Hui Aloha`O Maui Indivisible will be running ads in local media to communicate publicly Christian clergy’s support for vaccinations to fight the COVID19 pandemic. The letter below was written by Rev. Dr. Scott Landis, Kahu Kealahou Alika, Rev. Dr. Robert Nelson, Dr. Ellen Caringer, and Rev. Danette Kong. This team manages the Shine Your Light website.
If you wish to sign on to this public letter as a member of clergy, please do the following:
Email drcaringer@gmail.com stating preferred title, name, denomination, and if comfortable doing so, your place of ministry.
Subject line: “Signature for Letter Supporting Vaccinations”
If possible, please include a phone number. We will not print or publish your phone number. This is only should we need to clarify information.
Also, we are deeply appreciative of the inquiries we have received from individuals who would like to financially support the publication of this letter.
Since Hui Aloha ‘O Maui Indivisible /Shine Your Light is not a formalized non-profit, we ask that you make your check payable to a member of our team: Kealahou Alika and mail to 2035 Pakolu Street, Wailuku, HI 96793
Please note that signatories to the letter are not required to make a donation but are most welcome to do so if they wish.
All donations –from clergy or other members of the public–will help cover the cost of the advertisements carrying this letter. Contributors will be provided with a list of donors, along with a letter of acknowledgment and a financial report. If you prefer to be listed anonymously, please let us know.
A LETTER FROM HAWAI`I CHRISTIAN CLERGY IN SUPPORT OF THE COVID-19 VACCINE
As clergy who have been called to serve in the ministry of Christian churches throughout Hawai`i, we support medical evidence and strongly recommend all eligible persons to be vaccinated against COVID-19 as soon as possible. We do so with the conviction that this is the loving thing to do as commanded by our Savior Jesus who challenges us to love our neighbors as we love ourselves (Mark 12:31).
We further support this as a means of faithful stewardship of our medical resources. Our hospitals are taxed with a flood of unnecessary COVID-19 admissions, exhausting staff and taking up beds that are essential for other emergencies. In short, this is a problem we can solve, but it does require the goodwill and cooperation of all in our communities.
Science has provided us with solid facts that are important for all to recognize. The vaccines are extremely effective in battling COVID-19 and the illness it causes.
Hawai`i is our home. Aloha is at the heart of the life we share together. It is a life of compassion, our way of sharing one another’s burdens as well as our way to mālama, to care for one another. Beyond a sincere greeting, aloha is a sacred affirmation of life, a desire for wanting the best for one another in all circumstances and doing our part to make that a reality.
If you have not been vaccinated, please do so today. You will be giving yourself and others a gift of aloha – a gift of life.
Dawn Morais 
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