Meet the Team | Ahava Baptist Church

Mike Holland

Preaching Elder

Bro. Mike has been the Senior Pastor here at Ahava for the last 31 years! He and his wife, Charlotte, have been diligent in their work to shepherd God's people.

Fred Wright

Teaching Elder

Welcome to Ahava Baptist Church a wonderful place of worship and grow in your faith as you consistently hear the truth of God’s precious word preached faithfully by our Senior Elder Mike Holland. My name is Fred Wright and I have the privilege of serving as a Teaching Elder. I am an ordained Southern Baptist Minister who has served our Lord for over 42 years. The Lord saved me in 1977 and almost immediately afterward I knew he had a calling on my life to serve Him in the gospel ministry. I surrendered to His call in 1979 and was licensed in that same year. Then in 1980, while attending Luther Rice seminary for my undergraduate work I was called as a Senior Elder to my first church, where I was ordained. Though God’s leading has taken us to many wonderful places for ministry preparation and service, Valrico, Florida has been our home for many years. My wife Irene and I have been married for over 47 years and she is the love of my life. She is caring, loving and gifted for teaching, mercy, administration and hospitality. Irene and I were raised in Tampa, Florida where we met during our high school years. We have six grown children and 15 grandchildren. My formal education includes Luther Rice Seminary, Jacksonville, Florida, Bible Training Centre for Pastors, Tucker Georgia, and Campbellsville University, Campbellsville, Kentucky. I am a conservative, evangelical minister who teaches and preaches doctrinally sound exegetical messages from the never changing absolute truths of God’s Word, in an ever changing, relative world system and post-modern culture. My strongest desire is to equip the saints for the work of the ministry and one day hear “Well done good and faithful servant… enter into the joy of the Lord.

Travis Falkenberg

Youth Pastor

I was saved at a youth camp in high school and knew from then that I wanted to work with teens in youth ministry. After marrying my wife, Whitney, we took over the youth program and have been serving God through Ahava for several years now. We look forward to seeing how God leads us in the future!