Meet our Pastors

Pastor Larry Kaneshiro was born and reared right here in Wahiawa, Hawaii. He came to know Jesus Christ as his Savior at the age of 14, and shortly thereafter dedicated his life to the Lord. Though being young in the faith, God's evident hand of grace was upon his life in that in his last years of high school he was named "The Most Outstanding Junior Boy" and "The Most Outstanding Senior Boy"; he was also the senior class president. It was during his senior year of high school that our pastor's dad was dying of cancer. Though God had specifically called him into the ministry, Pastor Kaneshiro had resigned himself to staying at home to take over the family farm. God had other plans though, for in the spring of 1958--just before his high school graduation--our pastor's dad was graciously healed by God. God then, clearly led him to Bob Jones Universtiy where he majored in Bible and minored in secondary education. As a ministerial student, our pastor participated in various outreach ministries, which God used to give him good experience in preaching God's Word; and as a senior, the Lord enabled him to be voted as one of the top three among all the ministerial students participating in the preacher boy contest.

After graduating from BJU in 1963, Pastor Kaneshiro served in several churches, but his main ministry was at Hanalani Schools where he taught sixth grade for 36 years. In 1994, his first wife, Amy died after a long battle with cancer ~ this furnace of affliction was used of God to purge and draw our pastor into a very close relationship with God. In June 1994, in addition to his responsibilities at Hanalani, Pastor Kaneshiro accepted the call to be the pastor at Poamoho Bible Church. In 1996, he married his second wife, Blanche, who was a widow--they have one grown daughter who is married to a missionary in Mexico. In 1998, Pastor Kaneshiro accepted the call to be the senior pastor at Calvary Independent Church. God has used the deep trials of his first wife's illness and death to give him a pure and precious relationship with our Lord, as well as a heart for the Lord's people--and the unsaved who are without God's peace, comfort, and eternal security.

Pastor Mike Kaneshiro was born at Koolau, Kauai. His family later moved to Oahu where he graduated from Leilehua High School in 1945. During this time he helped his father on the family pig farm and this enabled him to attend Bob Jones University in Greenville, SC. There he majored in Bible and History graduating in 1954. After graduation he returned to Hawaii where he taught at King's Schools in Wahiawa and soon added the roles of driver and pastor of King's Bible Church. Having felt God's calling to the mission field before enrolling at Bob Jones, Pastor Kaneshiro left for Japan with his wife, Pauline, and their four children when the doors were finally opened in 1968 through the ministry of Child Evangelism Fellowship. After one year of language school, the family arrived in August 1969 and served there until 1980. They then moved to Saitama, Japan and served until they returned to Hawaii in 1985. After their return to Hawaii, Pastor Mike worked at Hanalani Schools in Mililani as their maintenance man where he became known as "Uncle Mike." He also served for five years with Good News Jail and Prison Ministry, preaching and training chaplains' assistants. Pastor Mike is currently serving as the pastor for the Japanese Language Department of Calvary Independent Church