Legacy of Volunteerism continues at Kaumakani West Kaua‘i United Methodist Church
The Story of “The Little Church in The Cane Field” This history unfolds in Kaumakani on the southwest side of Kaua‘i Island between Waimea and Hanapēpē. The Church will celebrate its 110th anniversary in June 2023. By guest contributor, Timothy Tovar DeLaVega With Filipino immigrants arriving on Kauaʻi sugar plantation’s beginning in 1910, 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. Ltd. Plantation located in Makaweli. Soon after, Cornelio Lutao requested material and land from the Hawaiian Sugar Company Ltd. to build a sanctuary. Thus, in the middle of sugar Camp Four, the residents of Camp Four constructed a church on the leased land with material donated by the plantation manager. Originally named the Makaweli Filipino Methodist Episcopal Church, the chapel was dedicated on June 1st, 1913, and is presently known as Kaumakani West Kaua‘i United Methodist Church. Soon after its dedication, the little Church became the social center of the Filipino community as it was the only plantation church that held services in Ilocano. When Superintendent Fry visited the Makaweli Church in 1916, he reported baptizing 40 persons at an evening service. And after the Hanapēpē Massacre of 1924, the Church donated the caskets and held services for the lost strikers. Camp Four was integrated into Kaumakani Village in 1947 and now sits alone on land leased from the Gay and Robinson family. It is the oldest Filipino Methodist church in Hawaiʻi. Throughout its history, Kaumakani Church has continued its volunteer legacy, with the addition of a social hall and numerous remodels and enlargements. On September 11, 1992, the ill [...]