Hawaii UCC church welcomes volunteers into community’s work toward healing from wildfires

At Po’okela Church, new seats in the first rows of the sanctuary have a special purpose. The church replaced two rows of pews with chairs that unfold into beds to host volunteers who come to assist with the area’s wildfire recovery work.

“I call it the first-class seating,” said the Rev. Kimberly Fong, smiling as she described the extensive preparation the congregation has done to assist in community disaster response. Though some people were sad to lose the pews, “we have to pivot our ministry, and we have to get rid of holding on tight to what the church used to be when so much has changed,” she said.

It’s one of many shifts that the United Church of Christ congregation in the upcountry of Maui has made to serve as a volunteer host site for disaster recovery.

It’s been two-and-a-half years since the 2023 wildfires that devastated Maui. The island location makes access to building materials more complicated, and “we’re still in the very early stages of what long-term recovery means,” said Katie Howe, UCC minister for disaster response and recovery.

But as leaders and community members gathered to celebrate Po’okela Church’s official start as a volunteer host site on Feb. 22, spirits were high. They commissioned the hopeful beginning of the church host site that will be crucial for the long-term work of wildfire recovery.

The site is now available for volunteer groups, and a Volunteer Guidebook is available for people interested in visiting to help with disaster recovery in Maui.

Church as community hub

This volunteer site is unique in how many people it brings together — it is the first joint UCC and Presbyterian Church (PCUSA) volunteer host site.

As the pastor of Po’okela Church, Fong is ordained in the Presbyterian Church with dual standing in the UCC and serving a UCC congregation, and she fostered a unique spirit of connection and collaboration.

Po’okela Church is located in Kula, and following the Kula fire, it became a valuable hub to connect their upcountry neighbors with financial, emotional, and spiritual support – offering items from their thrift store for free and distributing over $100,000 in emergency funds to community members, Fong said. On the one-year anniversary of the fires, the church held a Community Healing Luau for over 100 fire survivors.

While much of the news coverage has focused on the Lahaina area, Fong emphasized the importance of meeting needs in the upcountry region that has received less attention.   

Congregant Tina Gomez, who was born and raised in the area, reflected that the need organically arose for housing volunteers for long-term recovery work as the church sought to follow God’s call. She is one of the host site’s coordinators.

“Never in my wildest dreams did I think something like this could happen. Our church is small. We’re not a big church, and we’re doing a big thing, and that’s all God,” Gomez said. “We just needed the one person there to be the bridge, and that was our pastor. After the fires, we had to pivot to be able to serve the community, and that was our calling.”

It took the collaboration of UCC Disaster Ministries, a ministry of Global HOPE, and Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) to make this happen. PDA offered the initial site assessment and funding investment, and UCC Disaster Ministries worked with the church in meeting significant needs to adapt the space to allow for volunteers, Howe said.

This has included setting up an additional tent and porta potties to house groups who meet in the church when volunteers are using church spaces, and the ongoing work of installing a shower trailer to allow larger groups to visit.  

Fong reflected how the church almost dropped out, feeling the needs were too many to become a volunteer host site, but by working with both PDA and UCC Disaster Ministries, they were able to bring the creativity and resources to make it work, creating “a very collaborative and unified ecumenical event.”

Space for celebration, collaboration, grief

The Commissioning Service at Po’okela Church was a unique time to celebrate these relationships and collaborations. Members of the local Long-Term Recovery Group attended, as well as national leadership and regional leaders from the UCC Hawaii Conference and Pacific Presbytery.

“People in our community came, and they were so empowered by this ecumenical unity,” Fong said. “The church has to be the role model. Different denominations coming with compassionate care, providing what the community needs, was such an eye-opening event for people here.”

Howe delivered the sermon at the commissioning, noting the importance of holding grief from the wildfires while celebrating this new opportunity to invite volunteers into the recovery process.

A commissioning liturgy was delivered together by UCC and PC(USA) leaders. The Rev. Nell Herring, PDA’s associate for volunteer ministries, said commissioning services like these are important because “there’s a lot of ambiguous grief in disaster recovery, and also so many moments when we can pause and give thanks for how God has moved, is moving, and will continue to move throughout the disaster process.”

Invited into aloha spirit

Groups are invited to come aid in the disaster recovery, and Po’okela Church has created a volunteer guide to assist in planning. The site aims to keep costs low for visiting groups, with a per diem cost per person.

Fong said people can come expecting to be greeted with hospitality and the aloha spirit, and with gratitude from the community for the difference that volunteers make in recovery work.

“We’re ready to receive you,” said UCC Hawaii Conference Minister, the Rev. David Popham. “People have been knocking, and we weren’t ready. But now we’re excited about UCC people coming to be part of the recovery; we’re excited that the upcountry folks will get the attention they need; and we’re excited for Po’okela Church – reaching out and being part of the community has been a meaningful part of their witness.”

The current volunteer needs are focused on rebuilding the land. Invasive and flammable grasses were a significant factor in the Maui wildfires, and efforts are working to replace these with native plants. With many trees burned, erosion abatement is also crucial.

This makes the skill set for volunteers very accessible, Fong said. She invites people to “come as you are,” and their partners will provide tools and guidance.

“It’s a real opportunity to love not just neighbor, but to love God’s creation too,” Herring reflected.

“Coming here can offer a great opportunity for groups to connect with other people of faith, to learn about a beautiful land and some of the history and injustices at play in how this wildfire happened, and to learn the history of the people, the land, and the spirit of love and hospitality that’s offered here,” said the Rev. Kelly Burd, UCC minister for volunteer engagement.

‘Your love touches our suffering’

The first volunteer group visited in November, led by Elder John Toillion of Mililani Presbyterian Church on Oʻahu. The small group assisted with installing an irrigation system for growing native plants in green houses at Kula Community Watershed Alliance. The organization was founded by fire-affected neighbors days after the Maui wildfires.

“The Watershed Alliance leaders said what we were able to complete in this short period put this project ahead of schedule by seven months,” Toillion said.

Toillion’s volunteer group also experienced firsthand how “Po’okela’s Welcoming Committee will meet you with open arms, starting with a welcoming dinner and social time to get to know each other right from the start.”

In disaster response, volunteer labor can make a significant impact in communities, both in the work accomplished and in bringing together relationships of care.

“There’s a lot of pain, and this helps us move toward the healing,” Popham said. “Anywhere where we engage in communities in recovery, as volunteers, you bring in the love, and where your love touches our suffering, we know that mercy abounds.”

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