I was born at Tripler General Army Hospital in Honolulu, Hawaii. I spent my early years there and have, between the 1980s and 2000s, gone back to visit. I spent two significant summers (1982 and 1984) in Hawaii with my brother Mike who was, at the time, the Honolulu area director of Youth For Christ. The Hawaii Youth For Christ was doing some amazing ministry during the 80’s, namely powerful Gospel preaching and dynamic one on one discipleship. As a high schooler I was in awe of their love for Christ and their lives of service that sprang from such a love. During those two summers I soaked up all I could. I was a veritable ministry sponge! And it helped that my brother Mike took me everywhere he went. I was his helper at every ministry event, in the office, at church, during visitations, and at their summer volleyball outreach. This was in the true spirit of discipleship.

Back in California, our home bible study (started in my mom’s house) was growing. And we were in search of a church. God connected one of our members with Community Bible Church of Vallejo. It was there that our passion for the Gospel and discipleship became grounded in theology. To be specific, the doctrines of grace came to life for us in the Scriptures. In time, God taught us of His desire to spread His fame worldwide to gather for Himself global worshippers of every tongue, tribe, people, and nation (Isaiah 49:1-6; Revelation 5:9-14). It was at Community Bible Church, in 1994, that I took on a full time youth pastor position.

In July 2005, one of my best friends and ministry partners, Rod Santiago, challenged me to pray with him about starting a ministry in Hawaii. Though I was truly settled and content where I was I accepted his invitation and began to pray daily. In my heart there had always been a desire to minister back in Hawaii, the place of my birth and the place God gave me a vision for the Gospel and for discipleship. But there was no practical or discernible way that God was showing me. For 30 years the desire kindled, but the dream could not be realized.

About 3 ½ (out of a total of 4) years into praying about the church plant the Lord brought to my attention 3 key men who had all said, “If you start a church in Hawaii, I will go!” These men were vital because they were all ministry leaders and teachers themselves and I had served with each one of them over the decades at Community Bible. This was nothing short of amazing and I was in utter awe of God. A leadership team was assembled and was heart-ready to pack up and move thousands of miles over the Pacific Ocean to begin a new ministry work. This was obviously His vision and His heart and we were all just servants in His master plan to spread His glory to the nations.

Our target area was Central Oahu and we moved to the island in early August of 2009. We began with a home bible study and the Lord has grown it from there. The church officially launched on Sunday November 8, 2009.