Band Organizes Concert to Assist Victims of Samoa Quake

The contemporary Christian group The Katinas is organizing a benefit concert to assist residents of the islands of Samoa and their native American Samoa, which were rocked by a massive 8.2 magnitude earthquake Tuesday that spawned a devastating tsunami.

At least 169 were dead Thursday, and hundreds more were missing, the Associated Press reported.

The Hope For Samoa Benefit Concert will be held Oct. 7 at Fellowship Bible Church in Brentwood, Tenn., and will feature The Katinas as well as Natalie Grant and American Idol finalist Melinda Doolittle.

The Katinas—comprised of brothers Sam, Joe, James, John and Jesse—said their father and other immediate family survived the earthquake and flooding. But some friends and close family remained missing on Wednesday, and a cousin had been confirmed dead.

The band has also established a “Samoa Relief” fund to help meet immediate and long-term needs on the island. The brothers said they had been planning their third annual missions trip to Samoa in November.

“Yesterday’s events have made us even more passionate to go and help our people,” the brothers wrote on their Web site Wednesday. “… We have been blessed to travel the world and minister the message of Jesus through music. Now we are blessed to give back to the very place we come from.”