Small Hawaii Church Makes Big impact In A Strategic Location
KAILUA-KONA, Hawaii — Raising up the next generation of church leaders is “vitally important,” says Brian Frable, pastor of Kona Baptist Church on the Big Island of Hawaii.
It’s important to Kona Baptist Church and the Hawaii Pacific Baptist Convention “as we advance God’s Kingdom work in the Pacific, Asia, and throughout the world,” he told Baptist Press.
“I think God is doing a work in the next generation,” Frable said. “Our students are serving in the church. They’re being discipled to lead out and grow others in their faith. That’s how our islands are going to be won. That’s how the world will be won.”
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About 115 people attend Sunday morning worship services at Kona Baptist. In addition to Frable discipling three young men one-on-one who are sensing a call to the Gospel ministry, church members lead in several local ministries as well as international missions overseas in Japan.
Perhaps the most unique ministry is a monthly gathering at Kona Baptist of those who want to develop their skill in Ikebana, the art of formal Japanese flower arrangement according to strict rules.
“One member is a master sensei,” the pastor said of Nobuko Humphries, one of the church’s oldest members. “She wanted to start reaching out some way to the community and she has a passion for ikebana.”
“Every month we have an ikebana class and every year we do an exhibition,” Frable said. “We invite the whole community, feed them a great meal, share Christ and have testimonies. There is a lot of interest in Japanese culture in this area so we get a lot of people who may not come on Sunday morning.”
In addition to several members leading in-home Bible studies, one member has a diving ministry. He uses his diving club as a way to meet spiritual needs, the pastor said. A couple who are members at Kona Baptist give Bibles away to those incarcerated, homeless, and in nursing homes — nearly 40,000 since 2000 — through their website: freebibles.net.
“On their own they collect used Bibles, extra Bibles, and send them free to people who are incarcerated, in hospitals, all over the world, to people who request them,” Frable said. “They repurpose Bibles not being used elsewhere.
“We try to encourage people to have ministries that flow out of their lives,” the pastor continued. “Whether it’s Japanese floral arrangements, diving, free Bibles or other members’ ministries, we gather once a week to share the Gospel, and the rest of the week use ministries as a way to connect with people, to minister to their spiritual needs, to share the Gospel and show them God’s mercy.”
Yokohama International Baptist Church in Japan is part of the Hawaii Pacific Baptist Convention. Frable met Yokohama International’s pastor Ben Howard about five years ago at a pastor’s gathering, and “there was an immediate connection,” Frable said. Kona Baptist plans to return for their third trip to Yokohama next spring to assist in an English Camp with about 160 junior high girls who want to practice their English and to host a Hawaiian-themed English café.
Kona Baptist allocates 7 percent of its annual budget to missions through the Cooperative Program, the way Southern Baptists work together in missions and ministries in North America and to the ends of the earth, yet over the last year it’s been almost 8 percent because of members’ extra giving.
“I believe in the Cooperative Program,” Frable said. “At Kona Baptist, we remember that we are a product of Southern Baptist cooperation. Somebody more than 50 years ago gave to the Cooperative Program, to Annie Armstrong [Easter Offering for North American Missions] so the Gospel could be preached on the Kona coast. We want to make sure we continue doing a faithful job in the Gospel ministry and in starting new works.
“In Hawaii most people come from a non-Bible background,” the pastor continued. “Here we have people from very diverse walks of life. One of the big challenges here is bringing unity among such variety. We have to spend a lot of time explaining how we cooperate together so the church can understand and invest with us in the Great Commission.”
Kona Baptist also is generous in its giving to five SBC- and Hawaii Pacific-specific mission offerings.
“I’ve worked with IMB personnel. I work hand in hand with church planters here in Hawaii,” said Frable, who was recently part of recognizing a partnership with Gateway Seminary to bring a campus to the Hawaiian Islands. “When people start to understand the benefit of our partnerships, to really see what our emphasis on reaching people does, worldwide, because we work together, that’s where the blessing of the Cooperative Program comes in. The church plants that have come out of this church – six in the last 20 years – point back to the cooperative effort of Southern Baptists.”
Frable, an Oklahoma transplant, recently completed his second one-year term as president of the Hawaii Pacific Baptist Convention, and his fifth year as an officer on the Executive Board.
“One of the things I’ve learned is how important a few islands can be in the middle of a vast ocean,” Frable said. “I didn’t realize how important Hawaii is in being a gateway to the entire Pacific region. I can get on a jet plane and fly 12 hours and still not get to the church [in our state convention] that is the farthest west of us.
“HPBC covers seven time zones, two days and six countries. We have a vibrant partnership with IMB and a tremendous opportunity to see the gospel come through these islands and go west. That’s why we’re training leaders. We want to see people raised up to go wherever God calls them.”
This article has been republished with permission from Baptist Press.
Karen L. Willoughby is a national correspondent for Baptist Press.