Born and raised in Manoa Valley, I never dreamed of becoming a pastor. In fact, as a child and adolescent I felt an innate resistance toward anything “religious.”  The love of my life was playing football, but my football dreams crashed and burned after three losing seasons at Roosevelt High School.  As a disillusioned young man, I drank heavily with my buddies and lived aimlessly.
One day, I’m minding my own business at Kapiolani Community College, when a high school classmate approached me and said, "Hey Russell I want to tell you about Jesus!" Immediately my walls went up and I thought to myself, "I don't want to hear about Jesus!"  But I did notice that my once angry classmate had love in his eyes. Long story short, at age 21 I became a Christian.

In 1977, I graduated from the University of Hawaii with a B.S. in Human Development. I realized that what made the biggest difference is my life was knowing Jesus. So, in 1978 I went to Western Seminary, in Portland OR, to train to teach people about Jesus.

After three months in seminary I missed my girlfriend, Judy Lee, from Kalani High School, so much that I asked her to marry me. She said, “Yes!” Together, we finished our last three years of seminary in Portland.  Over the years the Lord gave us three wonderful boys, Jonathan, Corey, and Kelcy, as well as two handsome grandsons, Bryce and Dylan.

I have been a pastor now for over 39 years. Seven years ago, we started Streams of Life Fellowship to bring God's blessing and transformation to those in Manoa Valley and beyond. It is my prayer that anyone that “Streams” touches will experience God’s radical transformation and blessing. If God can radically transform someone like me, I'm sure he can transform you!

In His love,
Russell Higa.