One Love Skate Outreach @ Keo Park - Friday, April 23, 2010

Friday, April 23, CJ and I met at Keopuolani park to do One Love Skate Outreach. We met at the parking lot next to the skatepark and had a cool prayer time and time of challenging each other w/some truths we've been learning lately in God's Word. My friend Brad had called me earlier to pray w/me before we went, and he'd given me the Scripture: 2 Corinthians 3:5-6-"Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our confidence comes from God..." CJ and I meditated on that and after praying, started skating and then doing some interviews w/kids using the flip video camera. Trevor and Kenny Komatsu came later on in the day, too.

It was a hot day in town, but it was a furlough day and there were a lot of people to talk to at the Skatepark. The heat actually worked out really well because everyone gathered under the one part of the park with shelter up on top of the ramp in the street course (You can see the roof and people sitting underneath it behind the guy doing the noseslide in the picture at the top of this blog).

A lot of the people I invited to come out and share the Gospel alongside us were busy w/other Furlough Friday ministries, and my wife was on Oahu; but CJ, Trevor, Kenny, and I had an awesome time hanging out at the skatepark, skating w/kids, and sharing the Gospel.



I find that most of the time skateboarders don't mind being interviewed. Especially with our little Flip video camera. It's a great conversation starter, and it also forces people to really articulate what they believe since they are on camera. Friday, a lot of the kids we interviewed were under 18, and I don't want to mess with putting up videos of interviews with minors and possibly getting in trouble. So, I manuscripted some of the answers from Friday and changed their names. Here are exact answers from a few of the interviews:

Interviews

Remember, the 5 questions we go through are:
1.) What come to your mind when you think of One Love?
2.) Who is God?
3.) What's the Purpose of Life?
4.) What do you believe will happen to you when you die?
5.) Who is Jesus Christ?

Alex:
1.) I'm not sure. Everyone getting along or something.
2.) Someone who helps us feel more easy. More at ease knowing we're not just gonna rot in the dirt when we die. He's someone who helps us feel better about out lives.
3.) No one knows that. That's one of those undefined answers in life that everyone wants to know. There's no real answer to that.
4.) I'm not sure. That's why I'm gonna just have as much fun as I can while I'm alive. I'm gonna make good with what I have now.
5.) God's Son. He paid for our sins. That's why we celebrate Easter and stuff.

Tom:
1.) Bob Marley
2.) Some gnarly guy, up in the sky... I guess. Some hectic guy...
3.) Ummm... I don't know. Just to chill... Chill. Get barrelled.
4.) I don't know. I've been kinda wandering that. Like I've been wondering about that for a while now.
5.) God's Son. I guess. Died on the cross for us.

Charlie:
1.) Bob Marley
2.) Jesus' Father
3.) To live life as gnarly as possible and to please God
4.) Jesus will come and judge me. Wait for Jesus to come and judge me.
5.) God's Son.



Above are pictures of Trevor and CJ talking to some kids... After interviewing each of these kids, the opportunity came up to present the Gospel. It was awesome to have a team of people talking to people at the skatepark and doing follow-up. The skaters were really receptive to listen to what we had to say after having shared with us what they believe. It was beautiful after interviewing "Tom" because CJ started sharing his testimony with him about how growing up on Molokai he felt like the whole purpose of life was to get barreled before Jesus transformed him. I'm thankful to see God using different testimonies for His Glory.

This is Trevor's Gospel presentation that I recorded right at the end of the day.


We talked and shared the gospel with at least ten people, and we also got to give away a couple of ESV New Testament Bible's to some people who wanted/needed them. We didn't video everyone we interviewed, but the interview is a great way to get conversations going. Another cool part of the day was when a younger skater who was probably 11 years old followed us around to see what we were doing. When he found out that we were sharing the Gospel, he showed me his phone that said: "Skate For Jesus." So he stuck with us, and hopefully we encouraged him to be a light. The skatepark is an awesome but intense mission field. There's pornographic graffiti on some of the ramps, and kids smoke pot a lot while they're skating; but, as John 17:14-16 calls Christians, it's a great place to go be in the world and not of it!

Thanks for your prayers. Please continue to pray as God develops One Love Skate Outreach. I hope you're encouraged as you've been reading about some of the ways God is using this ministry. I'm encouraged that Christians are simply called to "sow the seed" of the Gospel (Mark 4:26-29). It's God who brings people to Himself, and I'm thankful He chooses to use us despite our many flaws (1 Cor 3:6-7).

-We're going to try to develop a "Trick of the Month" section that will include a board give-away, and I'm trying to learn more about making this website more visually appealing.

I want to close this blog with one of the ways God challenged me in devotions this morning. This was also my Twitter today, and we can all do this: "Use your position today. Whoever and wherever you are: 'Defend the cause of the fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor & oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked' (Ps 82:3-4)." God bless!

In Him (Gal 2:20),
Josh

One Love Skate Outreach 2010 - Get Caught Up w/What's Been Up.

Hey Guys!
I wanted to update you w/some info about what's been going on with One Love prior to last Friday (I'll be posting the report from Friday's event after this post). Also, you can check out the little video blog at the bottom of this page after you read about what's been going on.

2010 has been an exciting year for the skate ministry! This "Next Level" all started when at the end of last year Pastor Paul brought me a form to apply to receive money from the Hawaii Pacific Baptist Convention. I got the application in right at the deadline (maybe even a day or two after), but they said they can support us financially w/$600 for the ministry in 2010!

- So, when those funds arrived in the first quarter of this year, I purchased a flip video camera, web-editing software, tried to get the ball rolling with printing more t-shirts (Gary Hamrick and MCBA is still helping work on that), and made an order for 10 more skateboard decks from my friend Josh Knipple in Pennsylvania http://www.crucifiedministries.com. Josh Knipple and I are planning a mission trip for him to bring a group of guys out here in mid-July for a week of skateboard ministry on the island. While his team is here, we plan to do lots of Gospel interviews, repair some ramps at the skatepark(s), build my friend Dan a mini-ramp, and BBQ w/kids. In addition to these tangible aspects of OLSO, we've also been talking with strangers and friends. It's been an awesome opportunity to share the Gospel by talking about why One Love Skate Outreach exists and what we do.

I've been staying busy this year at Pukalani Baptist Church (Youth Ministry, Young Adult Ministry, Teaching Preschoolers, Preaching Last Sunday of Each Month), and also doing seminary online from Liberty University. My ministry responsibilities have been pretty heavy, but now that school is out for the summer I'm stoked to continue pouring into the skate ministry.

Last week, I finally loaded the new website and started this blog; however, I already have a ministry log on my computer from earlier this year that had been just for me. To kick this new blog off, I want to share with you guys just a few of the exciting things that have already happened this year that are specific to OLSO:


Thursday, February 28, 2010

A skateboarder from Kahului called me at 9:30 in the morning while I was in my office at Pukalani Baptist. He said he'd kept a card I gave him that says: "One Love Skate Outreach" in his wallet for a long time, and I was the only one he thought of to call. He was stressed out because he got in some trouble and was about to go to court. He said that his family has a history of alcohol abuse and some serious problems. He told me that he made some mistakes but wants to move forward for Christ. He was also bummed out because his truck got towed, and they didn't contact him. He was really going through a tough time and was definitely shook up on the phone.

His background is Catholic, but one day as he was skating around, one of his friend's led him to Christ. He told me that he loves skateboarding because he: "Uplifts his feelings and freedom on his board. With his skateboard he uplifts the glory to Christ." He said he has been carrying art and passion with him on his journey through life because of skateboarding. I shared 2 Corinthians 1:3-11 with him and challenged him to remember that no matter how much pain and sorrow we go through, Christ's love can comfort us, and the comfort we receive in difficult times we need to pass on to others. I shared how Jesus gives us purpose in our trials. This is a quote from the end of the call: "Of all his friends, you're the one that made me remember that no matter what I go through, Christ lives throughout my heart."

Praise God! He was excited to pray with me, and he said that this was his first prayer this year w/a friend.

Later on that day, we got to meet up at Taco Bell. We got lunch, and I gave him a 13 letters book and ESV New Testament. We went through the first three chapters of Romans. It was great to meet up with him, and we were both encouraged.

This call was extremely encouraging to me with the skate ministry, and I was praying that there would be more fruit from this ministry.


Tuesday, March 9, 2010

A few weeks later, I received a phone call from this same guy. (The skater from Kahului-I'm gonna change his name to Mike to write about him). When Mike called me, I had been praying about doing the Skate Ministry that day, and I decided that today was a great day to do One Love Skate Outreach. We met at 180, a local business that sells skateboards and talked to Chris, the owner, for a long time about some stuff 180 is gonna be doing. Chris is a believer who attends Calvary Chapel. I'm stoked how God is working. YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE=) I shared with Chris my heart for the ministry and established some solid connections while hanging out at 180. One Love plans to be a part of the Go Skateboarding Day skatepark tour in June. He talked about bringing out Christian Hosoi one day and doing an event. Also, I learned more about a church plant that was started by a few skaters here on Maui for a while. While Chris and I were talking, Mike was hanging out as well.

- Then, this is the coolest part. Mike and I went to the skatepark and did One Love Skate Outreach interviews. The interviews went so well. Plus, it was a fun skate session=)

- Shared the Gospel w/3 kids really clearly. 2 high school guys, and then another age 20ish guy who one of Mike's old friends. Plus, the last two times I shared the Gospel there was a little audience. This whole process was a time to mentor Mike and talk with him while sharing the Gospel with people he knew and skated with. Such an awesome Divine Appointment.

As I was leaving we talked for a long time by my car, and he was asking me whether I thought he was “good.” I talked with him about Romans 3:23 and 6:23 how none of us are good, and we all fall short, but God has punished Jesus for our sins and we've received eternal life by confessing our sins and putting our faith and trust in Jesus. Then I shared with him 2 Corinthians 13:5. That it's important to "examine ourselves and see if we're in the faith." We talked for a while, and then I prayed with him in the parking lot. Praise God.

That day, we were also brainstorming and getting some cool ideas for the website. Some ideas we had:
- Blog the interviews we have and share how God worked
- With kids under 18, we can write about how questions were answered and what was said
- Set up a "Trick of the Month" and let them vote on the website. Best trick each month gets a free board.
- On the website include printable tracts for people to print out and take with them as they share the gospel.


After that day, I decided to start praying for 180 and for Chris that God will bless the business. I'm praying that God will use 180 mightily for His Glory. I’m stoked about Chris being down to be part of One Love Skate Outreach, too.


Since then...

I've just been stoked that this ministry is happening. I did Gospel interviews at a local concert with some students, and I've especially been trying to recruit some students to help with this ministry. Nicole and I have been brainstorming and working on the best way to get people thinking about the Gospel and to present the Gospel to people. One Love Skate Outreach is way more than just a ministry to skaters, surfers, and musicians at the skateparks and beaches. I pray that this ministry encourages people young and old to "Make Disciples, who make disciples-Disciple Cycles" (Lecrae, After the Music Stops).


We've been planting seeds for the Kingdom with this ministry (Mark 4:26-29), and I'm excited about how it's going to grow and be used mightily by God. I look forward to regularly updating this blog, and I pray that this blog and website is a great opportunity for the church (God's church all around the world) to be a HUGE part of this ministry by praying for specific needs, staying updated with how God is working, and also by being involved in One Love Skate Outreach however God leads you (Taking part in events, supporting the ministry financially or with your time!, encouraging others to share their faith alongside us, etc.)!!!


Here's what we need now:
1.) Local Youth Leaders and Pastors, I'm requesting for you guys to submit a tract to me to be reviewed by our One Love Skate Outreach board and then posted on the Resources Section of the website. Please include a clear Gospel presentation, the name of your ministry and service times, and even your contact information if you'd like. We want tracts from Bible Believing, Jesus worshiping churches all around the island that students and adults can go on our website and print out. Check out the example, How to Get to Heaven From Paradise, from the resources tab of our website.


2.) Prayer Warriors - Can you e-mail me if you're interested in being a committed prayer warrior for the ministry? I'm seeking to put a password-protect section of the website for us to include names of specific people we share the Gospel with and specific stories and prayer requests.

Note: Tracts and prayer request password people must be approved by the Board that I've put in charge of OLSO Spiritual Decisions.


Thanks for being a part of this ministry alongside us by staying in touch! Feel free to sign up with blogger.com and follow our blogs. Represent Jesus. If you're a Christian, you are called to be Christ's ambassador on this earth (2 Corinthians 5:20).


Enjoy the Ride (Philippians 4:4-7),
Josh

New Website

What's up guys?
Hope the new OLSO website will encourage you in your relationship w/God. I hope to update it on a regular basis and also hand off that part of the ministry to some of you guys who have better web-editing skillz than me=) Please continue to pray for One Love Skate Outreach. I'm excited about this website b/c it's an awesome opportunity to upload videos and blog when we go out and talk to people.

- Contact me if you're interested in going out to share the Gospel this Friday. It's a furlough day, and we're probably going to go to Keopuolani Park to talk to some skaters and people at the park in the early afternoon.

Contact me on Twitter, e-mail, or call my cell if you're interested in going.

Also, check out the "Resources" section of the site. Pastor Jack just preached at Pukalani Baptist Church last Sunday, and he gave us this tract: "How to Get to Heaven From Paradise." Feel free to print it out, and use it to share the Gospel w/someone close to you.
-Keep him and the rest of the mission team in your prayers as they go share the Gospel as Christ's ambassadors in a foreign country (2 Cor 5:20).

And, please continue to keep this ministry in your prayers (new skateboard decks are in the mail, and we're getting more t-shirts made, and trying to equip more leaders). I'm encouraged to hear from a lot of your guys that you're praying on a regular basis for OLSO. Shootz=)

Rep Jesus!

In Him (Gal 2:20),
Josh