Rick Green: 0:00
Welcome to the intersection of faith and the culture. It's WallBuilders. We're taking on the hot topics of the day from a biblical, historical and constitutional perspective and thankful for you joining us on the program today. My name is Rick Green. I'm a former Texas legislator and America's Constitution coach, with the honor of serving here with David Barton and Tim Barton. Tim's, of course, national speaker and pastor and president of WallBuilders. David Barton, America's premier historian and our founder at WallBuilders, check out our website, WallBuilders.com. WallBuilders.com. If you go there, you're going to get all kinds of resources, all kinds of things that will help you to equip and inspire your family. Get them involved, people at your church. You know you can be the catalyst for a restoration of biblical values and constitutional principles by going to that website, getting some of those tools and then making sure that you're sharing it with friends and family. I think people are hungry. You know, listen. If you raise the banner, I can promise you people will rally. I can say that with confidence because we've done thousands and thousands of Constitution classes, Biblical Citizenship classes, and we hear the stories over and over and over again of how people said hey, I'm willing to help. I'm willing to invite people over, and all of a sudden there was a groundswell. People were waiting. They were waiting for someone to stand up and start that, and then they were willing to join. So maybe that's you. Maybe you're the person that needs to do that in your community. If so, hey, go to ConstitutionCoach.com today and get signed up, and then, of course, visit WalluildersLive.com. That's our radio site. That's the place where you can get archives of the program, listen to some programs if you missed them over the last few weeks, and just stay up to date on the guests that we're having here on the program we got. JP Decker is going to be with us when we come back from the break. He's been on the ground in Hawaii and we'll get a first hand report of the devastation there and the response. Stay with us. You're listening to WallBuilders Live.

Tim Barton: 2:01
This is Tim Barton from Walbuilders, with another moment from American History. The year after the American War for Independence ended, we began addressing the issue of Muslim terrorists in North Africa who were attacking American ships and killing and enslaving American seamen. Congress dispatched John Adams and Thomas Jefferson to negotiate peace, and when they asked the Muslim ambassador the reason for the unprovoked attacks, he told them that it was written in their Quran that it was their right and duty to make war upon them whenever they could be found. 16 years of negotiations failed and in 1801, America sent its military to crush the terrorists. When that war ended, in 1805, the first American edition of the Quran was published, urging Americans to read the Quran to see for themselves that its teachings were incompatible with the safety and peace of non-Muslims. To see the first American Quran and to get more information about America's first war on Islamic terror, go to WallBuilders.com.

Rick Green: 2:57
Welcome back to Walbuilders. Thanks for staying with us. JP Decker back with us. We haven't had you on for way too long, brother, but thanks for coming on today.

JP Decker: 3:03
Yeah, of course it's good to be here.

Rick Green: 3:04
And you just got back from Hawaii survey and the damage and the response to the damage and David Tim said man, get JP on this, get somebody's actually been there on the ground seeing what's going on, and get a report. So, man, I appreciate you being willing to share with us. And, just seriously, what did you see? What can we learn from this? And I'm sure FEMA has been just laser sharp in their response.

Tim Barton: 3:32
I'm kidding.

Rick Green: 3:32
FEMA is the disaster. Anyway, I shouldn't give my opinions before I get your report Go ahead man.

JP Decker: 3:38
Yeah, so when we first landed, we drove to just the outskirts of Lahaina and it's amazing to see the whole entire town gone. I hadn't been there in probably about 16 years. And when you drive through, we expected, you know, they probably have everything blocked off. You can't see anything. No, you could see the whole entire town just flattened, gone, it's burned. And of course, they had National Guard, you know, just about at every stop. But you drive through it and we drove through it to get to our Airbnb, because all the hotels are taken up by, you know, survivors and people who lived in Lahaina, which is around 10,000 is the number they're staying right now. Here's the crazy thing Every single one of those people are most likely going to be kicked out by the end of October. Now, where are they going to go? Well, fema, as of now, it has nothing lined up for them and even if they did, we know how that turns out. But when you're driving through and you see the devastation and you then you go and meet with the local people of Lahaina, you realize their pain and their suffering and also the fact that they feel alone. They multiple times they said to me JP, we don't feel like we're one of the 50 states of the United States. We don't feel like you know our government cares about us or you know we're being offered $700. We lost everything, including the shirt on our back, because we were trying to help other people who were injured and to stop the bleeding, like the things that these kids saw also. I mean, there's so many kids who were devastated and have PTSD now and so there is a mental health crisis there. But many people that I spoke to said you know, we haven't had time to focus on our mental side of things in our heart and what's going on here, because we all have survivors remorse. I mean, hundreds of people have died and then hundreds more still aren't accounted for. It's a horrible situation.

Rick Green: 5:29
It's got to be overwhelming. I can't even imagine. I've never been in a situation like that. I've gone in after to help and to serve and that sort of thing. But for the people that experienced it and actually lost loved ones, neighbors, friends, their entire home, everything that they have, it's unless you've been there I can't imagine that we can feel everything that they're feeling. So helping them and coming alongside them is critical. Who's doing it well? So I mean I know government tries to help and we think that our tax dollars are going to go take care of it. They tend to stumble all over themselves and actually create more of a problem more often than not. Private organizations do so much better at this, at actually meeting the need, being there, like you said, past 60 days, and that sort of thing. So who's doing well at helping in this case?

JP Decker: 6:13
Yeah, well, I work with Mercury One. Obviously that's the Glenn Beck nonprofit, and we funded Samaritan's Purse with the first cargo plane of things that they needed into Lahaina. And then there's also Samaritan's Purse has been great. They're doing a lot of cleanup. We had Operation Blessing there who has helped supply fishing supplies. Most of these people in Lahaina were the fishermen, the waiters and waitresses of all the resorts along that West Maui, and so they lost everything. They lost all their fishing equipment. One day we went out and I actually met up with this pretty famous surfer his name is Dane and they said, hey, we're about to get a shipment from some friends from another island and they're bringing in surfboards and fishing equipment. And so I started talking to him and we're in the water pulling all these surfboards off that were donated by Bethany Hamilton, which she's an amazing woman if you don't know her story. But and then fishing equipment, and they said, look, these kids have. When you lose your surfboard, it's like losing your bike. These kids got to get back up on their surfboards so that they can get back out into what they feel is normality, and so they were handing them out.

Rick Green: 7:23
I mean, JP I'm sorry to interrupt you, but just think about it For that kid that's the mental health issue, it's the physical, you know, exercise, all that kind of stuff. So it's. I mean to a listener that might be thinking, surfboard, that sounds like a luxury. Your analogy is perfect. That's the bike, that's how they get you know, that's their life in many ways in terms of what they do on a regular basis.

JP Decker: 7:43
Yeah, and you know, one of the other groups I will make sure to mention is Greg Laurie with Harvest Church. They're an incredible church out of California and if you've seen his Harvest Crusades, they are everywhere. But he they have a church plant right there in Maui and we visited there on Sunday a couple of weeks ago and I'll tell you there was a moment where we are praising, worshiping, we're listening to the musicians and then they're singing a song that I had not heard before, but it's about how God is still in control of the disaster and of the things that are going on around us. And it was amazing because I find out the woman that is crying next to me, singing out her voice to the Lord. She had just lost everything in the fires. Everyone on stage lost a house in the fires. Most, 70% of that church lost either lost a family member, or lost a home or a car or something to that effect. And just to hear the worship there there is. I believe there is a revival that's going to happen in Maui, but it is thanks to churches like Harvest Church and then also Calvary Church in Central Maui. There's just some great churches there that are doing incredible work, passing out all the needs to the locals and it is something that we here on the mainland have to remember, that they're not just people from Maui. They are our fellow brothers and sisters, our fellow American citizens, and I think, you know, if we keep encouraging, keep helping and finding out how we can help, I think that's the way that we can make this. It is going to be up to the church to save Maui.

Rick Green: 9:17
And man, you hit it. I mean it's not just doing it because it's the right thing to do, it is literally spreading the gospel. It's making, it's living out the gospel and you know we say it all the time. I mean it's in these tragedies that the church really shines, when we do step in and serve and love in this way. And so, while it's horrible and awful and all those things, you know, on the bright side, if I can say it that way, you do get to see the hands and feet of Christ and people coming to Christ, but also just getting to witness why, you know, following Christ in all these areas is so important. You mentioned Mercury One. Mercuryoneorg is the website. Folks, if you want to go donate right now, that's a great place to do it. I highly recommend being, you know, very selective in who you donate to for these kinds of things. There are a lot of crazy groups out there and shysters and all that kind of stuff. And you know, jp's there on the ground, of course. We've worked with MercuryOne for many, many, many, many years. They're even on the ground now in the wake of Idaalia. So there's a lot of places that they've proven their effectiveness in being able to help. And then I love the fact, jp, what you mentioned not just trying to do everything. You know one organization trying to do everything, but partnering with Samaritans and Operation Blessing and these other organizations and funding. You know, just like when the whole Afghanistan thing happened, actually reaching out and teaming up with people, and so that's just a gift. I think that not enough ministries do and I love seeing that happen. Mercuryoneorg folks, you can go right there and donate and help today, jp. And just from a money perspective, I can't even imagine how much damage we're talking about here. I mean, you're talking about an entire, you know, city being wiped out. Essentially, what do we have you heard any numbers on that or what?

JP Decker: 10:54
Yeah, I have heard between five and 10 billion. I mean, you have to realize it's not just, you know, the small community of Lahaina, but it's it's the whole entire island that's affected by this economy, because when you shut down all those resorts along West Maui, it affects the whole entire island. And I will say none. Most locals have no respect for the local government Because currently they are wondering why the sirens never, never went off. They're wondering why where I mean, where was the ambulances? Where were, you know, the fire departments? The water alone that you know there was no water a lot of the fire hydrants stopped working. I mean, how does that happen on an island where that's all you have and just you know there's only one way in and one way out out of Lahaina, and so most of those people were stuck there for three or four days before they can actually leave Lahaina and tell people that they were alive.

Rick Green: 11:48
Wow.

JP Decker: 11:49
My wife had some family that were actually out of resort there and we barely got text from them. One of the text was we have no power, we have no Wi-Fi and we're getting low on food. Thank God they were able to get out at a decent you know a couple days later, but that's what people were dealing with and that's what these locals are still dealing with. The Wi-Fi is still an issue. Thank God this sounds crazy, but thank God for Elon Musk.

Rick Green: 12:14
No kidding.

JP Decker: 12:15
His star links are what allowed these locals to get the word out that they're alive.

Rick Green: 12:22
Yeah, and I want to ask you more about that, because you know we heard reports and things about. You know water wasn't allowed to be used that could have been used out of this crazy climate change. You know, literally worship of the earth and the resources instead of worship of God we heard about, you know, people just literally withholding resources because of bad policy. It's bad policy, it's just bad world view that led to that. Can you dig a little deeper into that? I mean, is that true that they could have had water to fight this with and it was literally withheld from them?

JP Decker: 12:55
Yeah, they could have had water and, thanks to some of the, I just read something that about 70% of the water is owned privately, and so one that's a problem when you don't have access to water coming in on a fire this large. And what was interesting is, while we were there, there actually was another fire that started just north of Lahina, and the winds were going towards Lahina, and almost every day in Maui there are winds from, you know, 30 to 40 miles an hour in the afternoon, so everything shut down. And this was, you know, probably two and a half weeks after this happened, after the line of fire, and you hear the fire department everywhere. You saw National Guard with their trucks going places. The church put this fire out, and then you saw evacuation texts on your phone, and it was. And then all the power goes out, mind you. So all the Lahinians won are scared again. What are we going to do? And we were in a local restaurant at this time and there was a survivor there who said I just lost my home. What am I supposed to do now if I can't leave Lahina? There's a fire up there, and so we were able to pray with them and just be there for him. But I think this is going to be a long lasting situation and unless the government doesn't listen to their people, which are the ones that matter, then this will just happen again. And I pray it doesn't, because if it's and that's how these lines this is coming from the lines that I spoke with they are afraid that if it doesn't happen, then if the government doesn't change something, then the Lahinians can't protect themselves. I just know that we, you know, there's some locals who are actually asking for their own fire fire hoses, because they are scared they're going to have to take care of their own property and not trust the government.

Rick Green: 14:37
Was there a, it seemed like from the initial reporting coming out anyway, there was also just a lack of transparency and honesty. Like quick, people couldn't get stuff answered. You know, and you don't prevent this from happening again if you can't, you know, truly assess what happened and you know you got to have consequences for the people that made the bad decisions. Did that get any better now that we're a couple of weeks out?

JP Decker: 14:57
No, they're still blaming everyone else. No one's actually taking responsibility. And then the distrust is still there. And so, you know, many are showing up at the county meetings and saying, you know, give us answers on this. And somehow the county, all the county officials, are blaming someone else and so there are no answers still. And that's discouraging because it's been almost over a month and they're still trying to find answers to this. And honestly, I had said, but we might not know all the answers to this one.

Rick Green: 15:25
Yeah, yeah. And then in terms of the missing, you know this far out I mean the fact that there's still that many missing. Are they presumed dead? I mean at this point, is it they are. Yeah.

JP Decker: 15:36
Yeah, and most of the locals just want to try to get at least a tooth I mean, that's what they're looking for but no one is still allowed into the center of Lahina. A few have been able to get in because they made friends with the police who are allowed to go in, but they're still not allowing all the residents in to at least try to gather something from their home. That made it, and that's just. I can't even imagine that. You know, about 10 years ago we lost Well, we didn't lose anything, but I'm from Morriclo Homa and our house barely made it by about 50 yards but an EF5 tornado went through and destroyed my whole entire town and it was devastating to see I was there about 12, 12 hours after because I was in Texas at the time but to see everything and then to know that you knew some of the kids that died in the elementary school and you know you knew this people in this school, I mean that was devastating for me and I wasn't there at the time. But for these people to not have the answers, to not even try to go in and find something, some little piece of hope, they can't go in yet, and that that's wrong and they don't even have the right equipment to go in. Yet they're giving people N95 masks, which we all know about, but those aren't doing anything for these people. There are people in La Jaina who are coughing up blood because they don't have the right protection, and our government should be providing them with that.

Rick Green: 16:53
Oh, that's crazy, that is, that is insane. I was thinking, as you were describing that JP of you know, after 9-11, it was literally sifting through, you know, piece after piece after piece of the rubble, to for exactly what you're describing, I mean to be able to identify at least something. And this feels like that. I mean that it's going to take that kind of time and that kind of effort, but but that there doesn't seem to be an organized plan. And you know, I mean for whatever like or dislike of you know, giuliani, I mean they they did, they had a remarkable response to it, to an overwhelming tragedy, and we just don't seem to have that here.

JP Decker: 17:33
Now, and I was speaking with someone also who his house made it because he had a neighbor who had enough water on his property in a tank that he was able to spray down both houses. And I said wow, have you been able to go back yet? And he said well, unfortunately, I just found out they've condemned my home and they're going to take it down. I'm hoping I can go in to try to retrieve anything that made it, but they're saying everything inside the house is just destroyed from the ash and the smoke, and so all he wants is to try to go in and get something. But again, it's the government control that's not allowing the people to take care of their own property and they are scared that people are going to come in and take that property from them because it's tradition on tradition on tradition handed down generation to generation. And I spoke with a few people who said oh yeah, I've already had people come in with lots of cash saying I will buy you out. It was a restaurant owner and he said I will buy you out and he said, well, no, this is mine. And they said, well, it doesn't matter, I'll still buy you out if you're willing to. I mean, that's just the one, the horrible sin that is happening as well, of just greedy people wanting to take things from-.

Rick Green: 18:44
Take advantage of them while they're in this situation Back to what you were saying about the King. Everything in politics always comes back to the question who decides? Who has authority to make this decision? I would think, if it's your home that's been destroyed, that you would get to decide whether or not to throw everything away or try to save something. You should get to go in and be a part of that process. The idea that they would condemn and not even allow you to get in there at some point you know, obviously not being foolish if the place is not stable, it's going to fall on I'd get all that, but I mean there has to be a point at which you're able to be a part of that process. That's just crazy. And then you raised it. I got to ask I mean, you know I'm seeing the theories online that this was so that land could be taken, so whether or not it was done for that, the actual land taking is happening For people trying to take advantage of these people while they're down.

JP Decker: 19:38
Right, and when you don't give out enough information, obviously conspiracies are going to come up. But there is honest concern from the locals that they will come in, try to buy them out or even just try to take it and we've seen imminent, don't even happen before. I don't want it to happen in Hawaii or in Maui or in Laianna, because these people are some of the most loving, gracious Americans that I've ever met. They just loved on us when they didn't have to and they're going through so much and to be able to just see their community. They are the very definition of the word community. There's pockets all around, all around Hawaii and Laianna and Maui that are just providing whatever they have their shirts off their back to the people who have no shirts. I mean the baby clothes, all these things to just help these people to feel at home, help these Americans to feel loved and taken care of.

Rick Green: 20:34
Amen. Well, thank the good Lord for the ministries that are already in place. Folks, as you're listening to this, you've made donations to Samaritans over the years, or Operation Blessing or Mercury One. I mean this is where those seeds of investment pay off, where they can be almost like quick reaction teams and fight through the government bureaucracy and red tape to be able to go help. Mercuryoneorg is a great place to make a donation today. Obviously, we can't all get on a plane and go over there, and if we did, we wouldn't be able to get in there and help anyway. So this is one of those times where just a cash donation is the best way to help. Is that fair, jp? I mean, that seems like that's the no-brainer right.

JP Decker: 21:13
It is. That's the best way to do it.

Rick Green: 21:15
Alright, MercuryOneorg is the website. Mercuryoneorg JP Decker. Thank you so much, brother, Appreciate you coming on today. Thanks for keeping us informed.

JP Decker: 21:23
Hey, thank you, Rick. I really appreciate it and all that you're doing for us.

Rick Green: 21:26
Stay with us, folks. I am eleve dd a n Jesse.

Tim Barton: 21:34
Hey guys, we want to let you know about a new resource we have at WallBuilders, called the American Story. For so many years, people have asked us to do a history book to help tell more of the story that's just not known or not told today and, we would say, very providentially, in the midst of all of the new attacks coming out against America, whether it be from things like the 1619 Project that say America is evil and everything in America was built off slavery, which is certainly not true or things like even the Black Lives Matter movement, the organization itself, not the statement Black Lives Matter, but the organization that says we're against everything that America was built on and this is part of the Marxist ideology. There's so many things attacking America. Well, is America worth defending? What is a true story of America? We actually have written and told that story, starting with Christopher Columbus, going roughly through Abraham Lincoln. We tell the story of America not as a story of a perfect nation or a perfect people, but the story of how God used these imperfect people and did great things through this nation. It's a story you want to check out, WallBuilders.com. The American Story.

Rick Green: 22:37
Welcome back. Thanks for staying with us here on WallBuilders, thanks to JP Decker as well, and thanks to all of you that are willing to give and donate and help give some relief and I know it sounds trite when you're just asking for donations to help with complete destruction over there in Hawaii, but it matters, it helps. I'm telling you, this is the kind of relief that they need and, as we were saying, there's just no way for each of us individually to go and be a part of that. So the easiest way to do that today is MercuryOne.org. We appreciate every single one of you for making that donation, however small or big. It helps, believe me, it helps, and not only in Hawaii. I mean Mercury One's out there all over the place helping, whether it's hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, rescue missions. I mean all the different things that they do pretty remarkable, MercuryOne.org. Thank you so much for being a part of that and helping them today. I want to give a reminder of what's coming up. This is a really special time of the year. We kind of joke around here. Sometimes we think of Constitution Day as Christmas for our folks. I mean, that's the day that we like to share with people and give gifts of the Constitution classes, and so it's a great time to reiterate to folks just how special this Constitutional Republic is, how unusual it is, what a unique moment in the history of the world. These 247 years we've enjoyed under the Declaration of Independence and now we're going to be celebrating, you know, 234 years under the Constitution. So what an opportunity for us to be able to, you know, restore the things that we care about. We've let the nation fall apart because of our bad civics and not having, you know, knowledge about what it takes to save a nation and restore a nation and keep freedom alive. We can change that by simply getting the intellectual ammunition that we need. The Petri dish for bad government where it grows, is civic and biblical ignorance. So how do you solve it? You get together with your neighbors, your friends, your family, people in your church and you study these things. Biblical citizenship in modern America has become the course for people all over the nation to get in touch with what the Bible says about how to be a good citizen, and then how to do that in our particular Constitutional Republic. So get Biblical Citizenship. Today you can get the DVDs and the workbooks at WallBuilders.com. You can also sign up to be a coach and host the class in your home or at your church, wherever it might be. You can do that at ConstitutionCoach.com. And then there's a couple of items I want to encourage you to do. Number one join us on Constitution Day that's September 17th, in Fredericksburg, Texas. That's where we're building the Patriot Academy campus and we're going to have a huge celebration at Arch Ray Resort in Fredericksburg on the evening of September 17th. Kirk Cameron is coming in for the American Campfire Revival. Part of this. Brad Stein is going to bring the comedy and then I'll be teaching on the Constitution. That's September 17th. Go to www.PatriotAcademy.com to learn more. And you're not just traveling into Fredericksburg for the one night. You stay over and you do the Constitutional Defense Course. That's your chance to get good handgun defense training so that you can defend your home, defend your family, defend your person. It's a very important course. Everyone needs to go through it. The founder said it's our responsibility to do that. So that's September 17th and then stay over for a few days and do the Constitutional Defense Course. All of that information at www.PatriotAcademy.com. Lastly, on September 25th we're going to start having a national class We've done this several times in the past, where you get an opportunity to join us on Monday nights to go through the Biblical Citizenship class. We're going to start that on September 25th, so make sure that you sign up for that as well. You can also do that at www.PatriotAcademy.com. It just means on Monday nights you'll dial in, we'll send you the links, you'll dial in and join thousands of people across the nation, we'll watch the videos together and then every week we'll have a special guest to talk about what we learned in the class. So you know, some of those nights David Barton will be on, some nights Tim Barton, other people, brad Stein is going to come on one of them. So join us on that as well. All that information at www.PatriotAcademy.com. Thanks for listening. Today You've been listening to what's Up.