Oʻahu and an alum of Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary’s Center for Climate Justice and Faith, which is supported in part by ELCA World Hunger. Click here to read a reflection from Kitty Opplliger, who joined Rev. Lloyd as part of the delegation to the UN.

I didnʻt know it at the time, but as we began our week at the UN High Level Political Forum, a boat from Japan, advocating for the UN Sustainable Development Goals, had docked in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi.  The Peace Boat, a Japan-based NGO with a U.S. presence at the United Nations, ended its 114th voyage in Honolulu with a “Pledge to Our Keiki”—a commitment to the children of Hawaiʻi for a future of sustainable tourism.  The “Pledge to Our Keiki” signing ceremony was organized in partnership with the nonprofits Kanu Hawaii and Blue Planet Alliance, along with the Hawaii Tourism Authority, Oahu Visitors Bureau, Alaska Airlines and other groups. These groups were and are bringing some of the UN Sustainable Development Goals to life in the particular context and community that is Hawaiʻi.

Rev. Lloyd and Kitty Oppliger await the start of a session at the UN

As our group in New York listened to the many discussions in the conference rooms of the UN, we had to bridge the gap between discussions of pressing global issues, with broad, sweeping language, and our own contexts. The week was a practice of translation, and the practice continues in the days and weeks following the event.  For example, what does Goal 6: “Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all” mean in my context of Hawaiʻi?

My own journey to the UN began with some advocacy work related to the Navy’s fuel spills on Oʻahu at Kapūkakī (Red Hill), affecting thousands of military and civilian families.  Over the course of this past year, as the Navy flushed the fuel from the groundwater, they or their contractors used nearly five billion gallons of water, while those of us living on Oʻahu were asked to limit our own use of water. The Oʻahu Water Protectors and community leaders, such as Wayne Tanaka of the Hawaiʻi Sierra Club and Native Hawaiian community leader Healani Sonoda-Pale, continue to fight to protect the sacred water reserves of Oʻahu and to hold the Navy accountable to its mission of service and protection. I believe their work addresses Goal 6. There are many other organizations, groups, and events around Hawaiʻi—like Sustainable Coastlines Hawaiʻi and the Pledge to Our Keiki—that are working at a similar goal.

Lutheran delegates learn about South Sudan from Presbyterian leaders

As we follow up from our week attending the HLPF, I understand anew that translation and communication from the ground here in Hawaiʻi and other local communities to larger bodies like ELCA World Hunger and the Lutheran World Federation, and vice-versa, are essential threads to galvanize the work. One of the most well-known quotes from Queen Liliʻuokalani, the last reigning monarch of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi before the Kingdom was illegally overthrown by American businessman, goes, in part, like this:  “You must remember never to cease to act because you fear you may fail.”

There is much being done everywhere. Perhaps we might draw hope from one another.

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