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Contact Bob McBride Events:
Weekly Meetings Other Stuff : A major move of the Lord is being felt on Hatteras Island... the surf
Inside J Sun's Head 9/28/06 A word from our friend Josh Garrels: 10/18/05 It's been a really long time since I've updated this, so for those who have returned here for the past year hoping to find something new and refreshing, I apologize! And now you can be relieved. Over the past year Hatteras Island Christian Surfers has gown through some changes and growing pains. There has also been quite a bit of traveling around the world serving other missions by chapter members. There have been few local outreaches serving the local and tourist surfing community during the summer as well. As we look towards the end of the year, our direction seems uncertain and we are forced to put our faith in the Lord's direction and in the Spirit's leading. After the devastating earthquake that resurrected the reef beds of Indonesia from their watery graves, and the huge tsunami that took many lives and livelihoods from the coasts of Thailand, Sri Lanka, India and Indonesia a worldwide force was put into action. Our director, Bob McBride followed a calling in February to go to Arugam Bay, Sri Lanka to aid in the comforting and rebuilding of a massively devastated village. As he rode alongside Tom Bauers and Surfing the Nations his heart poured out to love these brothers and sisters of different tongue. Upon returning to Hatteras he mobilized a small group of young and faithful servants to return in July to continue relationships he had formed and bring even more support and aid to the victims of the tsunami. Alex Gray, DC Canon, Casey Head, John Head, and his wife Jinny accompanied Bob on the return trip and passed through Thailand on their way home to visit an old friend and missionary, Ezekiel Fish. (visit our webshots page for photos) The blessing for those on the trip was almost as great as it was for the local Sri Lankans as new friends were made and served in love. During their three weeks abroad they debuted the Sri Lankan premier of Noah's Arc by Nick Mclean and stoked a few locals out by leaving their respective surfing mediums (ie surfboards and bodyboards). Similar travels were had by, our old friend, Brad Daniels after surfing.uhh.err, I mean serving with Surfing the Nations in Oahu, Hawaii for several months. Brad was blessed to be part of a team, including documentary filmmaker extraordinaire Russell Brownlee ( www.thewussproductions.com ), who went back to Arugam Bay for three weeks and left only days before our team arrived. His team went immediately on to Bali, Lombok, and Sumbawa, Indonesia for three more weeks where they delivered supplies, sang songs of praise to the Almighty on the beaches of Kuta, and continued their 10 year commitment to the region. He is home.for now.in Williamsburg, Va working for a video production company and looking forward to going back to Hawaii to continue with his heart of servitude. If you headed south to Central America at any point in the past year, there is a good chance you ran into Danielle Andre (my sister). She spent what seems like the better part of a year in Jaco, Costa Rica (and the Limon region for a short, wet stint) assisting Hannah Rico with Surfeadores Christianos Costa Rica. Local outreach, the building of a new hostile, bible studies, and a women's retreat were all encapsulated in the combined three months that Danielle served in Jaco. Did I mention her college gives her extra credits for this stuff.ridiculous! Along with many friendships she gained and left down there, she left a young man the gift the music in the form of her guitar, because he was so stoked to learn worship songs to play, praise, and worship the Lord. Did I mention Derek Shaw was there too over the summer? Well he was. Way back in January I was extremely blessed to be part of a team put together by Roy Harrell and Christian Surfers Delaware/Maryland who took on a mission to Eleuthera, Bahamas. Russell Brownlee also blessed us with his presence by "rolling" along for the ride and documenting the week. Skip and Jackie Miller of Christian Surfers Bahamas, who invited us, played excellent selfless hosts to our team. The work that they are doing over there during the year is worthy of a Nobel Peace Prize. They have and continue to pour out all they have to serve the community and children of Eleuthera. It was a pretty awesome experience to hang out with a ton of little kids who are normally very neglected. You can tell by their eyes and their smiles how much they just appreciate you being there to spend time with them. We spent a whole day sailing, swimming, kayaking, dragging them around on bodyboards, snorkeling, playing beach games, cooking out and singing songs with them. A couple teams went to the preschool in Gregory Town two mornings to read stories, sing songs, and do art projects about loving one another. That was a huge blessing! They are really cute too! We presented Noah's Arc to the villages of Gregory Town and James Cistern which was a lot of fun. The kids just screamed every time Noah or Jesse dropped into a wave. During the week we painted a local church which drew a lot of attention from the community and built a new playground for the local children of Gregory Town. It turned out to be pretty sweet, with a huge tire swing and mini rock climbing wall included in the design by John the Carpenter. Oh yeah, the waves were pretty good too. The CSUS National Conference in Hawaii was also an amazing time of fellowship and learning for myself as well as all those who attended. The surf weren't what I would call Hawaiian, but the waves blessings were huge. An incredible amount of money was raised for the new Surfer's Bibles. Some rather large, in stature and spirit, local men put on an incredible tear jerker hula performance after giving their incredible testimonies of being pulled out of and saved from the hidden and darker side of Hawaii's drug and crime epidemic. Their dance and testimonies spoke of God's ever present and everlasting love for us who even when in the darkest depths of our selfishness and self fulfillment can find Him waiting and ready to forgive us. John Carper, world renowned shaper, gave a.testimony.I guess is what it was. It was more like a stand up act with his personality and life stories laced into his coming to know Christ. I was blessed to be able to stay with Tom Bauers at Surfing the Nations while I was there, along with that nutty world traveler Russell Brownlee. That in itself was an unexpected experience that I would take a lot of encouragement from. While sleeping on Brad's floor every night, I quickly became part of the family that exists there and took part in the community that works together to maintain the mission. To all the brothers and sisters that I met for the first time over there, thank you for your love and hospitality and hope to see all of you again. Your work is inspiring to say the least. Pray for these guys as they search for a new home base! This fall, our chapter arranged and provided with the financial aid of surrounding chapters a beach cottage for competitors/friends/families in Buxton during the ESA Easterns. It successfully provided a location for rest near to the contest, ESA HQ and well, was right on the beach. The Jersey chapter brought a huge crew as usual, VB regional director Marie Sexton enjoyed a night's stay, the DE/MD Harrels came down for a few heats, as did a group from Emerald Isle/Atlantic Beach, Wilmington, and OBX. It was great getting to see everyone wish we could have spent more time together, but it all worked out. And next year we might even throw in sheets for the beds.HA! Saturday night of the contest we showed Noah's Arc and the one and only Bill Whatley gave a humble warm hearted testimony in his bright and animated way, inspiring a few local kids to really reexamine their lives and look to the Lord. Awesome! As far as the next few months go we're looking at a Cape Hatteras Campout November 11th -13th at Frisco Woods campground.All chapters are invited, so please call and let Bob or I know how many from your chapter will be coming: $6/head. The local churches are rallying mission work crews to go down to help rebuild in Mississippi and could use prayer. Another trip to Eleuthera may be in the works for January along side some brothers from St Augustine. Meetings are still Saturday nights at Bob-O's house behind Gingerbread House in Frisco at 7pm. All are welcomed! If there's anything else going on, let me know and I'll post it! Two more things I'd like to address in this annual update. First, huge THANK YOUS to all the people, businesses, families, and friends who have supported Hatteras Island Christian Surfers and its members in the local community as well as in our missions and travels. The Lord makes these outreaches possible through you, and we appreciate all that you do and give. I would list all of you, but I know I would forget someone.you know who you are, and your love does not go unnoticed or unappreciated. Second, I want to take this opportunity to address the growing pains we've gone through in the past year. Some of the structure has changed and the focus to serve has been reevaluated and.refocused. Something that stood out to me at the conference this year was the reiteration of the fact that Christian Surfers is not a youth group. Youth does happen to be a driving force, but the true mission of Christian Surfers is to serve and be a witness to the surfing culture and in the surfing community of the Lord's love, forgiveness, and provide a bridge to that body which is the church. Jason Jason's Thoughts 10/18/05 To the chapter: To the chapters: You can continue to find pictures of most of our events at our photo website… http://community.webshots.com/user/hichristiansurfer Jason Photos: * |
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