I just took a trip to the north Chicago suburbs to help Foundation Skate Ministry add a new mini ramp to their facility. Our friend Zac Whitfield runs the skate ministry there. Being right in the middle of three small communities with skate parks Zac is set up to connect with a lot of students, especially because his is the only indoor, air conditioned, and free park in that whole area. Getting some new ramps was good timing for Zac and his ministry as a lot of his original group are graduating and moving on. The new ramps will help attract new kids to his growing ministry.
In the process of building new ramps I worked with two of Zac’s young leaders who are both heading off to Bible college this fall. It was fun to spend time with them as they head towards a life of ministry themselves. I also worked with a young man named Campbell who is just about to turn 21. He is a bass player in a local band and skates some too. He got in trouble for punching a self checkout machine at a grocery store. Lord knows I’ve wanted to do that as well, but because of his actions Campbell was charged with paying for the damages as well as doing community service hours. One of his friends was a leader at FSM and so he choose to serve his community service hours at the skate park. I spent many hours with him during the build process.
Campbell’s honesty and candor is really amazing. He shared with me that he used hallucinogens about two times a month and has a pretty bad anger problem. So much so that a few times when he missed the stud of the ramp we were working on, he would scream swear words at the screw and stomp on it. Then we would go back to quiet conversation. As we talked about playing bass, skateboarding, his drug use, and the different bands we like, I finally got down to talking to him about were he looks for fulfillment. I asked him why he wanted to have that short lived fulfillment at such a great cost to himself and the others around him. Campbell did not pray a sinners pray to receive Jesus YET! I’m praying he will and hoping the rest of his time with Zac will draw him into Christ. Please pray for him.
We finished building the mini ramp and I shared with FSM’s youth group. Please be praying for Foundation Skate Ministry. www.foundationskateministry.org