I just received a Skater DVD in the mail from Kevin Palau of The Palau Evangelistic Association. They have been setting up skate parks at their Festivals and have a heart for skaters everywhere. Livin' It the Movie was directed by Stephen Baldwin and filmed in Portland with some of the best skaters and bike riders in the country. Nearly 60,000 videos have been sold already. Anyone out there seen the video?
There are of lot of churches for skate boarders around - Sweden, Switzerland, and ExtremeChurch in USA come to my mind, but there is there is only one that is over 25 years old. Its called SkateChurch and its in Portland, Oregon. [Link to review]
I remember the founders, Paul Anderson and Clint Bidleman, when they were starting out. Clint was in one of my classes at Multnomah Bible College back in 1988. He used to ride his skateboard to class and keep it next to his side during the teaching. WHAT A SKATE_GEEK!!!!!
Paul and Clint have had about 20,000 skaters come through their ministry, 1000 of them deciding to follow Jesus at the meetings. And they are still going strong - thats amazing! They also work as evangelists among skaters nationally.
I was a skater, BTW. I sucked at it! I could do about 3 tricks, but could never do a handstand which mentally crippled me from ever progressing beyond lame-dom. Oh well.
I think Christian skaters in USA are on an even par with Christian Surfers in Australia. Sometimes they are the same people during different seasons. Skaters are one of the most reached out to demographic groups in USA. I suppose the Skaters who follow Jesus have done their job in telling others.
