February 2024 Newsletter
Looking back, I am incredibly grateful for a very fulfilling 2023. Because of your support I was able to respond to five months of deployment outside of Southern California, as well as respond to hundreds of needs here in Santa Barbara, San Diego, and Ventura Counties. I am so thankful for your partnership, friendship, and most sacredly, your trust.
As you know I was deployed to Maui in September to serve the local victims of the Lahaina fire. I had the privilege of spending significant time with many of the surviving locals of Lahaina, tending to their emotional, spiritual, psychological, and physical needs. When I am deployed, boots-on-the-ground, I am deliberate about sending appropriate photos and texts in real time. However, we never take or circulate photos of victims or disaster sites, that is strictly off-limits. Below you can find two incredible YouTube videos by Maui local Jesse G. Wald and one very touching video by NBC News. This footage reveals the devastated neighborhoods and beaches, and presents official updates on the rebuilding process. The entire area has been a no-fly or filming zone for months but our friend Jesse was permitted exclusive entry for filming. There is a lot of work ahead, but with God’s grace new life will spring forth.
I have dedicated my life as a full-time volunteer for more than 20 years, serving the needs of people on what is often the most difficult day of their lives, or in the lives of the people they love. As a First Responder Chaplain, I am one of the first on the scene of disasters. These can include fires, flooding, earthquakes, hurricanes, hospital visits, mass shootings, any tragic event or disaster in which there is a loss of life, injury, or displacement. My duties often include death notifications to victims’ families as well as first responder line-of-duty deaths. And it’s not uncommon for this to lead to performing funerals and memorial services, especially if the family is not connected to a local church or synagogue. I work with survivors of natural and man-made disasters as well as non-profits, government agencies, and four international relief organizations.
Disaster Response Chaplains are volunteers who raise their own support. Everything we do is completely self-funded, including our airfare, food, gas, and lodging during each deployment. A deployment can be to a local hospital or to a foreign nation, or anything in between. The deployment can be in a single day or for several months, it’s not uncommon to not know the duration until we arrive on scene.
Serving over a dozen agencies, traveling both domestically and internationally, I am always prepared for deployment 24/7, 365 days a year. I remain unceasingly driven to render guidance, comfort, and spiritual support to those who are enduring horrific hardships. First Responder Chaplain’s are a ministry of hope and supportive presence to communities and individuals that are searching for healing and spiritual support during the aftermath and recovery process.
My time is split between deployments across the nation and serving the local communities in San Diego, Santa Barbara & Ventura Counties. Assisting the young to the elderly whose lives have been uprooted from emotional, mental, spiritual and/or financial collapse, including PTSD, my goal is to help walk them through their trauma and navigate next steps to healing and recovery.
I have already had requests in the first few weeks of January to deploy to Clarksville TN, Lewiston ME, Maui HI, Nepal, and Spring Valley CA — more opportunities to serve than in any previous season of months ever. Raising monthly support allows me to be prepared to respond immediately to the call to deploy as well as to continue with ongoing required training and certifications mandated to serve as a First Responder Chaplain and Trauma Counselor.
Your partnership is important. The opportunities to serve are far greater than the resources to deploy.
Below are three ways to donate:
Zelle 805-901-1574
Venmo @rik-frye
https://meigiving.org/donate/rikfrye
Hope805.org is a ministry partner with Mission Enablers International, a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt, fully compliant, verifiable and in good standing non-profit organization.
The new hope805.org website will be online in the next few weeks
With A Grateful Heart,
Rik Frye
First Responder Chaplain
Trauma Counselor
805 901-1574
805hope@gmail.com
Lahaina FIRE Recovery - 400,000 TONS of Ash - WHERE will ... YouTube · Jesse G. Wald - December 27, 2023
Lahaina FIRE Update - the CLEANUP Begins on MAUI ... YouTube · Jesse G. Wald - January 19th 2024
The battle lost against America’s deadliest fire in over 100 years YouTube · NBC News - December 28, 2023
NBC 12-28-2023: Maui Fire Fighter, Aina Kohler, shares her story, “In the Ashes”, of losing her home in Lahaina and the challenges of being on the front lines as a Maui Fire Fighter on August 8th, 2023. Aina and I, along with 50 local clinical and pastoral counselors, attended the all day Trauma Counseling Training Sessions on Saturday, October 7th and 14th, at Hope Chapel in Kihei HI. - Thanks Pastor Derek -
They call me uncle…
Pastor’s Gathering