Inspiring Community Resilience in Lahaina Wildfires

This past weekend @abby_hawaii and I went to visit Lahaina with the intention of blessing some of the victims of the fire. Little did we know we’d leave with our lives forever changed. Going in we were a little cautious, not knowing if it would be a hostile political environment we were stepping into. We were WRONG. Instead we met some of the most caring, generous, humble people we’ve ever met. We experienced so many incredible people and stories in the short time we were there but I want to call out 3 specific things that stood out to me that you won’t see on mainstream media that deserve to be shared. 1. The community is everything. We saw very little government or large organization aid. We went to 3 donation centers and they were all started, operated, and supplied by locals and small grass roots organizations. In fact they take pride in keeping the govt out. The government in many ways has been a hinderance to getting supplies (even blocking it) so they had to get creative to avoid literally being starved out. 2. The people we met were hands down some of the most genuine, humble, and generous people I’ve met. To give an example, about half the people we offered financial donations to completely refused saying that “there is someone else who needs it more.” These are people who either have lost their homes, loved ones, jobs, or all of the above. Inspiring to say the least. In fact they even offered us food 🤯 3. The many of the people volunteering at these donation hubs are the ones that were affected by the fire. Most don’t have GoFundMes or other donation platforms. They have lost everything but are still up serving the community every single day. They are true heroes that have not been recognized (and many don’t want to be recognized). Abby and I are actively trying to find ways to support the countless volunteers who work tirelessly to serve the community against literally all odds. I’ll keep you posted, but in the mean time check out my story for another really cool God story that came out of our visit! Be blessed and stay stoked 😎🤙 • • • • •