This Dad back on a skateboard!
A few months ago before heading to Pennsylvania for time of rest and fundraising I found myself buying a skateboard for the first time in about 8 or 9 years in order to stay active while away from the ocean. It’s been done before but it’s not every day that 31 year old Dads get back into skateboarding after an 8 year hiatus! Little did I know I was opening a door back to something I was a part of over 12 years ago here in Mexico and for a number of years in my time in Newcastle, Australia(where Kendra and I met 🙂 ).
Skate Ministry
From doing tricks and jumping over kids in schools on outreach in Mexico to spending the afternoon with a group of young skaters every week in Australia, skateboarding was a tool to connect with people and show Gods love for many years in my life. The move to Mexico and a lull in that particular ministry at YWAM Mazatlan put that on hold for a while. In a somewhat surprising way God put it on my heart again and I’m jumping into our Thursday afternoon ministry called “Remnant” skate ministry.
Remnant simply exists to meet young Mexican skaters right where they’re at… the skatepark. We go as a group to hang out with, skate with, and then share about Jesus with whoever wants to join in; which is usually 90% of the skatepark!
4 of the 6 core Remnant staff are locals who met God through the ministry and later did our Discipleship Training School and joined staff full time! I’m excited to be out of the office with my feet on the ground and excited to see more young Mexican skaters hear about Jesus.
On the Student Mobilization side of my work, marking the biggest quarter of the year; 56 students from 14 nations just arrived ready to spend 6 months learning how to “Know God And Make Him Known”, this stuff never gets old!
Just a few weeks ago we were able to connect again with a Homes of Hope family we built for with Hillside Christian Church. Sadly the husband of the family passed away earlier this year, but it was a privilege and honor for us to deliver a card and financial gift our home church raised to bless and help the family.
The young lady in the middle of the above photo was one of the girls Kendra had the privilege of serving at the girls home, Floreser. Our friends who are believers and own a coffee shop here in Mazatlan, just interviewed her for her first job and we’re told she got it! It is a testimony of God’s working in her life to see her making healthy decisions and moving down hopeful paths. These friends also previously served at the girls home she lived at, and that’s where the connection between her and us was first made! Please pray with us for Angie. She is a sweet soul, full of love and kindness for others, and despite her abandonment and difficult past, she continues forward with this beautiful smile on her face. 🙂
To wrap up, here are some snap shots from the past couple months.
One last quick update; we wrapped up a beautiful time in PA, able to connect with our church and many of you who are such an amazing part of what we do. Thank you so much to all of you, and everyone else far and wide across the world that support us in our ministry. Thanks to the extra time and focus we had, we were able to raise another $270/month of support. We still have more work to do to cover everything month to month but thanks to this new support and generous one time donations we feel extremely blessed and are excited to be diving into everything God has for us here now!
Much love,
-Jordan, Kendra & Elouisa