Have a look at this!

I thought you all might enjoy this. It is a compilation done by Dave Smith from Skatechurch.
It is pictures from a variety of the annual Skatechurch Canada Trip. This August is the "last" one they will be taking. I say "last" because it is the third "last" trip; as the border regulations have been supposed to change to require passports and they keep changing when that will happen. When it does, Skatechurch will not be able to take the kids that have been faithful to come to weekly Bible studies up there. So we are thankful for this opportunity for discipleship for one more year!

Lobug

BTW, I am very proud of myself for learning how to post this for you! It is the first time I've been able to do this. :-)

Answer to Prayer!

For all of you who have been praying for our daughter, Daisy; we have good news to report!Today I took her to the ophthamologist and we got Good News!! For those of you who don't know, we've been dealing with some inflammation in her left eye for about 8 months now--although it was probably there for a lot longer as we only found out about it when she started getting scar tissue in her iris. It affected her vision; but there wasn't anything really visible-no redness, etc. Anyway, today her vision was the same in both eyes (around 20/25, I think), and the retina specialist said there were no actively inflamed cells and it looks really good. We are so happy!! No more eye patches for the rest of the summer. She is thrilled! God is so good! :D :D
Her next appointment to monitor her vision and make sure the inflammation doesn't pop up again is in late September.
Thank you all so very much for praying for her! Your prayers have made a huge difference in our lives!
Laurel

A great night of ministry!

Last night at high school night I was scheduled to share the Gospel. Needless to say I hadn't had much time to prepare but, as usual, I had a great bunch of folks praying for me. When I arrived an old skatechurch friend that I hadn't seen in a while came by and let me know that he was still following the Lord and that he had received my support letter and wanted to begin to support me. BTW, he is 19 years old.

I can't tell you what a blessing it was to catch up with this guy re: his walk with the Lord and his family. I was now ready to share the Gospel!!!!!!!!!!!

My friend left and I went inside to prepare the message (I had a rough idea of what I wanted to share but needed to add some meat to it). As I sat down to prepare another kid came over to me and sat down wanting to talk.

We chatted for about 15 min. about his injuries and his church home and his hopes for the future.

I then got up and skated about for a bit and chatted with about 10 other fellows while skating with them.

Then it was 7:30; talk time!!

The kids were told to sit down, reminded of the rules for the talk, and I went up to speak. I still didn't know what to say!!

In moments like these it always seems best to pray. So I did.

The Lord answered my prayers and I proceeded to share the Gospel through the story of David and Bathsheba.

The main point of the talk was that we, just like David, are guilty of worshipping worldly things rather than God.

I called the fellows to repentance and did an altar call. No one responded so I reminded them that the staff are only here for them and that if they have any questions to come and ask them.

One fellow came up to me and said that he was very confused. He said that thought that he was a Christian but that I had spoken of Davids sin of adultery and its consequences and he was wondering why he didn't feel guilty for recently getting his girlfriend pregnant.

In moments like these it always seems best to pray. So I did.

I explained to him that just because his friends thought it was great that he was going to be a father didn't mean that God agreed with them. I asked him if he read his Bible and he said yes but only the O.T. because the N.T. was too confusing.

I told him to go for a skate and that I would find something in the N.T. that would bring clairity to his situation. I wrote him up a quick note to read the sermon on the mount and to come back next week and tell me what he thought of it.

He took the note and said that he would and was very excited to learn more about his standing with God.

Please pray for this guy that he would get into the Word and that God would bless him with His truth. Pray for me as I need wisdom to speak into this guys life next week.

Thank you,

-Joel

Good Sunday

Hi! This is Joel's wife :-D

I know it's Tuesday, but I haven't had time to get this up-yesterday was crazy. But then, Mondays usually are.

Last Sunday was Potluck Sunday at Eden Bible Church . Our potlucks are held in the Skatechurch warehouse; so there's always some skating involved at some point. Which means it's a great time for Joel to invite some of the guys that haven't been coming to church for a while. And, lo and behold, some came!! Brian and David, two guys that claimed Christ a while back but have since reverted to previous behaviour (See Luke, the parable of the sower--the seeds among the thorns), came to church--and stayed for a while after to skate and talk. Joel was able to give Brian a ride to and from church and so had opportunity to talk to him. He said it went well. (that's all I know) Please be praying for these guys. They are aware of the Truth, but have not allowed it to set them free.

Saturday evening, when Joel invited these guys to church, he had some other guys respond to his text message as well. Some of these guys are in the same situation as Brian and David---they have claimed to know Christ, and followed Him for awhile, but now are blowing it all off--living as they please. This is the saddest thing that happens at Skatechurch. The exciting thing is that these particular guys are still in some contact with Joel. A lot of guys that do this aren't seen or heard from again for many years if ever. Please pray that they will stay in contact and start coming to church on a regular basis.

And if you're wondering---yes, Joel sends invitations to church via text message. He used to call them, but they would rarely answer their phones and even more rarely listen to their voicemail. He tried text messaging, and the majority of them responded. We had to change his cell phone plan to be able to connect with the kids. This computerized, wireless culture means some odd methods of communication!!

And for those of you who are tired of all the text on this blog, here my favorite picture of the littlest skateboarder: (our youngest son)