LAHAINA, HAWAII — Samaritan’s Purse COO Edward Graham encourages people to be volunteers to help Lahaina homeowners on Maui sift through the ashes of their property to recover personal items, a service that offers survivors both comfort and closure.

Edward Graham – Samaritan’s Purse Chief Operating Officer:

Samaritan’s Purse continues to serve on the island of Maui in Hawaii. And if you remember, there was a horrific fire that came and took so many lives, and this community continues to struggle to recover. We’ve been working there through the local church, helping on the outskirts of the community, but finally the local government and the federal government are going to prove sifting.

And this is where Samaritan’s Purse goes through with homeowners, and we’ll go through the ashes, and we’ll help find maybe a wedding ring or an engagement ring. Maybe it’s an heirloom that’s been handed down that survived the fire. But this is the first time that a homeowner who’s lost everything will get a small glimpse of hope. And it creates opportunity of conversation. And these are some of the more incredible moments during deployments, during sifting, when our volunteers, along with the chaplains from the Rapid Response Team that comes from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, can listen to these homeowners and then be willing and able to share the hope of Jesus Christ to a homeowner thinks there is no hope.

Samaritan’s Purse just sent our 757 cargo plane full of additional supplies to the island and this will help set up a volunteer camp where additional volunteers now can go in and participate in what we’re doing there in Hawaii. We’d love to have you. We can’t do this without volunteer support. If you’re interested you can go to samaritanspurse.org and find out how you can get involved. Thank you.

Samaritan’s Purse is a nondenominational evangelical Christian organization providing spiritual and physical aid to hurting people around the world. Since 1970, Samaritan’s Purse has helped meet the needs of people who are victims of war, poverty, natural disasters, disease, and famine with the purpose of sharing God’s love through His Son, Jesus Christ. The organization serves the Church worldwide to promote the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Samaritan’s Purse International Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) program is committed to meeting the critical needs of victims of war, poverty, famine, disease, and natural disaster. We stand ready to respond at a moment’s notice whenever and wherever disaster strikes. The DART specializes in providing water, food, shelter, and medical care while sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ.

CONTACT: Kaitlyn Lahm, news@samaritan.org

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