Grace under pressure

The lava threatening Pahoa has effectively stalled, giving neighbors a reason to give thanks this Thanksgiving — while also raising anxieties about where molten rock flowing out of Kilauea Volcano will turn next.

The lack of significant movement by the flow, that started June 27 is both a blessing and a curse at a time when people invaded by it want to be thankful.

"There’s definitely stress," said Kaeipo Ho‘opai, 32, whose family had to evacuate from nearby Kalapana when it was overrun by lava in 1990.

Now the family home on Pahoa’s main street — Pahoa Village Road — remains in harm’s way. And the Ho‘opai family’s annual Thanksgiving festivities at the house had to be changed because family members with breathing difficulties cannot handle the vog from Kilauea.

"The lava ruined all that," Ho‘opai said. "We’re bummed about it. We just have to take things day to day."

Farther down Pahoa Village Road, about a quarter-mile from the front of the flow, the Rev. Sam Souza, pastor of the Solid Rock East Hawaii Church, contends the best way to help the community is to hold the church’s annual Thanksgiving feast for about 250 church members, tourists, homeless people and anyone else who wants to enjoy 30 turkeys cooked in an imu.

"The biggest thing we’ve noticed is the psychological and emotional effect that the lava’s had on people because it’s been stop-and-go and so slow-moving," Souza said. "We’re fairly high-risk ourselves and there’s a strong possibility that we could be without a building. But we need to be consistent and not abandon the community in Pahoa. We can have a church anywhere. The church is the people. And we have to learn not to hold on so tightly to material things."

The holidays can be stressful even under normal circumstances. But brushes with two hurricanes and an active lava flow since August have likely raised anxiety levels far beyond normal in Pahoa, said Dr. Ned Murphy, an Oahu psychiatrist who works at the University of Hawaii’s Student Health Center.

"My heart does go out to them," Murphy said. "What a terrible situation. It’s nerve-racking. Even with the lava stopped, the anticipation is a stress all by itself. There may be an exacerbation of anxiety, depression, shortness of breath, gastrointestinal symptoms, short temper that often leads to a loss of control and fights. If there’s a problem with drugs and alcohol, that may get aggravated."

Murphy recommends that anyone under stress write down their feelings or talk them out, even with nonprofessionals.

And for children in Pahoa worried about the lava, Murphy suggests providing them with honest information.

"You have to be as realistically reassuring as possible," Murphy said.

Then he added: "Hugs always help."

When the 13.5-mile long flow entered Pahoa in October, attendance started falling steadily at Puna Baptist Church as parishioners likely focused on their homes and families, said Pastor Alan Tamashiro.

More recently, though, people started coming back to church.

"It’s the new normalcy," Tamashiro said. "We’re learning to deal with the changes as we shift our thinking as the lava comes and permanently changes our community. But it is wearisome. In the long run, it’s very taxing on people. Sometimes you have to step away for your own self-care."

Even as church leaders have helped worried families move out of the area, Tamashiro said he has tried to focus parishioners on the positive aspects of their lives.

"Sometimes the situation we’re in is so overwhelming that we can’t step back and see that there are a lot of good things that God has given us," Tamashiro said. "I don’t try to answer questions like, ‘Why is this happening?’ I don’t pretend to know why. I just love them and let them know that their pastor is going to walk through this with them."

Steve Schaefle, one of three pastors at the Grassroots Church of Puna, had help from church members from Kona to move his own family of five out of their 1,400-square-foot home in Hawaiian Beaches and into a rental house in Paradise Park out of fears that lava would cross Highway 130 and cut them off.

"It’s been incredibly disruptive," Schaefle said. "But that disruption doesn’t have to be the end of the world. The church has to be that beacon of light. We should be thankful in good times and bad."

After burning one house on Nov. 10, the flow has made no forward progress. But it continues to percolate with lava that frequently breaks out along the path — which offers Schaefle a metaphor for what’s happening to the people of Pahoa.

"You could look at the lava and say nothing’s happening," Schaefle said. "But most of what’s happening is going on beneath the surface and at some point will bubble up. In a lot of ways there’s always something going on beneath the surface in people’s lives. Most of it isn’t visible."

At Thursday’s Thanksgiving feast at the Solid Rock East Hawaii Church, the message will be of hope because "we have a lot to be thankful for," Souza said. "God’s done a great job so far at keeping the lava at bay."

But for people outside of Pahoa, Souza asked, "Keep praying for Pahoa. We’re not out of the woods yet."