Members of the Iglesia ni Cristo churches in Lihu‘e and Kalaheo were joined by Randy Weir of the church in Honolulu when the group arrived with 100 bags of personal-hygiene items for Kaua‘i Economic Opportunity and its housing project on Wednesday.
“These are from the brethren,” said Mary Lou Alop from the Iglesia ni Cristo Church. “The people in Lihu‘e and Kalaheo shared the load and packed 50 bags each.”
Weir said Iglesia ni Cristo does not celebrate Halloween. Instead, they have a Worldwide Aid to Humanity Day Oct. 31, the birthday of Executive Minister Eduardo Manalo.
Manalo said that instead of celebrating his birthday, the church should do an Aid to Humanity project.
“We are celebrating our Executive Minister Brother Eduardo Manalo’s birthday,” said Alop. “That falls on Sunday, but all of us in Hawai‘i and the Pacific region are celebrating Worldwide Aid to Humanity today. There are Iglesia ni Cristo churches around the region that are doing Aid to Humanity programs.”
The personal-hygiene items are meant to be distributed to the houseless and the transient housing population, to help carry them through, Weir said.
Last year, Iglesia ni Cristo hosted drive-thru food distributions at the Kalaheo church on Kaumuali‘i Highway across from the Kalaheo Neighborhood Center in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In previous years, Iglesia ni Cristo has contributed food to the food banks as part of its Worldwide Aid to Humanity program.
Manalo is the third generation of the Manolo family to lead the church, following his father, the late Erano Manalo, and grandfather Felix Manalo.
Headquartered in Quezon City, Philippines, Iglesia ni Cristo has, according to online sources, approximately 7,000 congregations around the world with an estimated membership of 3 million people. Kaua‘i has two locations, Lihu‘e with Brother Joshua Monico in charge, and Kalaheo with Brother Timothy Pasek leading the flock.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
Source: The Garden Island
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