Four 'Ewa clergymen have set aside their theological differences to band together to help the homeless and other needy people in their region and hope that others in the community will join them.

The four have led their congregations into the 'Ewa region in search of the neediest. That work has taken them to the campgrounds at White Plains Beach in Kalaeloa where about 20 families have pitched their tents and called it home.

At least once a month, the volunteers bring food, blankets and other supplies to the families and try to provide moral support. The idea is not to give those on the beach enough to live there permanently, Burgess said. "We don't want to give them a handout — it's a hand up," he said.

About 75 percent of the families once lived under conventional roofs but got priced out of the housing market by rising rent, Burgess said.

"They've got jobs just like us," Wilson said. "They just can't afford the rent."

The group has also gone into area schools, helping with community projects and mentoring students.

Bush's Our Lady of Perpetual Help, which has been around since 'Ewa Plantation's heyday, has a congregation of about 2,000. The other three churches have no more than about 100 members each and lease space for worship services. So pooling resources together is critical, Kraesig said.

"If it was just one of us, we couldn't do this at all," he said.

Kraesig said that a year into operations, Na Kapa has only scratched the surface. For instance, the group is looking forward to the day it can gather up enough people and resources to go into 'Ewa Beach's Hau Bush, also known as One'ula Beach Park, which has a history of drug and homeless activity.

That day will come "when our resources get a little bit larger," he said.

As a result, the group has gone around asking other churches, regional businesses and area residents for help.

"We're trying to find a way to be the catalyst to get the community to work together a little bit better than it has in the past," Kraesig said.

State Rep. Kymberly Pine, R-43rd ('Ewa Beach, Iroquois Point, Pu'uloa), marvels at how four men with different views of religion have been able to unite to do good. "It's a great example to everyone in 'Ewa Beach that we can't just rely on people from the outside to take care of us," Pine said. "We need to ... take care of our own."

Last month, the state House of Representatives honored the four preachers for spawning Na Kapa.

Wilson said the group is not out to win converts for their churches. "We're just freely giving of ourselves to them, just trying to really do what Jesus said to do," he said.