Top Teachers
Saturday, January 16, 1999
Name: Larry Estrella
Age: 40
Position: Teacher and church administrator, Maili Bible School
Education: Bob Jones University, South Carolina
Pastimes: Computers
Larry Estrella assumed he would always be a surf bum. Friends and family repeatedly reaffirmed the belief, so he didn't expect anything else. He has faith in his teaching
But that all changed when Estrella walked into a church at 17 and emerged with a new outlook.
"I just was motivated because I met the Lord," he said. "If I can make it, anyone can make it."
Now the Maili Bible School administrator and teacher is bent on ensuring that students realize their dreams.
A longtime resident of Maili, Estrella said his goal is to give back to the community by helping students embrace God and achieve success through their faith.
"My goal is to sit one-on-one with a student and get them motivated, get across to them that the Lord can make a difference in your life," he said.
Estrella said a former student was so motivated that he overcame a drug background -- parents who abused drugs, as well as a history of selling and using them himself.
Faith, he affirmed, overcomes every obstacle.
Estrella said it's been hard to teach and administer at the same time, bit he enjoys his work. He described his tenure at the school as "a long, hard road ... tiring, but fun."
Besides school, Estrella is the youth pastor at Maili Bible Church, president of the American Association of Christian Schools in Hawaii, and has been listed in three editions of "Who's Who Among America's Teachers."
Kimberly K. Fu, Star-Bulletin
