About Us
WE ARE ORDINARY PEOPLE
We are ordinary people with a steadfast faith in the goodness of God the Father, the grace of His Son Jesus Christ, and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. Together, we worship and give thanks to God our Father, to whom all glory, honor, and praise belong. We recognize that every individual is created in God’s image, uniquely and wonderfully made. Our church is a community of believers who embrace the gifts of the Holy Spirit, allowing us to be instruments for advancing God’s kingdom.
SERVICE TIME
Sunday School
Live Streaming
AT VALLEY ISLE FELLOWSHIP
WE HAVE A MISSION
We are all given a profound mission: to Love God, Love His Church, and Love His World. Our aim is to emulate Christ, striving to look, live, and love like Jesus. We pray that our community sees Christ in us, not just ourselves. Pastor Nick encourages VIF to share Jesus with others, starting in Maui County and reaching out to the world. God’s desire is for all people—men, women, and children—to be saved, believing that Jesus Christ died on the cross for the forgiveness of sins and was resurrected to assure us of eternal life and a right relationship with Almighty God.
Valley Isle Fellowship
Our Team
PASTORAL TEAM
Senior Pastor Nick Love
Pastor Nick is a devoted servant of God with a unique blend of scientific knowledge and theological depth. He holds a degree in Human Biology from Michigan State University and a Master of Divinity from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Since 2006, he has passionately pursued ministry, bringing his love for the Word of God to every aspect of his service.
In 2017, Pastor Nick expanded his ministry as a U.S. Air Force Chaplain, providing spiritual care and guidance to service members and their families. His deep commitment to faith and compassion shines through in his pastoral duties, inspiring those around him to seek a closer relationship with God.
Pastor Nick is supported by his loving wife, Alexandra, and together they are blessed with five children: Jude, Moses, Miriam, Silas, and Abel. His ministry is a testament to his dedication to spreading the Gospel and nurturing a vibrant, faith-filled community both within the Church and beyond.
Phone: (808) 397-1003
Email: nick@vifmaui.com
Pastor Steffen Yamada
Pastor Steffen and his wife Josie were members of Rejoice Church from 1992 and charter members of VIF upon the merger with Wailuku Baptist Church in 2000. Pastor Steffen has led and served in the Children’s Ministries since 1994 and served as VBS Director since 1995. As a director of over 20 VBS events and Family Nights, Pastor Steffen has vast experience in running Family events, he has excellent administrative skills and experience. He served as a VIF Trustee from 2010-2021 and brings great knowledge of the history and of how God has been guiding VIF to be the Church family that it is today.
Pastor Steffen currently oversees our Vacation Bible School along with Children’s, Youth and Family Ministries. His desire is to disciple and mentor young leaders that are called to these ministries to be all that God has called them to be. Josie currently is in charge of our Childcare Ministry, and takes care of the infants and toddlers during service times. She served as Church Treasure from 2019-2021 and still serves as one of the tithe counters and is an advisor on our Financial Committee.
Pastor Steffen was born and raised on Oahu, and attended Kalani High School. Before retirement in 2022 Pastor Steffen was a Pastry Chef at the Grand Wailea Resort and Spa. He has worked in various hotels and bake shops since 1975. He and Josie were married in1990, raised four boys and are currently blessed to be babysitters of their 2 grandchildren. Pastor Steffen and Josie are called by God, to serve and live their lives dedicated to God’s family values and the Christian upbringing of Children of the Lord.
Phone: (808) 264-0397
Email: steffen@vifmaui.com
Pastor Jim (James) Wellsand
Pastor Jim and Maria have been dedicated members of the VIF community for the past two years. Pastor Jim has a pastoral career spanning over four decades since 1982, Pastor Jim brings a wealth of experience and devotion to his ministry.
Currently, Pastor Jim co-leads the Kupuna ministry and actively participates in both the Prayer and Men’s ministries. Maria plays a vital role in the Women’s ministry and the Greeting ministry, reflecting their joint commitment to serving the church family.
Before retiring to Maui in 2012, Pastor Jim led congregations in northern California for 25 years and in Indiana for 5 years. He also served as the Interim Pastor at Lahaina Baptist Church from 2014 to 2015. Prior to his pastoral work, Pastor Jim had a distinguished career as an engineer for the US Army and served as an officer in the US Navy. He hails from Valparaiso, Indiana, while Maria is originally from Lisbon, Portugal. The couple is also blessed to be the legal guardians of their granddaughter, Kawai, who brings immense joy into their lives. This special role has deepened their bond and further enriched their commitment to faith and community.
Phone: (808) 250-1855
Email: jwellsand@gmail.com
Deacons
Bob (Robert) Beck, Nestor Zambo, Ken (Kenneth) Sakai, Joe Wade, Ernie Paz
At Valley Isle Fellowship, our deacons play an important role in the life of our church. The word deacon comes from a Greek word meaning “servant,” and that is exactly how our deacons seek to lead through humble service to Christ and His people.
Our deacons serve alongside our ministry leaders, helping support, strengthen, and care for the various ministries of the church. Rather than overseeing from a distance, they step into the everyday work of ministry. They are true helpers, men who look for needs, support volunteers, and help ensure that the practical needs of the church are cared for so the mission of the church can move forward.
Each of our deacons focuses on a specific ministry area. This allows them to build relationships with the people they serve, encourage ministry leaders, and help create healthy, thriving ministries. Whether visiting members, caring for our kupuna, helping maintain our church property, or supporting ministry teams, their role is to serve faithfully and quietly in the background so that the body of Christ can flourish.
The model we see in Scripture reminds us that strong churches are built when people with servant hearts step forward to meet real needs (Acts 6:1–7). Our deacons embody this spirit of service. They are men who love Jesus, love His church, and are committed to strengthening the unity and health of our church family.
We are grateful for the way these men serve and for the example they set. Their quiet faithfulness helps make Valley Isle Fellowship a place where people are cared for, ministries are supported, and Christ is honored.
If you see one of our deacons serving around campus or supporting a ministry, take a moment to thank them. They are a vital part of how God is working in our church.
Trustees
Kathryn Yamada, Sharla Baker, Shanley Kiaha, Eugene Fontanilla, Bob Beck
Our trustees serve the church by overseeing finances and ensuring strong financial accountability. They help steward the resources God has entrusted to our church so that ministry can continue to grow and thrive.
Working behind the scenes, trustees assist with budgeting, financial oversight, and wise planning. Their role is to ensure that church funds are handled with integrity, transparency, and care.
Through their faithful stewardship, our trustees help ensure that Valley Isle Fellowship remains financially healthy and well-positioned to continue serving our church and community.
STAFF
Ty Nakama
Ty serves as the dedicated Church Secretary at VIF, where he also plays a vital role in the tech/media and youth ministries. A long-time believer and resident of Maui, Ty has served in youth ministry from 2012, returning to youth ministry in 2020 after stepping back in 2017. His passion lies in guiding and nurturing the youth of Maui, with a heartfelt desire for them to come to know and believe in Jesus and His love.
Phone: (808) 244-0865
Email: vifoffice@vifmaui.com
Neil Nakama
Phone: (808) 757-3401
Email: neil.nakama@vifmaui.com
OUR BELIEFS
We wholeheartedly affirm and uphold the principles outlined in The Baptist Faith and Message of The Southern Baptist Convention. Below is a brief summary, with the complete text available under the Baptist Faith & Message button or on the Southern Baptist Convention website.
The Scriptures
The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God’s revelation of Himself to man. It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter. Therefore, all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy. It reveals the principles by which God judges us, and therefore is, and will remain to the end of the world the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried. All Scripture is a testimony to Christ, who is Himself the focus of divine revelation.
God
There is one and only one living and true God. …The eternal triune God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being.
God the Father
God as Father reigns with providential care over His universe, His creatures, and the flow of the stream of human history according to the purposes of His grace. …God is Father in truth to those who become children of God through faith in Jesus Christ.
God the Son
Christ is the eternal Son of God. In His incarnation as Jesus Christ, He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. …He honored the divine law by His personal obedience, and in His substitutionary death on the cross, He made provision for the redemption of men from sin.
God the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, fully divine. …He exalts Christ. He convicts men of sin, of righteousness and of judgment. …He enlightens and empowers the believer and the church in worship, evangelism, and service.
Man
Man is the special creation of God, in His own image. He created them male and female as the crowning work of His creation. …By his free choice man sinned against God and brought sin into the human race. … The sacredness of human personality is evident in that God created man in His own image, and in that Christ died for man; therefore every person of every race possesses dignity and is worthy of respect and Christian love.
Salvation
Salvation involves the redemption of the whole man, and is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, who by His own blood obtained eternal redemption for the believer. In its broadest sense salvation includes regeneration, justification, sanctification, and glorification.
God’s Purpose of Grace
Election is the gracious purpose of God, according to which He regenerates, justifies, sanctifies, and glorifies sinners. …All true believers endure to the end. Those whom God has accepted in Christ, and sanctified by His Spirit will never fall away from the state of grace, but shall persevere to the end.
The Church
A New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ is an autonomous local congregation of baptized believers, associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel, observing the two ordinances of Christ, governed by His laws, exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word, and seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth. Each congregation operates under the Lordship of Christ through democratic processes. In such a congregation each member is responsible and accountable to Christ as Lord. Its scriptural officers are pastors and deacons. While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.
The Family
God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. It is composed of persons related to one another by marriage, blood, or adoption.
Marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime. It is God’s unique gift to reveal the union between Christ and His church and to provide for the man and the woman in marriage the framework for intimate companionship, the channel of sexual expression according to biblical standards, and the means for procreation of the human race.
The husband and wife are of equal worth before God, since both are created in God’s image. The marriage relationship models the way God relates to His people. A husband is to love his wife as Christ loved the church. He has the God-given responsibility to provide for, to protect, and to lead his family. A wife is to submit herself graciously to the servant leadership of her husband even as the church willingly submits to the headship of Christ. She, being in the image of God as is her husband and thus equal to him, has the God-given responsibility to respect her husband and to serve as his helper in managing the household and nurturing the next generation.
Children, from the moment of conception, are a blessing and heritage from the Lord. Parents are to demonstrate to their children God’s pattern for marriage. Parents are to teach their children spiritual and moral values and to lead them, through consistent lifestyle example and loving discipline, to make choices based on biblical truth. Children are to honor and obey their parents.