KAHULUI, Hawaii — Gathering for two sacrament meetings on Sunday morning, Aug. 20, members of the Lahaina 1st and 2nd Wards sang, worshiped and united in their mourning — and their hope — almost two weeks after deadly and destructive wildfires killed five members of their stake and destroyed almost their whole town.

Kahului Hawaii West Stake President Benjamin J. Hanks told the Latter-day Saints to look to the light of Jesus Christ.

“My heart is cracked, it is broken. But the Savior is willing to mend all that is broken,” he said.

Bishop W. Christopher Waddell, first counselor in the Presiding Bishopric, presided at the meeting and bore testimony of the Savior Jesus Christ and the hope He provides. 

He shared with them how the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles love and pray for the Saints on Maui.

Bishop Waddell has spent the weekend in visits with community organizations, government leaders, nonprofit groups, relief agencies and others responding to the wildfires.

“It is remarkable to see the respect and honor in which you are held,” he told the Saints.

Brad Kieserman, the vice president of disaster operations and logistics with American Red Cross, speaks with Bishop W. Christopher Waddell, first counselor in the Presiding Bishopric, in Lahaina, Hawaii, on Sunday, Aug. 20, 2023. The Church announced a $1 million donation to the Red Cross to support its relief efforts after the Maui wildfires.

Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

That afternoon, Bishop Waddell announced a $1 million donation from the Church to the American Red Cross to help relief efforts on Maui.

This donation will support the organization’s efforts to provide shelter to survivors, food, bedding, hygiene kits and other supplies, as well as medical, mental health and family reunification services.

Brad Kieserman, the vice president of disaster operations and logistics with the Red Cross, said the donation will help provide complete financial assistance for 400 households — meaning 1,200 people. 

“The Church of Jesus Christ is a trusted entity. People trust the Church, meaning they will come to the Church for help. We want to be a partner with trusted entities like the Church so we can reach more people and help more people,” Kieserman said.

Hawaii Governor Josh Green and Bishop W. Christopher Waddell, first counselor in the Presiding Bishopric, visit on the grounds of the Kahului Hawaii Stake Center, Saturday, Aug. 19, 2023.

Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

Hawaii Governor sees Church efforts first hand

On Saturday, Hawaii Governor Josh Green met with Bishop Waddell and saw the evacuation site and shelter on the grounds of the Kahului Hawaii Stake Center. 

“What you are doing is extraordinary for the people of Maui,” Green said. “We need everyone together. I think this kind of crisis brings people together. The sense of loss is there. There are people feeling desperation. They feel their lives, if they weren’t lost in the fire, may be lost in other ways. You will lift them up.”

Green’s wife is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ, and he spoke about the support the Church gave her when she lost her mother as a child. He knows that in the long run, the Church will remain supportive in the relief and rebuilding efforts on Maui, he said.

“What do we need? We need your prayer and we need resources,” he said. “The breadth of your reach is extraordinary. If someone gives from their hearts, it will go right to these people.”

Jason Economou, chairman of the board of directors of the Maui Food Bank, and Marlene Rice, development director of the Maui Food Bank, talk with Bishop W. Christopher Waddell, first counselor in the Presiding Bishopric of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, at the food bank in Wailuku, Hawaii, Saturday, Aug. 19, 2023.

Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

‘The needs will still remain’

Donations filled the shelves of the Maui Food Bank with cans of Spam, chicken, salmon, tuna and other needed proteins. Bananas, rice, cereal, refrigerated goods and many other supplies are coming and going through the doors to those in need.  

Maui Food Bank development director Marlene Rice spoke about the outpouring of support from the other islands. 

“It’s terrible that all this love comes after tragedy,” she told Bishop Waddell, Elder Voi R. Taeoalii, an Area Seventy in Hawaii, and Church Welfare and Self-Reliance representatives from Hawaii during a Saturday visit to the food bank in Wailuku.

Members of the Church on Maui regularly volunteer at the food bank already. Rice said she knew she could count on these connections and support continuing long term.

“The need grows. After this phase, the needs will still remain,” she explained.

The Church in Hawaii has also been involved with Maui United Way and Hawaii VOAD — Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster — and already at the table with many community organizations, said Thelma Akita Kealoha, Maui community director for Catholic Charities Hawaii. This collaboration was crucial to have in place before this major disaster struck.

“Because we are part of this VOAD organization, it’s always there. It’s been easy to get people together and on the same page,” Kealoha explained. 

The temporal relief being offered through donations, volunteers and resources such as the Family Assistance Center pairs hand in hand with the spiritual relief that so many of the fire survivors need. 

“We all think we live in special places and that our communities are unique, but Maui has always come together for donations, to help other people, to reach out,” Kealoha said. “That’s just because that’s how Maui is. Love and Aloha and wanting to help everybody and keep it in the family. It’s the same way with organizations and agencies and nonprofits.” 

Elder Mark A. Bragg, General Authority Seventy and president of the North America West Area, speaks to Elder Brayden Howells and Elder Parker Vannoy, full-time missionaries in the Hawaii Honolulu Mission serving on the island of Maui, in Lahaina, Hawaii, Friday, Aug. 19, 2023.

Leslie Nilsson, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Missionaries and youth serve those affected by Maui fires

Missionaries in the Hawaii Honolulu Mission serving on Maui were in the middle of the island in a meeting when the wildfires started raging, so all were safe and accounted for, said Elder Brayden Howells, a full-time missionary from Aurora, Colorado. He called it a miracle.

“It’s been really sad to hear from these families we know and we love,” Elder Howells said. “The good parts are the hope that everyone has and the way the community has come together.”

Elder Parker Vannoy from La Jara, Colorado, said although they have not been allowed back to Lahaina yet, the missionaries have been out in several communities, working alongside members of other faiths and groups to clean up debris from all the winds and serve in other ways.

After greeting members of the Lahaina 1st Ward again during a weekend gathering, Elder Howells found it hard to process everything that had happened.

“We pray to be able to comfort and help. We just do our best. The real struggle is for everyone else, not for us at all,” he said.

Youth in both Maui stakes have also helped others — even while experiencing their own uncertainties. 

Tehani Kama, the Kahului Hawaii Stake Young Women president, said her son joined a convoy of helpers taking supplies to the west side of the island and she was worried about the devastation he would see. He came back saddened. 

But she realized she could not and should not protect him from these kinds of experiences.

“I think what I would want the youth to take from this, is when they see a need, to step in and help,” Kama reflected.

Crews use dogs to search for human remains as they move from structure to structure and car to car on Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023. Response to the Maui fire that destroyed a large portion of the town of Lahaina, Hawaii, continues to come from neighboring islands and the mainland.

Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

Faith through the Maui fires

Faith has fueled those providing relief, as well as those receiving relief. 

The night of the fire, when Noni Mirkovich and her daughter, Lani Williams, of the Lahaina 1st Ward, could not drive out of Lahaina quickly enough, they went into the ocean. As they huddled together on the rocks with the waves rolling over them and the flames burning nearby, they were full of fear.

Williams thought they might die. But Mirkovich reminded her they were not alone.

“We have each other. And we together, too, we know Jesus and Heavenly Father,” Mirkovich said. “I was praying, ‘our Father, Your will be done, whether You want us to go home to You, or You want us to do further work for You.’

“Because in that moment, all eyes were to Him.”

As Mirkovich had struggled to get over the sea wall and down to the water, a stranger ran over to carry her on his back.

“I know God was with us at all times. Our Father was with us and He sent His angels to minister to us.”

Lani Williams and her mother, Noni Mirkovich, give an interview on Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023, about their experience of being forced into the ocean to survive the flames in Lahaina, Hawaii. The two and several others had to stay in the water for hours as the fire raged on shore. The response to the Maui fire that destroyed a large portion of the town continues to come in from neighboring islands and the mainland.

Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

Future relief efforts in Lahaina

The Kahului Hawaii Stake Center shelter was dismantled on Sunday as people found other accommodations. And so the stake’s efforts are now changing and evolving. 

For example the room at the stake center with stacks of clothing, food, baby formula, diapers and other supplies will remain a “giving room” for anyone from the community. Church members look forward to helping rebuild and restore what they can when they are allowed — though for now, that feels far away.

Kama said the experience of running a shelter gave stake leaders the understanding of what it would take if they face a disaster situation again. 

“Hoping it doesn’t happen, but just in case, we are a little bit more prepared on how to set up again and be ready for it. It’s just a blessing, I guess for us to know that we have those resources, we have the people ready and willing to help.”