A Special Invitation from the Rector in Response to the Wildfires in Maui

Dear St. Martin's Members:

Late last night, Laura and I returned from my sabbatical travels. I am grateful — so grateful — for this time away and look forward to seeing many of you Sunday and in the weeks ahead as our new program year begins. I will send another message about many of our new programs for the late summer/early fall next week, but for now ...

Dear St. Martin's Family, like you, our hearts are heavy as we follow the devastation in the wake of the wildfires in Maui. We — the people of Houston and Harris County — know tragedy, we know devastation, and we know the heartache that comes when natural disaster takes lives and destroys businesses, homes and places of worship. Since coming to be your Rector in 2007, we have traveled these roads together — whether hurricane, flood, high winds or freeze — and we have been through much. And because we have, one of God’s gifts to us has been to grant us tender hearts and empathy when we see other members of the human family — wherever they are — go through similar kinds of devastation.

As is our habit, we always offer our prayers and, at times, we have responded with boots-on-the-ground servants and donations to those institutions that are specifically providing relief and recovery.

Toward that end, we will continue our prayers for the good people of Hawaii but let me also encourage you to join the Levenson family in making a donation to help provide assistance where it is most needed. How to do this? You can do this by check or online.

By check: Make out your check to St. Martin's Episcopal Church and earmark it: "Maui Wildfire Relief." We will partner with Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD), which is the chief "outreach arm" of the Episcopal Church in times like these. Every penny of your donation toward this effort will go to Relief and Recovery efforts in Maui. You can mail your check to St. Martin's (717 Sage Road, Houston, Texas 77056), drop it by our offices, or place it in the offering plate at one of our upcoming Sunday or Wednesday worship services.
Donate online: Click on the graphic below and select "Maui Fires" from the dropdown menu.

You may not know the unique history of Hawaii and its many ties to our greater Anglican Communion. King Kamehameha IV became King of Hawai'i on January 11, 1855, and on June 19, 1856, married Emma Rooke. In October 1862, the King and his new Queen reached out to the Anglican Bishop of Oxford and asked him to send missionaries to establish an Anglican Church. Together, on October 11, 1862, King and Queen Kamehameha were confirmed into our Anglican family, making way for the birth and spread of the Episcopal Church throughout Hawaii and its beautiful islands. Because of this great history, I think we — Anglican Episcopalians — have an even greater responsibility in a time such as this.

Now, those same islands are calling out to us to respond to the grief of those who have seen more than 100 lives taken by the horrific wildfires, and untold destruction to places of business and the safe harbors of homes. Let us remember our own experiences of devastation and, in our prayers and in our generosity, let us do what we can to bless the lives of others so that they may know they are not alone.

A Prayer

Lord Jesus,

We pray that you will be with all those who now are grieving the deaths of loved ones as a result of the wildfires in Maui. Comfort them with the presence of Your Holy Spirit. Hear, we pray, the cries of Your children who are injured and recovering, and bring them healing. Hear, we pray, the cries of Your children who have had their homes, their possessions, and their places of work and play damaged or destroyed, and bring them hope. Strengthen we pray, all those who seek to bring recovery and relief that they may have the perseverance and will to see through to the end restoration of all that has been lost. And give me a tender heart that I may persist in my prayers and be generous in my gifts as a response to Your call to love all with whom we share this fragile earth, our island home.

This we pray in Your Name, Lord Jesus, Amen.

My friends, I look forward to seeing you, and praying with you, on Sunday.

Faithfully,

The Rev. Dr. Russell J. Levenson, Jr.

Rector