Over the weekend of February 3rd and 4th, I had the opportunity to take some riders on a quick but meaningful trip to Cream City Skatepark in Butler, Wisconsin. This trip included everything from swimming to making waffles, and slappy curbs to wall rides. On this trip the other leaders and I took the riders through a study on Experiencing God's Presence. We set out to answer tough questions like, "What do we gain from being in the presence of God? Where do we see God's presence in our world today? And how do we gain access to God's presence?" In Exodus 33 Moses asks for God's presence to go with the Israelites, and demands that God would, "Show me your glory" (v. 18). This was a powerful ask from Moses to experience God's presence.
The riders on this adventure varied in skill level, but they all had a common goal - to have fun and build community. Clips were filmed, edits were made, and memories were formed from this awesome weekend. One memory created was from a rider named Adrian. As he got to Cream City, he had a vision of a trick he wanted to land and how he wanted it filmed. He worked on this the whole skate session, preparing himself, honing the necessary skill, and striving to accomplish it. He ended up getting it on the last attempt before we left the skatepark. His vision came to life! Adrian didn't have the money needed to attend the trip, but was able to go because of a JSAW sponsorship that he received. As a result, he also heard the gospel and chose to receive Jesus' free gift of salvation. After the trip was over, he was blown away by what the weekend had become, a true life change.
JSAW has several riders that have stories similar to Adrian's. There are countless opportunities to change a rider's life forever through simple things like sponsoring a rider. When you sponsor a rider you are changing a riders life and creating memories like Adrian's. Would you consider sponsoring a rider? If you would like to, go to jsaw.org/sponsor to find out how!