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GET INVOLVED: Do Something in 2009
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It's 2009. What will you do this year to make an impact? Consider getting involved with Christian Skaters.
How?
- Join our street team and spread the word by inviting friends to our cause on MySpace & Facebook. Grab a sticker pack and pass them out to a local youth group. Set up an info table at a local event and pass out Christian Skaters flyers.
- Start a skater's Bible study in your area. Let us know how we can help!
- Consider taking a team on a Skate Mission to build ramps and launch a skate ministry.
- Use your talents to help share Christ through Christian Skaters. Web help, design, marketing, networking, photography, video, writing, skate, etc.
- Become a prayer partner and take one day a week to pray for Christian Skaters Internationally.
- Forward our news to a friend...Spread the word
- Become a ministry partner and join Christian Skaters in our mission.
- Buy a shirt, deck, or sticker and display them proudly. Let other skater know who you skate for!
- Serve as a Skate Missionary in the US or abroad
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Show your support for Christian Skaters
by becoming an
official member.
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HELP: Nominate CS for an Impact Award
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 Nominate Christian Skaters for a MySpace Impact Award. This month, MySpace Impact Awards is looking for organizations that are community builders who empower individuals and groups by providing them with skills to effect change in their own communities. Based on MySpace votes, the winning organization will receive a $10,000 donation.
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UPDATE: The Back Door
Martinsburg, WV
We will be sharing 2008 ministry recaps. We hope that these stories encourage you to reach skaters in your own area.
 The Back Door Recap for 2008:
Our ministry began in Feb 2008. We had a slow start, but big plans. We started meeting once a month and supported outreaches at local churches and we hosted an Endurance Skateboard Demo and competition.
Expectations and excitement was high, however negativity blind sided us and made this year very difficult with our business and the ministry. All of our dreams and visions were ending up in a heaping mess. We went to California to attend the conference and mainly just get away and figure out how we would close our business and walk away from the ministry. We were defeated, or so we thought.
God met us at the conference. He spoke directly to us through the speakers the first day. We were inspired, and God filled us with the vision for the ministry. We started making changes upon our arrival home. We ripped out walls behind our shop, tore up the carpet and repainted and we now had a name for our ministry "The Back Door".
The Lord provided a means to have our rent lowered for a time being with a landlord that said, " Pay what you can until things get better." This had allowed for our doors to remain open and the ministry to continue. We now meet every Friday Evening along with Ryan McAllister an occasionally Benji Ross, an AM, and we talk to the kids share God, life and on occasion the Uprising Videos.
Were seeing changes in the lives of some of these youth. We now have one that carries a Bible with him everywhere he goes, one who is standing up against his friends who are using drugs, and one last boy who is trying to figure out who he is, but starting to question who God is. Our kids were involved with an event that took place this month with the Church Without Walls for the homeless in our area. It was a perfect match for both ministries.
To think back, we almost quit before the best was yet to come. We don't know what 2009 will bring, but we can be sure that God will provide. He has so far.
Contact Info:
Tim & Ann Parker
Ryan McAllister
176 Hack Wilson Way
Martinsburg, WV 25401
aparker@180skateshop.com
myspace.com/csmartinsburg
Bible Study: Friday 6-10 P.M.
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DO SOMETHING: Dream Big
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 I was checking out The Berrics website the other day. (The Berrics is a private park run by Steve Berra and Eric Koston.) While wandering around the site, I stumbled upon the recruits section and clicked to see one of the skaters who grew up at our park. He had some amazing footage on this site and is blowing up in the industry. What set him apart was 1) He's got amazing skate skills and style, 2) And, more important (great skaters are a dime a dozen), he was not afraid to dream and go after that dream. So, we challange you this year to dream, follow your passions, and put feet to your faith. God gives us dreams and passions for a reason.
Dreams Do Come True*
Jim Wideman
The beginning of a new year is frequently a time for reevaluation and brainstorming. WIth that in mind, we present these tips.
If you aim at nothing, you'll hit it every time. That's the problem. But the solution is to aim well. Proverbs 29:18 tells us, "Where there is no vision people perish." Not only do people perish without a vision, but ministries also don't get off the ground without vision.
Stephen Covey has taught us that the first habit of effective people is to start with the end in mind. If you're going to see your dreams come true, you must identify what you want and not be afraid to dream. Picture how Jesus wants your ministry to end up; that's your target. Dare to see your ministry through Jesus' eyes. Keep this vision before you at all times. It'll be your friend and encourager when no one else is on your side. Your vision is what keeps you from giving up and being discouraged.
The next step to seeing your dream come true is to define your vision. It's not enough to only have a goal. You need to write it down and make it plain. Habakkuk 2:2 tells us to "write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it."
Next, develop a plan and strategy to move from dream to reality by determining where you are right now. Once you know where you're going and where you are, the next step is to set reachable short-term goals. Psalm 37:23 says, "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and he delights in his way." If God orders our steps, then why do we think in leaps and jumps? Steps help us move from where we are to where we want to end up.
It's one thing to identify steps to take; it's another thing to commit to walking out those steps. How much do you want them? Enough to change? Enough to organize? Enough to try things you've never done before? Now you have a plan.
And people follow people who have a plan. Start with the most logical step. Keep your steps in order. Don't get ahead or behind. Stay on time. Always let God guide your steps, and make sure your plan is his plan.
Now build your faith by sharing your vision with others. Not only does this build your faith, but passing your vision along also builds your team. Work hard and work smart; keep your priorities in order. Never stop serving, but more importantly, never stop dreaming.
*Originally published in Children's Ministry magazine
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NEWS: Park Skaters Free To Roll in San Diego
Due
to the falling economy a majority of San Diego's public pay-to-play
skateparks have been met with budget cuts in 2009. As a result, these
parks no longer continue to employ pad nannies. TWS Business has the full scoop right here. Enjoy these hassle-free times while they last and add the new Carmel Valley skatepark to the list while you're at it. VIDEO: Nowhere To Skate Brian Sumner, Josh Harmony, Chris Weigele, and Casey Wells did a little DIY and got er done. Click on the photo to the left to play.  Josh Harmony & Ray Barbee may be great skaters, but did you know that they fully jam on guitars as well. Check out this fun night during their recent visit.Click on the photo to the left to play. |
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| WHO: Brian Sumner, Christian Hosoi, & Jay Haizlip on AenonFire.com
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 Brian Sumner is
sold out. Normally, this isn't something looked upon as positive, that
is of course unless you are talking about someone and their faith.
Brian carries the torch and wears the Gospel on his sleeve right next
to his heart.
CS Lewis, described his young self (in Surprised by
Joy) as being "very angry with God for not existing". Can you share
your experience with challenging God and his existence?
CS Lewis being from England and me being from England, I just never
really heard about it, by the time I was born I think a lot of people
just had a belief in the church and in God but not really an idea of a
relationship.
It's something that I never really thought about, or it was one of
those "it's getting late and there's really nothing to do". So there's
the UFO conversation, there's the ghost conversation and there's the
God conversation. It was never like a bitterness or frustration, it got
to a point for some reason, I just always thought there was something
there, something relevant, like if I was gonna say something bad about
God I would feel guilty.
You know we obviously blasphemed God and not realizing what we were
doing in casual speech, but as soon as I thought it was an action I was
taking towards Him I would feel guilty, and it wasn't like I knew what
I was talking about, whether it was the God of everything, or a
specific God, but I felt like I understood in some way that there was a
God and it wasn't until I said "you know what, I'm so over everything
that I'm just going to prove that He's not real, whoever He is, that
way it doesn't matter". Read the rest of the interview by Clint Fisher here.
Passion. It
drives, it motivates and inspires. Christian Hosoi has always been
passionate, he continues today. Throughout the course of life and the
vast amounts of experiences, there are indicators along the way of
things we should take notice of.
Clint:I am extremely encouraged to see that you are still
a skater, after all that you have been through, and what you are today,
it's really inspiring. I see alot of situations where talented people
come to God and then are encouraged to leave everything in their past
behind, sort of a "throw the baby out with the bath water" vibe. Could
you share your thoughts on this?
Christian:God created you with talents and gifts and a lifestyle not to use
for your own glory but to glorify him. Everything that was made was
made for him and by him. He created the whole skateboard thing and he
gave me the opportunity to use it for his glory, at first I didn't, I
was all about me. I was a selfish guy who thought that the world
revolved around basically whatever I wanted to do, just be a good
person and if there was a heaven then I'd go there. Read the full interview here.
 Sincerity, it's
an uncommon trait these days, but fortunately for us there are still
individuals among us who exemplify it. Jay has been through much in his
life and has been giving much back, boldly - out in the open - with
honest transparency.
Clint:What is it about skateboarding that it can
completely capture a young persons life as it did yours when you first
discovered it? It really does become and obsession doesn't it?
Jay:Obsession is a word you could use, it's definitely a life-style, and
really it's almost like salvation, it's kind of hard to explain, you've
just got to experience it. There's nothing like standing on a
skateboard and starting to roll, the freedom and the thrill that you
get from just skating. Read the full interview here.
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PRAY: Skid Row
The team arrived in Skid Row and will be serving this week alongside Enoch Magazine & The Jonah Project. Pray that the Lord keeps the
team safe! The violence in this 4 block radius is incredibly high. Pray
that the Lord uses the team greatly to make an impact in the lives of
those they touch. Pray that they might inspire others to partner with
ministries to serve the homeless in our country by using the
documentaries and their example.
Here's the Day 1 update from Uli:
 "I arrived in L.A. around noon and had time to spare before the rest of the team arrived so I decided to roam around the famous Venice Beach to pray and focus on the mission.
I wasn't expecting what I got but low and behold I had a couple of proclaimed Hari Krishnas begin a conversation with me. I soon realized that it was my bible that attracted them.They spent about an hour sharing their beliefs and how their book is the truth. As we began to talk, I found that they couldn't defend there so called book of truth. They never even read the book and just liked passing these copies to people talking about spirituality. In that hour I spent with them, those they were drawing near seemed to be more interested in what I was saying. In fact, a lady asked me to pray for her family. It says to be ready in and out of season and the Lord knew I was not expecting to hang out with these guys.
I got to know each of their names and a little bit about each of them. I felt that I started a relationship with these guys. So, when I was leaving I had the idea to take my photo with them so I would remember to pray for them each time I saw the photo. After I left, I looked at the photo I realized that both of them put down there books but I still had the Bible in hand. I wasn't going to put down my sword, no way! I guess pictures say a thousand words, look for yourselves.
I'm going to pick up Cater at about ten my time and we are off to meet up with the team. Please pray for safety for the team and many to hear the word. Feel free to text me words (954-304-5238) of encouragement, I really could use some.Love you guys........
Uli (a servant of Christ)
1st Peter 4:8-11"
 Click on the image to the left to see the latest feature on Enoch TV and learn a little more about the mission to Skid Row.
Check out daily updates on www.ChristianSkaters.com
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