Christian Skaters SA Tour 2016
My wife, Jami, and I hit the road during the school holidays and met up with skaters from around the country. We did a lot of traveling and covered about 6000km in total! At each stop we connected with the area’s CS leader and we also held a best trick comp for the locals. The aim of the tour was to develop and strengthen the skate ministry network in SA.
CS Bloem – It was great seeing the guys from CS Bloem again. They have been so diligent in running their CS small groups and we stand in faith that more and more skaters will join.
Congratulations to Ramza for winning the best trick comp – enjoy reading your Skaters Bible!
CS Pretoria – We held an evening event at the Menlyn Skatepark in Pretoria. We are excited about Rudolf Marais who has decided to start a CS Pretoria group very soon!
CS Joburg – We were pleasantly surprised at NCCB Church’s awesome skatepark in Johannesburg. When we got to the park Angelo Taufmann already did most of the setup for us and we had very little to prepare. We had a skateboarding and BMX best trick comp with mainly locals competing. We are still looking for someone who would be willing to start a Christian Skaters group at this park and we believe that God will lay it on the right person’s heart.
CS Nelspruit – We partnered with Gareth Green from gsk8t and CS Mpumalanga while doing the event in Nelspruit. Gareth and his wife organised some refreshments and the NG Church South sponsored burgers for the event – what a blessing! It was great taking hands with Gareth and we are really looking forward to what the Lord has for him and the ministry in Nelspruit!
CS Durban – The weather wasn’t very favorable when we held the event in Durban. Before the competition started dark clouds covered the skatepark and we asked the Lord if He would please intervene. Just as we started the competition, the skies opened up right above the skatepark and stayed open for the duration of the event – praise God!
It was great meeting Brandon O’Neil and his wife, Carla, who will be heading up CS Durban. They really go all out for God’s Kingdom and have already started planning for next year’s event!
We also held a Christian Skimmers best trick comp at Umhlanga during our visit to Durban. The waves weren’t great but it was still awesome to meet up with other skimboarders and to share the love of skimming! Thomas Beesley will be looking into starting a Christian Skimmers group in Durban.
CS Port Alfred – We didn’t plan on doing an event at Port Alfred but during our travels we received a message from Carol-Anne asking if we would like to also do one there. Carol-Anne runs gymnastic clubs in a warehouse and also has the old Quicksilver mini ramp of Port Alfred on the premises. Her son, Steven, is a very talented skater and wants to get more involved in Christian Skaters. It was so refreshing spending time with them and we pray that God will guide them in taking CS further in Port Alfred.
CS JBay – Christian Skaters partnered with the Element Skatepark and held a best trick comp at the Christian Skater Bowl. We really enjoyed the atmosphere the skaters and the supporters brought. Thank you to Jason Mendonca and Dyallan Knox for helping to organize and judge the event. We know that God is going to use this bowl to reach many young skaters.
CS George – SkateLab Skatepark ran their annual local skate comp on this particular Saturday but they allowed us to join in. The day turned out longer than we expected but it was worth every second. Thank you to Patrick Miller for allowing us to do the best trick comp and also for being able to share about Christians Skaters afterwards.
