KAUMAKANI — There were Praying Pelicans in Kaumakani on Sunday, as the visiting group of Praying Pelican Missions from Missouri disassembled to start work on the West Kaua‘i United Methodist Church in Kaumakani following Sunday service that was held at Kaumakani church because of the Pelicans’ arrival.
“How cool is that?” asked Tim Dela Vega, the author of “The Little Church in the Cane Field,” and hired by the Federal Emergency Management Agency as a building inspector following the devastation of Hurricane ‘Iniki in 1992. “These kids just graduated high school, and instead of partying, they’re here helping us.”
Andrea Taylor, one of the group’s chaperones, said someone gave the group a grant that enabled them to come to Kaua‘i to help with whatever work needed to be done.
“I don’t really know how much we can do,” said David Rogers of Chillicothe, Missouri, who, in changing the light bulbs from a ceiling fan, upgraded the appliance with the new technology LED lamps. “We’re staying at the church and leaving Friday, so we’ll just do whatever we can.”
June 1 is the 110th anniversary of this church, Dela Vega said.
June 1 is also the start of the 2023 hurricane season that runs until Nov. 30, a time of the year that hurricanes and tropical typhoons are most likely to form in the Pacific region.
When Hurricane ‘Iniki blew across Kaua‘i on Sept. 11, 1992, one of the victims was the Kaumakani church.
“At the time, Hurricane ‘Iniki was said to be one of the strongest hurricanes that ever hit America. The church and Kaumakani village were devastated as the eye passed directly over them,” Dela Vega said.
“The church was shifted off its foundatio0n, and about half the roof was peeled off. The social hall was completely destroyed. Both structures were slated for demolition during the sugar harvest of 1993 by the bulldozers of Olokele Sugar Co.”
As the island set out to recover from the wrath of Hurricane ‘Iniki, only a few voices reached out to save the Kaumakani sanctuary.
The small, aging and cash-strapped congregation was able to put together a work force of volunteers that came from across the globe and restored the historic Kaumakani United Methodist Church in just 55 days, including the construction of a new social hall in the shape of the cross in 1995.
The “Little Church in the Canefield” was born when the Filipino immigrants started arriving on Kaua‘i in 1910 to work on the sugar plantations.
Four former seminary students from the Visayan Islands, Philippines, Cornelio Lutao, Francisco Barcelona, A. Basan and Erihilgio Ramos, followed their calling to minister to the Filipino sakadas at the Hawaiian Sugar Co. plantation in Makaweli.
Lutao requested material and help from the Hawaiian Sugar Co., and the residents of Camp Four constructed the church with materials donated by the plantation manager on a plot of land located inside Camp Four.
The church was dedicated on June 1, 1913, as the Makaweli Filipino Methodist Episcopal Church, and is now known as Kaumakani, West Kaua‘i United Methodist Church. It is the oldest Filipino Methodist Church in Hawai‘i.
Dela Vega said while the church’s 110th anniversary is on June 1, the membership will host a “humble” event on June 3 from 10 a.m. to about 3 p.m.
The Praying Pelican Missions’ efforts are similar to the effort that saved the church from the bulldozers, as the church prepares to celebrate its 110th anniversary.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 808-245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
