Riverside-based Harvest aims to support its Maui church after fire

As Maui begins to recover from the deadly wildfire, the Riverside-based Harvest Church is working to help its satellite church on the island through fundraising and other efforts.

The church’s is one of many California-based relief initiatives. For example, eight urban search-and-rescue specialists from the Riverside Fire Department flew to Maui on Friday, Aug. 11. And area restaurants and other organizations have started fundraisers.

The Harvest Kumulani Chapel lies several miles north of the 2,170-acre burn area and was not affected by the flames — though some of its members were.

“Our church has been dramatically affected,” Harvest Senior Pastor Greg Laurie said in a video posted to Facebook Saturday, Aug. 12. “Many people in our congregation have had their homes burned down.”

Mark Arenas, a Riverside-based pastor and director of outreach at Harvest, said the displaced include five church employees whose homes are either gone or uninhabitable.

“This is gonna be a long road for these people,” he said.

Arenas flew to Maui on Friday with another pastor to help support the congregation.

There were delays in getting through checkpoints to the west side of the island, Arenas said, but they reached it Saturday morning.

Arenas said they helped with plans for Sunday’s church service and with getting status updates from members.

There was a lack of phone and internet service, he said, which left people to rely on word of mouth, “going around to people’s houses.”

The service did occur, drawing about 500, Arenas said. He estimated that regular attendance is about 700.

Kumulani Chapel merged with Harvest in 2016, according to its website, and it “serves both the local community and the many tourists who are looking for a church home away from home.”

Harvest is making plans to ensure the congregation’s needs are met.

For example, school in Maui was supposed to start this week, he said, but may be cancelled. And, while some church members who lost homes are staying with fellow members, “that’s a short-term solution.”

Also, Arenas said, “we don’t want to forgo the spiritual side of this.”

“These people have faced a traumatic event,” Arenas said, and he and others want to “walk alongside them,” and make sure church members are healthy so they can help serve the community as it recovers.

Among other efforts, Harvest has launched a Maui relief fund and is taking donations.

The church declined to say how much money the relief fund has raised, but said in a Wednesday, Aug. 16, statement released by spokesperson Ashton Compton that Harvest has “seen a tremendous outpouring of support from across the country from our donors, ministry partners, and foundations.”

In addition to financial support, Harvest is getting offers for volunteer work and construction and emergency supplies, according to the statement. The church is also joining with other organizations to meet other urgent needs and plan for rebuilding.

“We want to bring help, and hope and perspective to people,” Laurie said in the video. “And for those who don’t know Jesus, the hope of the gospel. And for those that believe, let them know that they are loved, and that we care for them and we’re there to help them.”

Harvest Christian Fellowship began with Laurie leading a home Bible study in 1973, according to the Harvest website. It now has 15,000 members across multiple churches.

In 1990, the church launched the annual Harvest Crusade, which in 2022 drew over 200,000 attendees in person and online. The event has historically been staged at Angel Stadium, but this year took place at the Honda Center due to bad weather.

In 2016, Harvest America became the “largest live one-day evangelistic event in US history,” with 350,000 people in attendance, the site states.

In 2017, Harvest Christian Fellowship joined the the Southern Baptist Convention, the country’s largest Protestant body, which had about 15 million members at the time. Recently, the convention ousted Saddleback Church, a megachurch based in Lake Forest in Orange County, for having a woman pastor.

HOW TO HELP

Groups and businesses are helping those affected by the fire on Maui. Many are listed here.

To donate to the Harvest Church Maui Relief Fund, click here.