Thirteen years ago, Anthony and Angela King sold most of their possessions to move from Hawaii to attend West Coast Baptist College and to serve the Lord. Now, they are serving the Lord as church planters in downtown Honolulu, Hawaii.

The Kings were saved but unfaithful to church when the US Navy first moved them to Hawaii. Anthony started a company and was named in the press as one of the up and coming business leaders in the state. But while catering to high-end clients, the Kings slowly began to realize that money and success were not as satisfying as they had originally thought.

They began attending Ohana Baptist Church with Pastor Wayne Surface, and God worked in their hearts through the preaching. They began going faithfully to every service and were involved in ministry. But God was not done working with them yet.

One day during his usual morning commute, Anthony felt an overwhelming emptiness. He prayed, “I can’t do this for the rest of my life. God, there has to be more to life than making and spending money.” He spoke to Pastor Surface who told him, “If you aren’t fulfilling your purpose, you will always be disappointed with what you are doing.”

During a series of guest missionary speakers, God began to work in Anthony’s heart. One missionary gave his testimony of leaving accounting to become a missionary. The next week, another missionary preached about certain tribes of Israel refusing to cross the Jordan River because the land was good where they were. “I think there are some people here who need to cross over the Jordan.” Anthony knew it was him.

After receiving counsel from their pastor, the Kings decided to attend Bible college. In August of 2003, they closed down their business, sold most of their belongings, dropped off the last box of family photos at the Post Office and boarded a plane bound for California. The Kings felt God calling them to full-time vocational service and headed out to West Coast Baptist College by faith.

“We had never been to Lancaster before and even the day we left, probably couldn’t have picked it out on a map,” says Anthony. “We were just moving forward by faith, believing that God would take care of us. He always has, and He always will.”

They immediately were connected with the church ministry. Because of his technical experience, he was hired on staff as the IT Director for Lancaster Baptist Church.

Over the next twenty-four months, Anthony would lead the charge in establishing Striving Together Publications’ first web store, kick off live-streaming of Lancaster Baptist Church’s services, and pioneer West Coast Baptist College’s Online Learning Program.

“It was amazing to see God use these gifts, talents, and abilities that He had given me to advance the cause of Christ.”

The Kings thrived during their ministry at Lancaster Baptist Church. At the time, Anthony believed he would stay in Lancaster for the rest of his life, and he poured himself into whatever he could do for the Lord.

In 2008, the Kings launched a new Sunday school class for single adults. During this season, the singles ministry became one of the fastestgrowing segments in the church—in large part due to Anthony’s passion and the Lord’s hand on his life.

Just as it seemed they had found their niche for service, God began moving in Anthony’s heart again. Pastor Surface invited him to come speak at Ohana Baptist Church for a special event. As Anthony drove through Honolulu and saw thousands of homes without a nearby gospel-preaching church, he prayed that God would send someone to plant a church for these people. God answered his prayer, but not how he expected.

After much prayer and counsel, Anthony knew he would be going back to plant a church in downtown Honolulu. In June of 2012, the Kings resigned their full-time position at Lancaster Baptist Church and headed out on full-time deputation to raise the funds needed to plant what would become Huikala Baptist Church. Over the next twelve months, they would criss-cross the nation three times, present their vision in ninety-nine churches and raise the necessary support to get to Honolulu and get to work.

Upon arriving in Honolulu, the Kings were able to lease a former Fantastic Sams Hair Salon in a prime location, just 100 yards from the Ala Moana Center—the largest outdoor shopping center in the world and a major Honolulu landmark. “The story of this building is just another modern day miracle of God responding to faith.”

On October 13, 2013, Huikala Baptist Church opened its doors to eighty-six guests, seven of which would accept Jesus as Saviour before the day came to a close. Since that day, God has given them steady growth in response to their soulwinning and outreach efforts.

“God does everything in His perfect time,” Anthony said. “He has given us some strong, loyal, committed families who moved to Honolulu praying that God would give them a church. We were doing the opposite. We were a church praying for strong families.”

“God has done so much in the past fifteen months, but we don’t believe He is finished with us yet. While we’ve seen dozens saved and eleven baptized, we still have hundreds of thousands in our city who still need Jesus.”