Kona Church of the Nazarene
Our Team
CHARLES N. BRODHEAD
LEAD PASTOR
Charles came to Kona Church of the Nazarene in 2016. God has uniquely gifted Charles with an ability to connect with various age groups, personally and corporately. He is passionate about connecting people to God and each other while seeking to inspire them to be passionate, dedicated followers of Christ. As a communicator of the Gospel, Charles strives to present the timeless truth of Scripture for abundant life change.
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Called to life of ministry as a teenager at summer camp, Charles began his pastoral journey as a youth pastor at the Arlington Avenue COTN. In thirty-six years of ministry, he has been privileged to faithfully serve the Kingdom as a youth pastor, family life pastor and executive pastor at five Nazarene Churches in Riverside, Fresno, Bakersfield, Auburn and Lompoc, CA . As an ordained elder for the Church of the Nazarene since 2005 he also holds professional degrees in business administration and marketing. Charles and his beautiful wife Leesa have been married for 37 years and have three adult children and four grand kids.
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Hobbies: cooking, scuba diving, coaching, reading, travel, and playing with his grand kids.
VAOPELE SAMOA
PASTOR TO KAPUNA
Originally pastoring our Samoan ministry, Vaopele has served on the Big Island since the early 2000. His heart and passion is to lead local folk into a dynamic, growing relationship with Jesus Christ. Vaopele and his wife, Ilaisa have been married for 41 years and have six adult children. He enjoys cooking, fishing and diving in the ocean.
WESLEY BASINGA
YOUTH & VILLAGE PASTOR
Wes is a home-grown Big Island braddah who serves God and serves people. His passion is to connect youth and the people of Miloli’I Village to the love of Jesus Christ. Wes has been serving at Kona Nazarene since 2012 and has three children, Julia, Wesley Boi, and Revelation. He enjoys fishing, diving, hanging out at the beach with his children and watching the Pittsburgh Steelers.
ALLISON GAFFORD
KEIKI PASTOR
Called by God into ministry, Allison comes to us from Phoenix, Arizona and has been a part KNC staff as the Keiki Mission Intern since 2022. She leads our ministry to children and families with kids. KNC is excited to see how God is using her to grow His kingdom.
POLIMA LOPEZ
WORSHIP PASTOR
Polima is a gifted musician and leader who is passionate about seeing people engaging their Creator in worship. She has been serving at KCN since 2012 along with her children, Aaliyah, Azalius, and Nazzy. Polima enjoys playing and writing music, a good cup of coffee, having deep conversations, and discovering new things.
EMYLEE GIESE
ADMINISTRATOR
Emylee is passionate about growing in Christ and keeping KCN on track and organized with her gifts of administration. She has been serving at Kona Nazarene since 2016 along her husband, Daniel and four amazing children, Kaylee, Charytee, Wyatt and Beckett. Emylee enjoys cooking, going to the beach and playing with her kids.
CHURCH BOARD MEMBERS