jaws

This is just a taste of Jaws. It was unreal how big those waves were! I guess they are created by storms in the north, up by Alaska. And once they hit warm waters it causes a swell. And surfers love it :) Pastor Craig picked all the interns up and we trekked out to catch a glimpse of these epic waves. This is the biggest they have been since the winter of 1969. So we were all pretty stoked to have the opportunity to be able to witness the epic waves.

"At famous breaks like Waimea Bay on Oahu and Jaws in Maui, the world's top big wave riders challenged the mammoth swell, spawned by an intense low pressure system which formed northwest of the Islands over the weekend."-Billabong rep.

We drove through an old pineapple field in order to get down to the cliff where spectators watch. As you can see from this next picture....it's a pretty big deal to watch. I loved running into people we knew and swapping stories about the wipe-outs we had seen. Basically, it was amazing.

Afterwards we piled into our van and went to eat breakfast at a local place in Paia. (Willie Nelson played there!) All of us downed large amounts of pancakes and bacon. After all the excitement died down, Alyssa, Leslie, and I got to go to the beach for a couple hours and unwind. It is such a blessing to have those girls in my life.

I met with my alpha table, then after that I walked over to the Kim's house. I was able to talk with Stephanie (a woman that I am meeting with) and we made dinner. She has two sons and a daughter. So I adored helping Sissy with her homework and goofing around with the boys. It was so relieving to step away from everything for a little while and just relax. Earlier, Leslie, Alyssa and I had been talking about how hard it is to explain to people that even though Maui is paradise, your car still breaks down and you still have to pay the bills. I love Maui, and it feels like home, but I'm really looking forward to a break for Christmas. I miss family and friends.

These next two weeks are jam packed with lots of holiday activities and life will be super busy. Please be praying for my focus to remain on the King and seek His kingdom first!

Risa.

blessed.

The greek word translated "blessed" in Matthew 5:4 beautifully expresses the essence of the blessed life.

"Biblically, one is pronounced blessed when God is present and involved in his life. The hand of God is at work directing all his affairs for a divine purpose, and thus, in a sense, such a person lived coram Deo, before the face of God."

Blessedness describes the condition of a person who reveres God, steeps her life in Him, and follows His ways. She doesn't just look to God in spiritual or religious matters. She looks to Him in every matter. He's not just the most important part of her life. He IS her life. The result of this divine invasion is that the life operates overall at optimum earth-satisfaction, joy, and purpose and without the crushing burdens of self-glory and sin. In other words, her life actually works.

-I took this idea from one of Beth Moore's studies. This is something I've been dwelling on a lot the past few days.

Mondays have turned into my favorite day of the week! I get to hang with Erin in Wailea, and we make coffee and talk and watch Gilmore Girls. She is so precious to me. Then the past couple weeks I've wandered to the ocean on my own for a couple hours. I'm starting to treasure that time. I get to pray and meditate and read my Bible. I tend to think my weekend is a break from the week, but in reality I end up doing more on the weekends than during the week! So Monday is a great day to rest and reflect on the past week and what is to come this week. I met Joy for smoothies/Starbucks around 1 and we had some great conversation. Joy works part time as a volunteer secretary at Hope so I have chatted with her a bit just during work when she is in but after yesterday I am hoping we can meet weekly! She is a sweet heart.

I served on the worship team on Sunday. It was a humbling but enjoyable experience! There is so much that goes into every service that I never even knew about. The team was absolutely full of amazing and talented singers and musicians so I had a blast learning from them and singing together.

Last night at Alpha we talked about why we tell others about Christ. One of the questions our table discussed was what each person thought was the best way to share the gospel. If we wanted someone older, our age to tell us, or if we wanted it to be straight up, direct, or relationally shared through a testimony. I shared that I like things clear and precise, drawn out really simply (since I'm a blonde and all ha) and told them about the bridge illustration based off of Romans 6:23. It's an illustration I'm very familiar with since it's the tool we used for beach evangelism in Jax a couple summers ago. I briefly explained what it was and my table still seemed slightly confused so I just dove in and walked through the whole thing. I prayed before I started sharing, because I know that the members at my table (the picture) are seeking the Lord, but I am not sure if they have made that decision and accepted Jesus. So, at the end of it, I just prayed that it would be taken to heart and hopefully clarify or sharpen what they already knew. All of them thought it was a really awesome way to present the gospel and Jessie ended up keeping it. All in all, it went well!

Christmas season is here! And busy!

Love you all,

Risa

lava tubing, laird hamilton, new moon, camp piiholo

Aloha,

Two weekends ago Rise put together an event at Uncle Pat's land Upcountry and it was a blast! Leslie picked up the intern girls and we grabbed Starbucks, and headed up to the mountains with the top down to eat lunch at a park. Leslie introduced us to cardboard sledding. It was so much fun! Some other church families joined us and we spent hours flying down a large hill on old cardboard :) After awhile we decided to head to Uncle Pat's and the adventures continued! We hiked down into a huge hole with trees where cowboys had thrown their coffee in the old days. It was quite a trek just to climb down to the entrance of the lava tube! Basically, you had to squeeze through a tiny entrance which led into a large, pitch black cave. About 20 of us clambered around in the lava rock cave until we reached the end. It would have been impossible without a flashlight. I was reminded of how God works in my life, only giving me enough light to get one step further. While I was struggling up and down sharp lava rock I felt like a dweeb and couldn't figure out why anyone would do something like this for fun. But once we crawled back out of the cave and the sun was setting over the ocean.....it was worth it. The bigger picture is ALWAYS worth it. We ate grilled salmon and steak for dinner and sang some worship songs around the fire. Then Uncle Pat drove us up in his old Bronco back up to the top of the hill and that was probably my favorite part of the day. Talk about Xtreme offroading!! Leslie, Alyssa, and I drove back, chilly from the cool air and sang praises to our King with our eyes on the stars. Best day ever.

Last Thursday, some of the interns drove to Paia to eat at the Flatbread Pizza place. So good! Towards the end of our meal, a man walks up to the table next to us and they are talking loudly about surfing and being boisterous and Jena goes, "Ohmy, that's Laird Hamilton! The pro surfer!" So we got all excited and watched him talking to his friends and I laughed to myself because it was my first famous person sighting! He is a legit surfer. After an eventful dinner, Jessie, Tiffany, and I decided it would be a necessity to see New Moon at the midnight showing. I have never been in a room with more screaming teenage girls! It was out of control! I really enjoyed my time with Jessie and Tiffany though, they are both nannies here and such sweethearts.

Saturday was our Alpha weekend away up at Camp Piiholo, nestled in between some tall trees. The theme of the day was about the Holy Spirit. God did some pretty cool things that day! I was so blessed to fellowship with everyone and we played volleyball and I got to lead evening worship. Pastor Craig shared his testimony and I really appreciated his openness and honesty about the work God has done in his life.

Please continue praying for me to radiate God's character in my time here. There are so many people seeking Truth here. God has been answering my prayers in BIG ways lately and I am feeling so thankful!! I am being stretched daily by trying new things and being challenged in new areas. God knows our needs.

1 Thess 5:23-25 is my prayer this week.

In Him,
Risa

honolulu coffee in wailea

Hello friends,

This morning I met with Janna who is in charge of making sure the interns are set up with mentors. She was fantastic to talk with, very calm and wise. She took me to Honolulu Coffee Company at the Shops at Wailea. It is on my list of favorite coffee places now! Her and her husband have an art store called Dolphin Galleries and Janna was telling me that the King of Morocco had come to their store a couple months ago and bought a ton of paintings! We just chatted about life and she was so encouraging.

This weekend, Rise is going up to a lava tube Upcountry to hike and have a bonfire. I'm stoked! Good fellowship along with adventure will make for a rockin Saturday! Last Sunday, I was so blessed to connect with a freshman girl, Yashaira, who is attending Maui Community College. She was telling me she didn't really know what she was doing in college and how she felt like she was wasting time and money deciding what to do with her life. Just my type :) I am praying I will be able to stick with her and encourage her to seek the Lord in these big life decisions and that school is so great for some people but there are other options as well. She has lived on Big Island and Oahu and now she's on Maui so I loved listening to her stories. She came with us to Big Beach Sunday afternoon and met a lot of people. God is so good. He knows our needs.

This Sunday night is Hope Chapel's Prayer and Praise Night. They will have food, and Steven and I were asked to put a set of 10 to 11 songs together to perform in front of the congregation. I'm a little nervous, since this is a bigger event and I've only been singing for smaller things. But I am really excited to help out and be involved.

Christy's birthday was on Monday and it was a blast! A lot of people came for dessert at Outback, and we all came back and played games at our condo. On our day off yesterday for Veteran's Day, the interns were invited over to the Spencer's for breakfast again. They are such a blessing! Jori and Mark made us banana pancakes, sausage links, starfruit, and french pressed coffee. I covered my pancakes with coconut syrup and it was delicious :) Then some of the interns went and chilled at the beach. It was a perfect beach day!

I'm memorizing 2 Cor 10:3-5 for our bible study this week. It's quality.

All my love,
Risa

God knows.

Hey ya'll!

This week is a blur! We picked up our newest intern, Vanessa, from the airport on Tuesday. She's such a sweetheart! It feels complete now to have all of us here now.

Alpha is still going strong. I'm loving seeing the hand of God so clearly in people's lives. Two weeks ago we focused on prayer and practical ways to pray. At the end of our discussion time, we prayed together, and even though some of the guys didn't pray, they seemed comfortable about the whole situation. Two of the guys were in desperate needs of jobs. The next week we found out that both of them found jobs!! Praise God! He answers prayer. I was inspired to pray for specific things and see God bless me in that. It is so cool!

The girl interns started a bible study together. We are going through "When Godly People do Ungodly Things" by Beth Moore. It is such a great study! All of the girls were feeling like we need to be more intentional with each other and making sure we aren't too involved in our own ministries. These next 6 weeks are going to be filled with growth. I love those girls! The other morning we started a work out called Hip Hop Abs with Shaun T. It is intense! But filled with lots of laughs and good times.

God is really revealing to me my spiritual gifts. Hope is doing a series of classes called Get in the Game and it's all about discovering your spiritual gifts. My singing is something that God has really been pushing me to use. It seems foreign to me that singing could be a way of ministering to people. I've always viewed singing to God as something personal and for myself, like something between me and God. But after Steven and I sang at Friday night's service and the feedback people had for it was very eye opening to me. I never thought I could bless someone in that way. The fact that I am enjoying myself as much as someone listening to me is awesome. God knows.

Tonight, Erin, Jessie, and I are driving out to the Hyatt in Kaanapail Beach to eat a three course meal. We are going to dress up and have girls night. Erin is in culinary school so she always finds good deals (the whole night will only be 20 dollars!). I'm very thankful for these women and I'm looking forward to spending the evening with them and learn about what God has been doing in their lives.

Please pray for:
Smooth transition for Vanessa
Continued prayer for Alpha
These next two months will be incredibly busy for all the interns.

In Him,
Risa

swimming with dolphins!

Aloha!

Last week flew by! Jason made it safely to Bulgaria and I'm set with a list of things to do. On Wednesdays the interns meet with a staff member or other designated couple/person and they make us lunch. This month Michael and Laura Bagby have been meeting with us. They are such a blessing and I always feel physically and spiritually fed after our time with them. We are going through a book that they have written together and compiled on what really echoes into eternity: discipleship. They are challenging us to examine our lives and what we are pouring into, making sure the log is out of our eye so that we can let the living water flow out freely. It's been really great, and the food is always incredible! Alyssa and I took the afternoon to go to the beach. It felt so refreshing to float in the ocean and reflect on God and what He has been revealing to us. I don't know how I've lived so long away from the ocean! I feel like I can't go longer than a week without some beach time!

Thursday was a long afternoon in the bookstore, but I enjoyed it. I finally feel like I'm capable of holding my own in the daily tasks around the store so that's an encouragement! Thursday night I drove out to Wailea to visit my friend Erin. She is here for culinary school, so I said if she ever wanted to fix me dinner, I would be more than willing to give her feedback :) She made me delicious bow tie pasta with pesto and we ate it on her back porch that over looks a gorgeous golf course while the sun set. I loved just talking with her and spending time out of Kihei.

Friday morning the Spencers invited us over for acai bowls. Acai (ah-saw-ee) bowls are big here and they are my new favorite breakfast :) It's like a smoothie, with granola, and banana. So good! We sat around sipping coffee, soaking up wisdom from Jori and Mark, they have a great story and I admire them so much!

Saturday we woke up with the sun, packed up our tents and sleeping bags, grabbed some iced coffee and hit the road to Lahaina to catch a ferry to Lanai! It's a 45 minute ferry trip to another gorgeous island. Around 30 young adults from Hope Chapel went out together. It was an absolute blast! I loved the fellowship and getting to know people better. We had a worship session and some of the guys shared what was on their hearts. And of course, I learned the ways of how to make the perfect golden tan marshmellow for our smores :) We spent nearly all our time on the beach or in the ocean, and although I had high hopes for sleeping on the beach, we weren't allowed.....so we slept on the grass close to the ocean. I was content with the ocean waves lulling me to sleep. Sigh. Saturday morning we woke up and jumped straight into the ocean to snorkle and swim with the dolphins!! There were so many dolphins in the water! They are tricky though and it was tough to get close, but you could hear them when you put your head under water. What a dream. The Four Seasons Resort was breath taking and we spent some time wandering around up there. A truly great weekend.

^1-2 "Come, let's shout praises to God, raise the roof for the Rock who saved us!
Let's march into his presence singing praises,
lifting the rafters with our hymns!
^3-5 And why? Because God is the best,
High King over all the gods.
In one hand he holds deep caves and caverns,
in the other hand grasps the high mountains.
He made Ocean—he owns it!
His hands sculpted Earth!
^6-7 So come, let us worship: bow before him,
on your knees before God, who made us!
Oh yes, he's our God,
and we're the people he pastures, the flock he feeds."
--Psalm 95:1-7

Risa Elena

aloha

~Aloha~

It's a word that does not translate easily, yet it defines and encompasses a race of people. In Hawaii, it's a common word, used in greeting and farewell.

Taken to its roots:
- alo means "in the presence of"
- ha means "the breath of life" with its implications of divine gift.

It is a tender word that has the power to shape a life. It is the single word that sets Hawaii apart from any place else in the world.

Aloha says "Come, bring your heritage, your family, learn aloha."

• A is akahai, kindness
  
• L is lokahi, unity
• O is oluolu, pleasantness
  
• H is haahaa, humility
  
• A is ahonui, patience

Risa Elena