This past winter shred season was GREAT! We averaged 15 people in Bible study every Thursday, hosted a contest where we were able to serve and share the Gospel with about 100 riders, a service project that fed 516 shredders, and a trip in which 11 students were engaged in discipleship.
Every Thursday Evening was filled with excitement. A few of us from the ministry would get into our van, head over to Hyland Hills, and snowboard with kids for a couple of hours. When it was time for us to leave, we would pack more kids than we had seats for into our van to bring them back to Help Boardshop. Each evening we had the trampoline set up, ordered pizza, and did Bible study. It was a blessing to have young people attending that have no other experience with Christ. One specific student has been raised Jewish, so the likelihood of him walking into a church is slim, but he actively participated in Bible study this past season. Though he hasn’t made a decision for Christ, his interest is peeked and he has become a regular at the shop.
At the beginning of the season we came up with the idea for a video competition and called it “Minute to Kill it!” Snowboarders submitted minute long clips of themselves snowboarding and we compiled them together. To include the audience and avoid a “judging” panel, we created ballets and had the audience vote for the best clips. The entire video was premiered at Help Boardshop, where Chick-fil-A provided food for the night and donors generously made it possible for us to give out a $500 cash prize. This event was was a great opportunity for JSAW to share the Gospel. In all we had 34 video submissions, about 100 people attended, and 4 people responded to the Gospel message! This event was a great success in so many ways, and we have been following up with those who wanted to know more about following Christ.
We also had a service project at Hyland Hills where Grace Church provided us with a food truck filled with enough pulled pork to feed over 500 skiers and snowboarders. During this service project, the Gospel wasn’t publicly shared, however the connection between whom we are, what we are about, and what we do was prominent. Five of our students were also engaged in discipleship as they practiced being servant leaders.
The last highlight to touch on for the season was our trip to Granite Peak, Wausau WI. This place is one of the top ski spots in the Midwest and we were honored to take a group of 11 with us there. We spent 4 days together, with Bible study daily and a theme of “getting into the presence of Jesus.”
Overall, this past snowboard season with JSAW had some definite successes and we are stoked to make it even better for next year!
Thanks to our donors, volunteers, and prayer warriors for helping make our 2015 snowboard program happen!
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