The Tail of January Registration and Betsy’s Stress Level

We’ve been taking a little brake through the Christmas season and gearing up for skate sessions to resume on January 5th. To be honest, this is not my favorite part of the year. I love talking with the skaters after the break. I love seeing all their parents. I even enjoy the work of making new ID cards. What I don’t love is having to tell kids they can’t skate when they don’t bring the things required for registration. You see our insurance is very strict… naturally it has to be. Every January we require the skaters to fill out new liability forms. They have to bring a birth parent or legal guardian with proof of guardianship to sign the form in the presence of a staff member. This means Betsy has to be firm and tell well-meaning grandparents, stepparents, and friends that they are not authorized to sign the form. Then I watch as the sad skater walks away. This is part of my job every week but more so in January when everyone has to sign up again. I don’t want to be a complainer… I just ask for extra prayer that I would be bold, gentle, and diligent. Also that skaters would get to skate and hear the Gospel.

’08 MUSINGS

In the Skatechurch Office there is a large poster board with a chart of all the skaters who have responded to the Gospel for the first time. We have their name, photo, contact info, and the name of a staff member in charge of their discipleship. This morning I’ve been praying through the 27 names from 2008. It’s pretty incredible thinking back on this past year, the changes I’ve seen in these kids’ lives. 27 Souls for whom Christ died heard God’s call while listening to a Skatechurch staff speak His Word. Praise God for what He has accomplished in 2008. I am so excited to see what He does in ’09. I am grateful for your prayers and support which enable me to participate in this.

OLDER KIDDOS

There were a lot of beards and tattoos at Skatechurch last Friday. We haven’t had an Over-18 skate session for about a year so they were anxious to get back into the warehouse. One of the staff said it was like a reunion, seeing guys who used to come as Jr Highers, now adults. It was super encouraging to see that a lot of these guys are still walking with the Lord. It was also sobering to see the guys who are not. Time after time we see that no matter what a skater’s attitude toward God, they are willing to sit through a 20 minute Gospel talk in order to skate the park at Skatechurch. The Gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes (Rom 1:16).

We have 2 more Over-18 sessions scheduled for November 7th and December 5th. Lord willing, this will continue next year. Please pray that skaters continue to come so that we can continue the Over-18 session. Please pray that God would equip the staff to teach these guys to be godly men. Pray also that God would cause a radical transformation in their lives.

Skatechurch is Invading Canada

I’ve been getting a lot of phone calls this week from skater’s moms. We put my cell phone number on the Canada trip information sheet for the purpose of financial questions. But not surprisingly parent’s questions have less to do with money. This year, we’re taking jr-highers as young as 11 years old. Although the trip is very well supervised I imagine is scary sending your kid across the boarder with a bunch of skaters.



The guys we’re taking have faithfully been attending Bible Study. This is something they look forward to and work hard for all year. It’s a great opportunity for discipleship and mayhem. There’s the imminent food fight with the vans in line at the boarder crossing, gallon challenge (gallon of milk in an hour, never completed successfully, always attempted around garbage cans), 2am wakeup with ice cream sandwiches in the face, that looming potential trip to the ER (7 stitches in the lip last year). I’m not even allowed in two 15-passenger vans that the skaters are riding in. For good reason I’m told.



18 student skaters,12 staff, 5 vehicles, 10 skate parks, 3 water parks, leaving Monday Aug 25, returning Aug 29 Lord willing.



Pray for an easy boarder crossing both ways, no injuries, deep Bible studies, rest for the staff, and skater hearts on fire for Christ.

Argentinean for Jesus, Portland, and Skater Hooligans

When evangelist Luis Palau heard God’s call to reach a younger generation, he went to his good friend Paul Anderson. Paul who is the founder and director of Skatechurch, partnered with Luis to create Livin’ It, a ministry using extreme sports to share the Gospel with youth.

This weekend is CityFest, a festival which is expected to attract thousands to the Portland Waterfront. The Livin’ It stage is featuring Christian Hosoi, Anthony Carney, Vic Murphy, and Kyle Loza. Sure to attract a crowd. Paul will also be sharing the Gospel a couple times through the weekend. I’ve been busy recruiting volunteers for the past month. Right now a team from Skatechurch is downtown setting up ramps for the skate and BMX demos. I’ll be helping in the greenroom most of the weekend and am anxious to get down there.

Pray that God would do a mighty work on the hearts of those attending. Pray for no injuries and most of all that He would be glorified.

Working Rebellious Soil

Last Tuesday at the High School session there were 2 new kids, LB and ZB. They were a problem from the very beginning. They lied to 3 different staff about being under 16 to get out of wearing helmets. When it was time for the talk they hid in the foam pit and it took 5 minutes to get them to come out and listen to the Gospel. When Dave finally got them to sit down they purposely coughed loudly the whole time. After the talk, Dave took them outside and spoke with them for a while showing grace by letting them stay for the rest of the session. At the end when the lights went out, they kept skating and staff guys had to physically get in their way to make them stop. Later when we looked over their forms we found that their mother had lied as well about being the birth parent for both (legally we have to have a birth-parent signature). And today I continue to rejoice.

I know it sounds like a lame story but it’s actually super encouraging to me. God brought LB and ZB to Skatechurch last week for His purpose. Though they didn’t respond, they heard the Gospel. They talked with multiple staff, were corrected, disciplined, and shown grace by Dave. I don’t know what the Lord is doing but I’m excited they were here. Among the Christ-following skaters, so many of their stories began like this. The guys live in Ashland so they may not ever come back. Whatever part Skatechurch had, working the soil or planting seeds maybe, it’s a privilege. Pray that God would continue the good work He began.

Skatechurch History and Vision