some wahiawa lovin'

God is doing some amazing things in Wahiawa, and I just wanted to take some time and share a little bit of history of where I live and work. When I first flew out to Hawaii, I was asked where I was going and when I answered, "Wahiawa," the lady sitting next to me offered me to go to her place and told me not to go there. Little did I know that God would lead me there several months later. HA! Wahiawa is the gateway to the North Shore, and has been avoided due to the drugs, violence, and sex trafficking that takes place (directly on the street we live on). Most people avoid walking the streets and just last night, I listened to one of our Aunties (who grew up here) share about the gangs that would just walk this street with their guns, this has always been a place where you don't want to tell people you live....and I live right in the center of it, and LOVE IT. so it was pretty exciting when Tom Bauer (founder of STN) pulled out this sign, and our hope is to get more local businesses to sponsor the I LOVE WAHIAWA campaign and show their pride for this town and bringing back the hope of transformation to this community. As we walked over, a couple of the Ulupono kids followed and were so excited and already striking poses in front of it before Tom even had it up. It was adorable to see these kids with the biggest smiles on their faces, pose in front of this sign, and be proud of where they live and the positive change that is happening here. we expect EXTRAORDINARY things for Wahiawa and hope that one day you can come visit and be a part of the change:)

support for bangladesh....

The countdown to get support for Bangladesh continues.....and for a limited time I will be selling headbands, here is a preview of a few....if your interested in purchasing one, you can email me at venessa.rude@surfingthenations.com and I will post up some more pictures once they are finished. if you would like to help me go, you can donate at www.surfingthenations.com.

baloha!!

support me in going back to bangladesh:)

the bangladesh team leaves stn in exactly one month, which means that God is going to do a HUGE miracle and blow me away by providing $2,100. i have been selling baloha shirts, headbands, journals, jewelry....and i even made my debut dressed as a Oreo Cookie at the fair taking pictures with kids. my next step, is to ask you, my supporters, friends, and family. please partner with me and surfing the nations and help get me back to bangladesh.

if you are interested you can donate at www.surfingthenations.com and enter "support" and "venessa rude" in the note. any amount of support would work, prayer support or financial support....pray for a miracle....and please be a part of this miracle! i will keep a countdown going til the day of departure.......thank you and baloha!!

how we spend our lunch breaks....:)

so emily thought it would be fun to teach le'i how to leg wrestle...we each took turns and it was a great way to end our lunch break and i just had to capture it all on video:)

restoration

still in the process of cleaning out the old porn shop and today we got to put our stn seal on the window. its incredible watching the restoration of this old building and in the last three weeks so much has changed in the building. we have a team from high desert church in victorville, that is volunteering their time to tear down walls, paint, and clean out rooms. last night, we were praying in the corner of a little room (that i had never stepped foot in because it was covered in boxes) during our all-night prayer, and i was dreading praying in the middle of the night because i used to get so spooked in that building and how dark it was. i felt so much light and overwhelmed at all that God has done through people that take the time to come out here and give their sweat and their hearts to the transformation of these buildings and this community.

Video Update......:)

forgot to post this video up....:)

surfer's cafe

the grand opening of our surfers cafe was a great success! we kicked it off with our alive art show which included some STN artists doing a live painting and vendors that filled our market. to top it off, we had the pleasure of having Josh Garrels fly all the way out from portland and perform. the coffee lounge was packed and full of warmth and laughter! what formerly was a bar is now a place for people to come and take a break and have a conversation over a cup of coffee or an acai bowl:) looking forward to holding more events in our coffee house, plus its such a great perk walking down the stair of our apartment and having our very own place to get caffeine.