Hello JSAW Family,
It is common knowledge that everybody loves Fridays they are the best. It is a time to see friends, family and maybe stay up a little later in the evening. This past Friday night Help Boardshop hosted an event called Minute to Kill It. This event was a video contest, where riders filmed all season long in order to put together their best 60 seconds of footage of themselves flipping, spinning and grinding. The reason we do this event is not only just to get people through our doors, but also to encourage riders! There are no bleachers for parents and family members at ski resorts to sit and watch their son/daughter snowboard. This video contest is great ways for riders to show case their talents in front of their whole family and peer group. Not only that but the riders themselves vote on the winners. This creates an even bigger opportunity to encourage riders by strategically making it come straight from other riders they appreciate and look up to. These individual parts are assembled into one long video and showcased all year long on the internet and Help Boardshop social media, which creates a sense of belonging and a greater opportunity to share Christ with a lost and broken culture.
After the video was played and the ballots were being counted I was given the chance to share my testimony interwoven with a clear Gospel message to all 80+ attendees. I was very nervous but once I started speaking the room went silent. I was amazed because I could not have planned for a better reaction myself. I proceeded to spill my life out for this crowd in faith that God was impacting those listening. I shared my sins, successes in Jesus, and the greater reality we live in called the Kingdom of God. I had a few people come up to me afterwards to share their opinions of my presentation, none of these people expressing a life changing moment but an appreciation of my abilities to lay it all out on line in front of so many people. My prayer for these people would be not just hear my faith story but that they would have an undeniable encounter with the living God themselves.
In summary, the event went as well as we could have ever planned it to go. We received amazing donations to supply free food and drinks to our riders and their families. The riders were encouraged through prizes, showcasing of their videos, and most importantly heard about the saving grace of Jesus Christ. If you feel led to get involved in JSAW ministry we are in a current need of new a PA system. We have another event coming up in May where we will have the opportunity to share the Gospel again with 80+ skaters. We want to be as prepared as possible by having a working microphone and speaker to project our message throughout the skate park. Call Jake to contribute to this need at (651) 335-3929 or email at jaketastad@jsaw.org. Thank you so much for reading.
Have a great day,
Jake Tastad
Program Director