LAHAINA >> As the Lahaina community reflects on the anniversary of the Aug. 8, 2023, fire that destroyed much of the town and killed 102 people, leaders on Sunday held an interfaith gathering for residents to pray and remember at the Lahaina Civic Center Gymnasium.

“There are things in our lives that are broken,” said Diana Mariano, senior pastor of International Christian Fellowship Church of God, which burned down in the fire. “But God wants to build and restore us so that we can stand again.”

Mariano’s church was one of many houses of worship destroyed in the blaze. The massive fire also destroyed the Waiola Church, the first Christian church on Maui, whose cemetery held the eternal resting place of several members of the Hawaiian royal family, including the church’s founder, Queen Keopuolani, and Princess Nahienaena.

But as the smoke cleared, the day after, faith-based organizations quickly leapt into action and have continued playing a leading role in providing meals and gathering donations for fire survivors.

“Churches are not determined by a structure or building. It is the people,” said Katy Shroder, worship leader for the Holy Innocents Episcopal Church, another church that burned. While Holy Innocents was physically destroyed, the Honolua United Methodist Church in Napili quickly opened its church to the Episcopalian congregation to hold services there.

The Rev. Sandy Graham of the Episcopal Diocese of Hawaii reflected on walking through the burn zone and seeing the ruins of Holy Innocents.

“When we were finally able to visit there, there wasn’t much left,” Graham said. “But when the front wall of the church finally caved into the church, the cross that stood on the top of it came straight up and stood in the middle of the rubble. … It was a sign that we were certainly not done. Holy Innocents is not done, and it was also a sign that God is not done with Lahaina.”

“After the fire, the connections between people have grown stronger,” said the Rev. Ai Hironaka of the Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii, one of the three Buddhist temples in Lahaina — all of which were destroyed.

Hironaka lived at the temple and, like many members of his congregation, became homeless after the fire. He expressed gratitude to the community members as well as total strangers who helped him in the days, weeks and months after the fire.

“Lahaina includes aloha, history, culture, diversity and passion, community and so more, so much more,” Hironaka said. “But what’s most important is that it is the people who make Lahaina what it is.”

Fire survivor Earle Kukahiko Jr., whose father had been a minister at Waiola Church, spoke to the frustration many other survivors have felt on the anniversary of the fire, telling the crowd, “I wake up every day with the challenge of, am I going to stay in my tent and sulk all day, or am I going to get out and do something. I don’t have my hale, but I have my aina — so take care of it.”

He said that for the sake of future generations, the community needs to come together and can rebuild a better community, telling attendees, “As far-fetched as it may seem, as bumpy that road ahead is, as difficult as policies, rules, regulations and personalities we may encounter: Press on. Because if we don’t, then they win — do not let them win.”

Kawekiu Palakiko represented the next generation, telling the crowd, “I stand before you today as a 17-year-old who has lived through some of the most challenging times our beloved ohana has faced.”

Palakiko’s family lost their home in the previous August 2018 fire that destroyed more than 20 structures in Lahaina. That fire was similar to the 2023 fire, also propelled by hurricane winds across dry plants and terrain. She said that in the aftermath of that fire, the community took care of her family.

“This time, I was older, more aware and more connected to the people and places that were affected,” Palakiko said. “I saw my friends lose their homes. I saw businesses, some that have been around for generations, reduced to ashes. I felt like the heart of our community was being ripped away. But through the devastation, something remarkable is happening.”

“We talk about making Lahaina not just the town it was, but the town it could be — a place that seems stronger, more resilient and more connected,” Palakiko said. “As a young person, growing up in Lahaina, I’ve learned that resilience is not just about bouncing back, it’s about moving forward.”