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Writer's pictureJosiah Kimball

The Unseen Impact of the Community

About a year and a half ago, I met a rider who was going through some tough stuff. He had little to no community outside of skateboarding and it was affecting him heavily. As I rode with him, we spent time encouraging one another; pushing each other to try new tricks. JSAW became a part of his life. He came through almost every single day we were open; building relationships with all the shop staff. After riding with him and inviting him to Bible study for over a year or so, he finally decided to go. He came for the pizza and the community but stayed for the message. After the message, he had questions about believing in God. I and some others did our best to answer them. This led to him taking home his own Bible.

After that, we didn't see him for a while. We wondered what had happened to him and if he was ok. As it turns out he had moved far outside of the cities to a small town. That small town had a local church and because of his desire to want to know more about God, he ended up there. There he heard the message of the Gospel. A week and a half later by his bedside, he received Jesus. After another full year since being at Bible study, he came back and shared how thankful he was. It was because of the community of JSAW that he had encountered and surrendered to Christ. He shared all this with me as a thank-you for showing him what it means to follow Jesus.

In Isaiah 55:11 God says, "So is my word that goes from my mouth: it will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." This rider encountered Christ at Help Boardshop, but the journey didn't end there. He kept being led by the Holy Spirit to know more about God and found Jesus as a result in a small town local church. This shows the importance of the kind of community we have here at Help Boardshop. One that will impact the world of action sports with the Gospel. If you would like to help make this possible for others, please consider sponsoring a rider at jsaw.org/sponsor where you too can help change a rider's life forever.

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