He uri a Waitoa nō ngā matawaka o Ngāti Raukawa, ā, o Ngāti Maru, o Te Arawa hoki. E kīia ana i whānau a ia ki Waitoa e pātata atu rā ki Morrinsville. Ēngari kei te ngaro ngā īngoa o ōna mātua. Ko te whakaaro, nā tētahi o ngā heke a Ngāti Raukawa i te tekau tau atu i 1820, a ia i hari ki Horowhenua. I tohutohu tuatahitia a Waitoa ki te Rongopai e te mihinare o te Rōpū Hāhi Mihinare (Church Missionary Society), e Te Harawira (Octavius Hadfield), i tōna mīhana i Waikanae, ā, ko Waitoa tētahi o ana tauira tuatahi i huri hei Karaitiana. Nō te 17 o Oketopa 1841 a ia i iriirihia ai e Te Harawira, ā, nō taua wā pea tōna tangohanga i a Rota (Lot) hei īngoa mōna. I te haerenga o Pīhopa Herewini (G. A. Selwyn) ki Kapiti i Noema o 1842, ka kite a ia i a Waitoa. Nā Waitoa tonu te hiahia ki te haere tahi me Te Herewini ki Ākarana (Auckland). Mō te 12 tau atu i taua wā rāua ko te pīhopa e noho taupiri ana, ā, e takahoa haere ana.
Nā Te Herewini tonu a Waitoa i whiriwhiri kia akona hei minita. Nō te tau 1843 a ia i haere ai ki te Kāreti o Hoani Te Kaikauhau (St John's College). Nā Herewini te kāreti nei i whakatū ki Waimate i Pēwhairangi (Bay of Islands) i taua tau anō. Nō 1844, ka nekehia te kāreti ki Ākarana. I a Waitoa ngā tūnga o te tūmau me te kaitiaki o ngā kai mō te kāreti. Ka ako nā a ia, ā, riro noa mai i a ia, te tūranga kaiwhakaako o te wāhanga tamariki nohinohi o te kura mō ngā taitama Māori, te karahipi a Aperehama (Abraham Scholarship) me te tūranga katikihi. E kī pēnei ana ngā kōrero mōna, arā, he tangata ngākau tapatahi, he tangata tino kokoi te hinengaro, ā, he tangata hūmarie, aroha ki te tangata. Nō te 10 o Ākuhata 1848, ka moea e ia a Te Rina Hinehuka o Ngāti Porou i te Whare Karakia ake o Hoani Te Kaikauhau (St John's Chapel). He ākonga a Te Rina i te kura a Mākarete Kihirīni (Margaret Kissling) mō ngā kōtiro Māori i Kohimaramara (Kohimarama). Tokotoru ā rāua tamariki: ko Caroline Harriet, ko Wiremu Hēnare, ko Hōne. Ko Hōne, i pērā i tōna pāpā rā, i noho hei minita.
Nā te noho raruraru o te Kāreti o Hoani Te Kaikauhau i te tīmatanga o 1853, ka katia te wāhanga Māori mō te wā poto nei. Nō te 22 o Mei 1853, ka whakawahia a Waitoa i te Whare Karakia o Pāora (St Paul) i Ākarana hei rīkona. Nā tēnei whakawahinga ōna i whakatau te huhua noa atu o te raruraru i tipu ake i waenga i te Rōpū Hāhi Mihinare, i a Te Herewini me te iwi Māori hoki. Ko te momo tohutohu i te Whakapono, me te whakamōhio anō hoki a ētahi, e āta mahi mārika ana a Te Herewini, kia kaua e whakawahia wawetia he Māori, te takenga mai o ngā raruraru nei. Ko Waitoa te Māori tuatahi kia whakawahia ki roto ki te Hāhi Mihinare, ā, nā tēnei whakawahinga anō hoki, i whakanui haere tōna mana i waenga i tōna ake whakaminenga.
Nō muri mai, ka whakatūria a Waitoa hei minita mō te teihana o te Rōpū Hāhi Mihinare i Te Kawakawa (Te Araroa) o Te Tai Rāwhiti. I taua wā, e noho raruraru ana te mīhana i Te Tai Rāwhiti nō te mea e waimeha haere ana te noho pūmau a te tokomaha o ngā Māori ki te Rongopai ki te mīhana hoki. Ki tā ngā mihinare, nā te pāpā ki ngā kai hokohoko me ō rātou wāhi noho i rarua ai te Māori. Nō te korenga i taea e ngā kaiwhakaako Māori te aukati te hunga e whakarere ana i te hāhi, ka whakamutua e te Rōpū Hāhi Mihinare te tuku mihinare atu. Nā te whakatūranga i a Waitoa hei minita i tutuki ai ngā tūmanako, arā, kia riro mā te Māori kua akona hei minita e whakahaere ngā mahi a te mīhana.
Kāore i tino pāmamao rawa atu te raruraru i waenga i te tangata whenua i te wā o te whakatūranga i a Waitoa. He kaha te ātete o Te Houkāmau o Ngāti Porou ki a ia, nō te mea kīhai a ia i pai mā te tangata o tētahi iwi kore take ki ōna nei whakaaro, e tū hei kaiwhakaako, hei kaiārahi mō tōna iwi. E rua ngā whakakorenga a Te Wiremu (William Williams) ki te iriiri i a Te Houkāmau; heoti, taro ake ka iriirihia a ia e Waitoa. Nā Waitoa rāua ko Te Houkāmau i hanga te Whare Karakia o Tīpene (St Stephen) ki Te Araroa, ā, tērā pea nā rāua anō a Pānapa (St Barnabas) i Wharekahika (Hicks Bay) i whakatū. Heoti, he āhua roa tonu te wā kātahi anō ngā Māori ka pai ki tēnei mea, ki te minita Māori.
Nā te rahi o te mīhana me ngā uauatanga e pā ana ki te taha wairua, ki ngā mahi o ia rā hoki, i hokihoki ai a Waitoa ki te Kāreti o Hoani Te Kaikauhau kia kuraina, ā, ki te whakahou anō hoki i tō rāua noho hoahoa ko Te Herewini. I taua wā anō e whakariterite ana a ia i a ia kia whakawahia hei pirihi. I te tau 1858, ka rohea te pīhopatanga o Waiapu kia pūmau ai ngā whakahaere a te hāhi i tērā takiwā. I te whakawahinga a Pīhopa Te Wiremu i a Waitoa i Tūranga (Gisborne) i te 4 o Maehe 1860, ka noho ko ia te pirihi Māori tuatahi kia whakawahia. I mau tonu i a ia te tūranga kaiwhakahaere mō te pāriha o Te Kawakawa. I te matenga o Te Rina Hinehuka, ko 1857 pea te tau, ka moea e ia a Hārata Tiarete o Te Kawakawa, kia puta ko Perepetua (Penepetua rānei) rāua ko Wiremu Iharaira.
E tipu haere ana te raruraru i ngā tau whakamutunga o Waitoa. Ko te take o te pakanga o 1865 i Te Tai Rāwhiti he totohe nō Ngāti Porou ki ngā ture hokohoko whenua a te kāwanatanga me te takarite ki tōna mana. Ā, he kaingākau hoki nō ētahi o rātou ki te tautoko i te Kīngitanga me te Pai Mārire. I ngā tau 1885–86, ko Waitoa tētahi o te tira rangatira whakahirahira o Te Tai Rāwhiti i ātete, ā, i whawhai hoki ki te Kīngitanga me te Pai Mārire. E haere tonu ana āna mahi i taua wā, ēngari, mō tētahi wā poto nei i meatia kia whakarērea e ia te mīhana o Te Kawakawa.
I a Waitoa e haere hōiho ana i 1866 ka wharaina tino kinotia a ia. Nā Herewini te karanga ki a rātou ko tōna whānau kia hoki atu ki Ākarana. I mate atu a Waitoa ki reira i te 22 o Hūrae 1866, ā, i tanumia ki te urupā o Tīpene i Taurarua (Judge's Bay).