Many of us hope to do great things at the beginning of a new year, but for University of Hawaii basketball player, Kiana Lee, this new year led to a great new adventure. On January 1, 2018, Kiana boarded a plane and flew off to begin a 2-year appointment for service in Brazil as an International Mission Board (IMB) Journeyman.

Kiana is a member of Engage Church in Hilo on the Big Island of Hawaii, a Hawaii Pacific Baptist Convention (HPBC) church-plant supported by the North American Mission Board (NAMB). She came from San Diego to the University of Hawaii at Hilo to play basketball. During her first year on campus, God began to show her His greater plan. Through her involvement with the Baptist Campus Ministry (BCM) in Hilo and her engagement with her church, she began to grow in her faith and to serve. Kiana especially has a heart for international students. She was baptized in the Pacific waters around Hilo in 2015, and soon began pursuing missions. Since then Kiana has served on two short-term overseas trips with Engage Church and also spent 5 months in Asia with an IMB Hands-On project. Recently at our annual meeting, Rose from the IMB team that led our mission  conference, came to me and said, “Please send us more like Kiana!”

Please keep Kiana in your prayers as she learns Portuguese and as she seeks to share Jesus with the lost people in a major city in Brazil. Thank you for your co-operative giving that supports the HPBC, NAMB, IMB, BCM, Engage Church, and Kiana’s calling to serve as a missionary. 

By John Endriss