Maui Churches After Fire, CA Baptist DR Respond After Hurricane & Prayer Through Grief

Gay Williams and her husband John have been leading disaster relief efforts for the Hawaii Pacific Baptist Convention (HPBC) as Southern Baptist Disaster Relief (SBDR) volunteers from around the Hawaiian Islands have joined the effort.

Williams anticipates that there will be opportunities for SBDR teams from the continental U.S. to serve in the efforts to help residents recover their belongings, such as jewelry or other items, that may have endured the inferno.

SendRelief Presdient Bryant Wright who just returned from Maui said, “The recovery here will take years as there are thousands of people who have lost loved ones and their homes,” Wright said. “Beyond that, even though Maui and Hawaii remain open for people to visit, there has been an impact on the tourism industry and some have also lost the ability to earn a living. And there will be needs for these churches in Hawaii to meet for weeks, months and years to come, and we want to see mainland churches explore ways to empower the local church for ministry.”

To learn more and support the response, visit SendRelief.org.
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Relief workers are also helping in California.

A storm named Hilary dumped heavy rainfall across southern California over the weekend. It was the first tropical storm to hit the Los Angeles area in 84 years. It landed in Baja, Calif., on Aug. 20 and brought flooding that resulted in one death when a vehicle was swept away by an overflowing stream near the Mexican town of Santa Rosalia.

Torrential rains as it made its way inland past San Diego and Palm Springs produced flooding and prompted a declared state of emergency from Gov. Gavin Newsom.
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Prayer is a wonderful gift God gives His people. In a Baptist Press Toolbox piece, Kie Bowman says that is especially true in seasons of grief.

“Grief is not an event – it’s a process that takes time. King David laid on the ground praying through his intense grief, fasting and praying, for a week (2 Samuel 12:16-20)! When we’re praying though grief, we should ignore artificial requirements of how long it “should” take us to heal and just keep praying.”

“As Christians, we are assured that we do not “grieve as others do who have no hope” (I Thessalonians 4:13); because we are assured of a resurrection. We learn that in our grief we are like Jesus who was “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3). We are also promised relief from the dull, persistent pain of grief; because Jesus said, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted” (Matthew 5:4). At some point in our future, we will find comfort from grief because Jesus guarantees it.”

The piece is full of helpful, practical tips for you to commit God’s Word to memory.