Hawaii Calvary Chapel & Bible Students Respond to Hurricane Damage
Photos by CBI Kauai
The aftermath of Hurricane Lowell in Kauai, HI.
Please pray for students at Calvary Bible Institute (CBI) Kauai, HI, as its students have begun to respond to the needs caused by the destruction and widespread power outages in the wake of Hurricane Lowell. Lowell passed west of two of Hawaii’s islands—Kauai and Niihau—on Monday and Tuesday, lashing them with widespread flooding and tropical-storm-force winds. The Category 2 hurricane prompted the National Weather Service to issue the state’s first-ever tornado watch. Preliminary rainfall totaled up to 21 inches.
According to Pastor Bruce Baumgartner of Calvary Chapel Lihue (CCL) and CBI Kauai, “Hurricane Lowell hit us with more than most of the island expected. The damage to the south shore was heavy, and the homes and resorts along the coast suffered heavy water damage from waves, surges, and lots of flooding coming down from the mountains. Throughout the island, trees came down, roofs lost shingles, roads were blocked by fallen trees or erosion, rivers swelled, bridges were closed, and houses were flooded; 91% of the island lost power and some places lost water as well.”
The CCL church facilities and the CBI housing units were spared from severe damage, Bruce explained. “We have some damage to facilities, nothing major. That’s a blessing. We did lose power, and since we don’t have windows in our storefront church and housing facilities, we couldn’t easily function inside.” Power was restored at the church on Wednesday night, Bruce reported.
Captions Top Row (left to right): Device charging stations were set up by CBI students for people to charge their phones while getting free sandwiches. Students set up a makeshift assembly line and served lunch to people who responded to their signage and text messages. The students got to experience firsthand being the hands and feet of Christ as they served their neighborhood.
Captions Middle Row (left to right): Visiting teacher, Pastor Ed Taylor, moved his classroom outside since their building lost power and they couldn’t study indoors. CBI students enjoy the fresh breeze and outdoors while studying the Bible. Some classes were held inside in rooms that had windows.
Captions (left to right): Two guys from CBI grill up food. The students worked together to create an assembly line to make sandwiches from the food donated by a local Subway. The Subway owner reached out to the church when they learned that their food was going to go bad without any power; she wanted the food to be enjoyed by those who needed it.
Reaching Out
Bruce added that on Wednesday, visiting Pastor Ed Taylor of Aurora, CO—adjusting to the loss of power—moved his CBI class outside in the parking lot under the canopy of a large tree, which the students loved. “At the same time, the church was contacted by the local Subway restaurant owner that she had lots of sandwich meats, cheeses, greens, and toppings that she wanted to donate instead of throw away. She can’t open her store without power, and the produce was going to go bad by the end of day,” Bruce said. “So as the students finished their class, we set up tables and a sandwich-making line outside of the church, and they joyfully made sandwiches for at least 200 people who we had texted or who had seen signs or got word at various places and came for two hours straight!”
Using a small generator, they also set up a phone and device charging station at the church, which allowed people to stick around and enjoy their sandwiches while their phones charged. “It was a spur-of-the-moment opportunity, and our students jumped right in to serve. I was so proud of them. They then took advantage of clear skies to do their laundry in trash cans and dry their clothes in the sun in front of the church. They're learning to adapt to changes with a joyful attitude.”
The CBI Kauai staff and students, and a few others from the church, are planning on Friday to provide clean-up and debris removal assistance for homes and resorts on the southwest side of the island.
On Sunday, CC Lihue is encouraging people to come to their two services in work clothes and bringing their tools, Bruce said. “We’re calling it ‘Service to service.’ We’ll have a worship time and a message, with an encouragement to join a team going to a location. It’s coming prepared—prepared to worship, prepared to be sent out, a worship service to a community service,” he emphasized.
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