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Skate church staff performs
skate demo

Three high school students committed their lives to Christ at a skate demo held in Longview, Wash. on March 13. About 50 youth in all, mainly from public high schools, gathered to watch skateboarders perform.

The performers were from the skate church, a branch of Central Bible Church, and included Multnomah students and others dedicated to evangelizing junior high and high school skateboarders.

The entertainers started by taking turns ollying (jumping with a skateboard) over skateboards stacked on top of each other. In the meantime, junior highers continued to enter the building, most of them carrying skateboards or rollerblades.

The evangelism team quickly greeted the kids with tracts titled "Can you do a 180 [degree turn]?" The second page explained, "I'm not just talking about an ollie or a kickturn. I'm talking about your life!" The tract uses the skateboard theme and language to make the gospel message easy for kids to relate to.

Next, Jesse Skjold, a high school junior on the skate church staff, stepped to the microphone to give his testimony. "I didn't know what I wanted at first; I just wanted to skateboard," he said. Skjold used to skip school every sunny day to go skateboarding. He wouldn't allow a day to pass without skateboarding. But Skjold is a different person today. "For those of you who don't know God, he's so much better than skateboarding," he said.

As Skjold concluded his testimony, the soundman turned on grungy metal tunes, and Gerald Griffen, an MBC alumnus, walked forward. Griffen picked three people from the audience for the skaters to jump over. Nervous kids squeezed together behind a small ramp and closed their eyes. They had watched the skaters jump over up to nine skateboards stacked on top of each other, but jumping over humans was different.

After the air-defying skaters took turns flying over "human sacrifices," Griffen asked for more volunteers. The crowd cheered as more and more kids lined up behind the ramp. Four of the skaters even dared their talents over 10 people. Human guinea pigs looked on in awe as skateboards flew over them one by one.

Next, Mike Doyle, an MBC senior, gave an eyeopening sermon to the kids, many who had never heard the gospel before.

"What will you do when you die?" he asked. Doyle told the kids they could leave the sin they were living in, and live an eternal life of serving an awesome God. When Doyle closed in prayer, he asked the kids who desired to receive Christ to raise their hand.

Then he invited the kids to take a stand and join him in front of the audience. A ninth grader slowly walked up. A fourth grader and second grader followed. Counselors led them to a back room where all three kids accepted Christ.

When the sermon was over, skate church staff invited the rollerbladers and skateboarders to skate with them. Energy filled the large concrete area as skaters slid between each other at high speeds, gliding over ramps, and slapping the ground with perfect lands.

When everyone but the die hard skaters had left, the performers put away the chairs and loaded the ramps on the trailer behind the van. Eventually they nailed the ramps to the trailer to prevent them from slipping off during the bumpy ride home.

All 10 skaters crammed into the van. Permanent writing covered the interior, each sentence representing a trip the van had made. Everyone agreed the van had seen better days. The exterior was a 1970s muddy orange.

On the way back to Portland, Skjold told how he, too, had become a Christian through the skate church staff. "They cared about me," he said. Through the skate staff, he realized that God loved him. Then he started attending church, much to his parents' disappointment. "They grounded me from going to church," he said. "But I wasn't mad at them anymore."

Toby Turnage, an MBC sophomore, also became a Christian through the skate church. His life was different before he gave it to the Lord. "I was empty, hateful, and confused... and I seemed like I was tied down by life and stress," he said. But Turnage heard a sermon by Dan Garland, a skate church staff member, that caused him to reflect on his life. Later, Turnage gave his life to the Lord.

"Then I was filled, I was set free, I had joy in my heart, and I had love in my heart," Turnage said. When Turnage revealed he wanted to understand the Bible more than he already did, Paul Anderson, the skate church leader, recommended Multnomah, which Turnage now attends.

Many others on the skate staff have come to know the Lord through the skate church. Skate demos have proven to be an effective way for evangelism. The next skate demo will be held in Ashland, Ore., on May 29.