remix

Goodmorning!

This week at Hope Chapel is the first week they are allowing a craft fair on our grounds. It's every Tuesday through Thursday and it will be here indefinitely if they get good business. Hope Chapel is off Piilani Highway, but not the main road that lots of other shopping is done on that runs along the beach. It was great for bookstore business though! I went down for coffee and there were donuts and our espresso machine was up and running! So you can imagine how thrilled I was when it was my time to work and Leslie showed me how to make lattes, iced mocha's, and cappuccinos! Then I learned there were smoothies in the back to make as well. It was so great. Lot's of ministry opportunities too.

Jason will be leaving for Bulgaria next week. It's a trip he makes every year to teach his School of the Bible material to local churches there. Jason preached the sermon on Sunday called "Straight Talk about Integrity" and it was so great! He's a great speaker. So this week will be a week of loading up for next week and figuring out how to balance without him here.

Alpha is still going really well! Chris and I have discovered our table can be inconsistent and at first I was a little frustrated. But I am just so thankful that God is constant and He is the one that does all the work! Please continue praying for open hearts and curious questions in their pursuit of truth.

Last week I was blessed to co-lead worship at Big Rise, the young adult group that meets the first Wednesday of every month. Steven is so great at leading worship, and I loved strumming my guitar and singing with him. The night was intended to be a prayer and praise night so there were different stations set up for prayer, thanksgiving, praise, etc and then the main room of the house we were in was to be a worship area for about an hour. I loved every minute of it.

After we moved out of our wonderful house sitting home :( the girls came back ready to amp up our condo and make it more homey. So we switched rooms, Christy and Jena wanted bunk beds and Alyssa and I wanted to push our beds together, and we were able to decorate and really personalize our rooms.

On Tuesday's Alyssa has her high school small group girls over for Bible Study. It turns out one of her girls, Michelle, has scoliosis and had the same surgery as me (2 rods, 14 screws too!) Her curve was even more advanced and she had the surgery last August when she was only 15! We got to talk and compare scars and both of us were absolutely stoked to find someone who simply understood. I hope to spend more time with Michelle, she's such a sweetheart!

The children's ministry hired a new intern! His name is John and he moved here a couple weeks ago to live with his sister, who worked at Hope Chapel for a season. He was having trouble finding a job, so we suggested he pray about helping us out, and Toni is always looking for more help! He will get to move in with the boys on Thursday and his first day is today. Please pray for a smooth transition for everyone in this time!

I'm reading in Acts right now and I have been inspired, yet again, by the work these men of the Lord started for us to continue!

"So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers." -Acts 16:5 :)

Risa