ASSEMBLIES OF GOD
Four Years after the Journey
Kailua Assembly of God
Kailua, Hawaii
“Thank you, friends of AGTrust, for providing scholarships that enable churches like ours at Kailua Assembly of God to take the Acts 2 Journey.” (Renee Lo)
Pastor Dan Preciado and his leadership team at Kailua Assembly of God in Kailua, Hawaii, participated in the Acts 2 Journey (A2J) in 2017. Four years later, they took a look at the impact that the Journey had on their church family.
Kailua Assembly hosts a Vacation Bible School, directed by Rich and Wanda Ferguson, missionaries to Peru.
“Our leadership team was a little apprehensive at first when we began the Acts 2 Journey,” associate pastor Renee Lo says. “It’s always difficult to make adjustments and point out the changes necessary for your church to grow not only numerically, but also spiritually.”
A few months ago in 2021 during a staff meeting at the church, Renee brought their attention to the Acts 2 Journey information binder setting on a shelf. Curious whether Kailua Assembly had achieved the goals they had set forth during the A2J four years earlier, the staff decided to revisit that information and evaluate the church’s progress.
They checked their recent church brochure and saw that it reflected the core values and vision the leadership team and church had formulated during the Acts 2 Journey. Today, Kailua Assembly continues to reap the fruit of the prayers the leadership and congregation prayed and the work they did during the Journey.
Boys and girls participate in BGMC (Boys and Girls Missionary Challenge) at Kailua Assembly. The children’s church missions giving has increased by 25 percent since the Acts 2 Journey.
“The Acts 2 Journey was amazing,” Renee says. She lists a few ways the church has grown numerically, spiritually, and relationally:
- The children’s ministry in 2017 was already thriving, so the leadership targeted that area; the children’s church attendance has increased by 25 percent since the Acts 2 Journey.
- Staff members began to disciple leaders in the church, and that led to a phenomenal growth in ministry areas where there had been a lack of people willing to serve. Church members became more committed and stepped up to fill the positions.
- Spiritual growth took place in the congregation, and people began operating in their gifts and ministries. They started going into the community and reaching the unchurched. Much of the church growth has been new people added to the church rather than transfer growth.
Royal Rangers and their leaders at Kailua Assembly of God
Love God-Love People-Share the Word is the mission statement for Kailua Assembly’s multiethnic, multigenerational and multicultural congregation. Some of their areas of outreach in addition to Women’s Ministries, Girls Ministries, Royal Rangers, and Youth and Children’s Ministries include:
1) The church reaches out to the local high school and Pastor Dan Preciado serves as the golf coach; 2) Men’s Ministries is growing and ministering to residents of a men’s home that is similar to Teen Challenge; and 3) church members minister to military families and host activities for them at the church and on the military base.
Pastor Dan Preciado (center) prays with the football team at the nearby high school.
Kailua Assembly of God supports at least 27 missionaries and missions groups, and for the past four years the church has been first in their district (Hawaii Assemblies of God) in giving to Assemblies of God World Missions.
“If your church needs new vision or revitalization in one or more areas, we recommend you consider participating in the Acts 2 Journey,” Renee says. “It’s one thing to talk about making adjustments, but having a comprehensive plan for action, like the A2J one-year process provides, is crucial to defining your church’s purpose and seeing the fruit of your vision.”
Pastor Dan Preciado and Jessica Choy, youth pastor and missions director, receive the Hawaii District’s first place award for Kailua Assembly’s giving to Assemblies of God World Missions. The church has received this first place award for the past four years.
Dan and Jan Preciado accepted their first senior pastorate at Kailua Assembly in 2013, after serving at churches in California. Renee Lo serves as associate pastor at Kailua Assembly. Her husband, Alex, serves on the board and with other ministries in the church. Both were born and raised in Hawaii.