Week of February 22-28

God gave us a great week of deputation and ministry. The next couple of months will take us to Virginia, Tennessee, Florida, Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin. We are thankful for the busyness of deputation! It is evidence of God’s provision and promises. 

Last Saturday and Sunday we attended the missions conference at Temple Baptist Church in Fredericksburg, VA. There was such a vibrant spirit at this wonderful work. Pastor Michael Reid was a blessing and encouragement. It was neat to hear how the Heritage Baptist Church (our sending church) has helped Pastor Reid and this church in its early stages. 

Tuesday, Cara was able to find out the exact due date for the baby. Baby Soto is scheduled to arrive around September 20th. 

Wednesday we headed down south to Rocky Mount, NC to start a five day conference with Pastor Nathan Starr and the Cornerstone Independent Baptist Church. We appreciated so much the sweet spirit of this dear church. You can’t beat sweet tea, southern bbq and hospitality! 

As we look forward to the months ahead, our eyes are set on the Hawaiian Islands. We can’t tell you enough how privileged we are to be able to share our burden for Hawaii. What a joy it is to be able to do what God has called us to do. 

Thank you for your prayers and support!

Weeks of January 25-February 21

We apologize for not updating our blog the last couple of weeks. God has been tremendously good to us in aligning our paths with such great churches. It is always an encouragement to visit churches around the country that are still reaching out with a passion for world evangelization. 

Not only did we have some great meetings this past month, but we also found out that we will be expecting our second child in September of this year. We thank God for this wonderful news!

The last week of January led us to the Shenandoah Heights Baptist Church in Virginia. It was a blessing to be able to spend time with Pastor Paul and to hear of all that God is doing at this thriving church. 

We then flew to California to be with the Montecito Baptist Church in the city of Ontario. What a time of refreshment! Pastor Ezequiel Salazar was such an encouragement to us. His example of faithfulness to our Lord was a tremendous challenge to us. It was definitely a privilege to spend time with such a great man of God. We enjoyed the missions week and especially the international dinner on Saturday night. They gave us the responsibility to judge the different missions booths. We ate more food than we had realized was possible!  It was a fun night at an enthusiastic church!  We were also able to catch up with some family on the West Coast.

After California, we flew back to Nashville, TN for a week long meeting with the South Haven Baptist Church. Pastor Frank Gagliano treated us to a wonderful week! We were overwhelmed and humbled by the church's love for missionaries and missions. God worked in our hearts through the preaching of Dr. David Smith. Cara also got to spend some with her sister Julianna, who is a teacher there at the Christian school. 

The next week lead us to Nolensville Road Baptist Church under the leadership of Pastor Denny Patterson. What a gracious church! We appreciated the opportunity to meet and fellowship with Pastor and his family. It was also neat to hear of his connection to some church planters that were sent out of Heritage Baptist Church (our sending church).

Lastly in this month long trip, we headed south to Hot Springs, Arkansas. We spent a whole Sunday with Pastor Eric Capaci and the Gospel Light Baptist Church. While I was a teenager, Pastor Eric would come preach at my home church during Spirit Week every year. God has definitely used him in my life throughout the years. It was a blessing to also see Daniel Thomas attending Champion Baptist College. Daniel grew up at the same church I did in Hawaii and was a student while I taught there for a couple of years. 

Thank you for taking the time to read our blog. We appreciate so much your prayers and support for us. It is awesome to know that so many people are behind us. 

Prayer Requests: 

God would provide more meetings. (We are currently at 41%)

Savings for our departure to Hawaii. 

We would be able to determine the name of our church. 

God would give safety and health to our family as we travel. 

Strength and health for Cara as she carries our 2nd child. 

Week of January 18-24

We are excited about the great start we have had to the year 2015 as God has put us in some amazing churches. What a blessing it has been to be apart of so many great works!

Sunday, January 18, we were able to attend two different churches. Sunday morning we were able to drop in at Great Hope Baptist Church in Chesapeake, VA.  It was encouraging to see all that God is doing there. We thank God for the faithfulness of Pastor Godfrey.

Sunday night we had a meeting with Calvary Baptist Church in Yorktown, VA. What a phenomenal work for God. It was challenging to meet a church with such a heart for missions. We also were able to see some old friends that used to attend Friendship Baptist Church in Ewa, Hawaii while we were there.  What an amazing privilege to connect with previous friends while we travel to various churches.

We headed north for a midweek service with Landmark Baptist Church in Richmond, VA. We thank God for the great work this church is doing in helping to start other churches.

Later that week we were able to be home for a few days and were able to celebrate our daughter’s 1st birthday! The fellowship with some of our friends from Heritage was both refreshing and enjoyable. Adelyn thoroughly enjoyed all of the food, friends and gifts. 

Thank you again for all of your prayers and support! Deputation would be impossible without you! 

2015 Begins!

Week of January 11-17

Just finished a great Missions Conference at a church in Chilhowie, Virginia!  We enjoyed a great week with a very Missions minded crowd! One of our favorite aspects of the week was the fellowship enjoyed at dinner each night! We loved getting to know the other missionaries and church staff! Some were friends we hadn't seen since candidate school at BIMI! 
We were definitely encouraged this week! 

After the conference's end, we were able to go to Pennsylvania to attend a friends wedding! Jonathan grew up in Hawaii with Rafael, and we were so glad to share in his very special day! We are so proud of Jonathan and Alexandria's heart for God and desire to serve Him! 

Trust in the Lord

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

The past few months we have been able to see God prove these familiar verses in our lives.  We have seen that God is faithful.  We have seen God provide.  We have been amazed at God's goodness.

We started this incredible journey in May at BIMI's candidate school.  We began nervously anticipating what the next months would bring.  We were eager to fulfill God's calling, but anxious that we would be inadequate to perform such a task.  Many times God used verses, circumstances, and others' encouragement to remind us that "He who has called us is faithful" and "He also will do it."

We are now finishing the the first quarter of deputation.  The churches that God has allowed us to be in has helped us to understand in a deeper way the great God we serve. To see God work so closely in our lives has led us to feel very thankful that we can trust in the Lord.

Last week we ended our deputation for the year at the Victory Baptist Church in Roanoke Rapids, NC. Pastor Jeremy Kobernat and the church family were nothing but a blessing and an encouragement. They were some of the most gracious people we have ever met. 

Christmas is approaching and we have the wonderful opportunity to be with family for a couple of weeks. 

Thank you again for all that pray for us. We appreciate your prayers and could not do it without you. 

Proclaiming His Goodness

Psalm 26:7 That I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all thy wondrous works.  

God has certainly done many wondrous works in our family's life!  We are so thankful for his travel mercies, family's health, and incredible provision!  We began last week in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, with Emmanuel Baptist Church.  We enjoyed spending all day with the sweet church people and pastoral staff.  We were encouraged to remember God's many blessings on our lives and to give thanks daily!  

The rest of the week was spent in northern Virginia! We were able to get completely moved into our new place and spend time with Cara's family over the holiday.  We are thankful for godly parents and family that are supportive of God's will in our lives and enjoy each memory we are able to make with them!  

This past Sunday we were with Truth Baptist Church in Mechanicsville, Virginia.  The pastor, Eric Hastings, grew up at Heritage, our sending church.  We were greatly encouraged by the example he set in establishing a church plant.  It was exciting to hear of all that is happening with that church and to see their burden to reach their community.  Rafael was blessed to be involved in the Sunday school and then to preach the evening service.  Spending the day with the Hastings family only whet our appetites to reach Hawaii as quickly as possible!

We Stand Amazed!

We Stand Amazed!

 Psalm 84:11, "For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly."


We have been able to visit a few more states and a COUNTRY these past weeks!  We were able to be in missions meetings in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Michigan, and even Canada!  Calvary Baptist Church in Gaines, Michigan, had a great conference with Dr. J. B. Godfrey as the speaker.  Pastor Canaday took us to the biggest Christmas store in the world, and Adelyn had a blast shopping with Dr. and Mrs. Godfrey.  We traveled a little further north to enjoy a fabulous conference at Faithway Baptist Church in Ontario, Canada.  Pastor Wall was a huge encouragement to us personally, and we truly enjoyed getting to know the sweet college students there!  We were able to play some basketball with the students which was really fun! Cara enjoyed being able to share her testimony at the ladies' brunch, and we both enjoyed getting to share our heart for Hawaii in the day school on Friday and to several Sunday school  classes on Sunday morning.

Thank you for taking time to read the latest on our deputation trail. We stand amazed at how God has worked so far. Please continue to keep us in your prayers!