Connect Conference 2012

It’s a tale of ordinary people being touched by a glorious God resulting in an extraordinary story of faith, life and hope. Acts 4:13 AMP

Having our International Director Brett Davis and His wife Gillian with us was a real treat and the integrity and depth of over 30 years of ministry left indelible impressions on our hearts. Its these little extras like a conference meal with married couples or Gill’s lunch with the girls that make all the difference. All in all we were challenged to remember that we are called to be Salt which works by contact and contrast, challenged to get out of the salt shaker and flavour our world.

Gillian Davis & The Groms "LIFE TO THE FULL"

Bradley our National Skate director pointed us back to the powerful simplicity of Jesus, the beginning and end of our faith, or as he would say “In Jesus, through Jesus and by Jesus”.  He talked about connecting and living a lifestyle connected with our Source, Jesus, to live with each other and build Godly community while being outwardly focused, seeking to improve and impact the world He loves.

Bradley Jones preaching on "Jesus"

I was deeply challenged when I spoke to a number of guys and girls who are still in school and realised just how much they are on the front lines, just how hard and challenging an environment it is for them to share and hold on to their faith, just how theologically astute they are expected to be. I was challenged by how we need to rally around them encourage them and be there for them as they live out their faith in a tough environment.  So often we call them groms but God calles them warriors and he is proud of their fight!

So until the 21^st of March 2013, be strong and know that the lives you touch are transformed into an extraordinary story by our awesome God of Life!

Shop Fitting

It’s Linda our store manager and her staff, who day in and day out, work to make it a special and pleasant space for the customers and community. It’s the Christian Surfers staff team, who wholeheartedly, bought into the revitalization and redesign of the new shop and who spent hours posting pictures to ‘Pintrist” It’s Vanessa Van Zyl  and her team, who thought through all the detail of what makes this new store so amazing, like the redesigned reading corner, or Kristy who worked till 3am crocheting little covers for bowls,  to give it that little bit, of extra cool. It’s the concepts, ideas, pressure and frustration, as all these worlds collide.

It’s our customer base,  it’s the mom that just bought a whole heap of baby clothing, or the dad who could afford to buy his kid a bicycle. It’s the tourist & traveler looking for something different or the local who just found that widget that they needed for a fraction of the price.

Then, it’s also a story about our partnerships with our suppliers. Varied and extremely diverse adding flavour to the constant cacophony of new stock. A treasure trove of who knows whats in the next box and who knows who it will benefit or why they would choose to buy it.  It’s the story of a “Hat” that was donated in Cape Town, that made it onto the shelves in J-Bay, only to be spotted by a friend of its original owner. Who then bought it and returned it to said owner in Cape Town. I’ts the full size human skeleton that has now become our window manikin.

It’s a story with a purpose. It’s a community story. It’s how all of this is helping to define a mission. It’s a story about an alternative funding vehicle for the Africa Office of Christian Surfers. How surfers bibles got to Liberia or how that kid down the road got to experience surfing and hear about Jesus.

Thank you for being part of the story, please continue to help us write it…

Second Session is on Goedehoop St Down Town Jeffrey’s Bay .

Contact: Shop Manager: Linda Van den Berg (0828792616)

e-mail info@christiansurfers.co.za

Contact Office (o42) 296 2956

(Old School / Son Surf (Christian Surfers) 1994 or there about)

Then the good times after the surf around the proverbial South African Braai (wood fire Barbie) telling long tails about that wave we had or the barrel we saw our friends in, sharing the joy of surfing and the stoke of Jesus and what he meant to us and had done in our lives. Good times!

(Baboon Mountain (Bobjaan Berg) Overlooks the line up of E - Bay)

After Dwarskersboss the road would turn to a dust track, that’s all tarred now but this time we were still able to hit the dusty railway road on the last stretch, it somehow always seems a little quicker to the waves. We navigated around the iconic red sand headland and passed the abandoned crayfish factory and into view came the somewhat bigger but still sleepy west coast town of Elands Bay. Everyone in the car was craning to get the first peak of the waves running down the point.

On arrival a little wave trickled down the point hinting to the building big Atlantic groundswell foretold by the charts. In a short time that pulse of energy was going to produce beautiful icy lines that we could ride.  I slipped into my thicker winter wetsuit, and felt the familiar bite of the icy Atlantic as I made my way across the mussel bed and out passed the kelp to the line up.  Slow going at first it seemed that the forerunners of the building swell were making their appearance with greater regularity. It wasn’t long before I was flying down the line on my backhand …I was back and so stoked!

(Yours Truly burning of some speed; Phot0 By Rory Taylor)

This trip however wasn’t just a surf trip with mates – I was there for the Western Cape Christian Surfers leaders meeting. It’s been an amazing journey from the dawn of Christian Surfers and those early days with my old kombi flying across the gravel railway road to E-Bay. It has also been one of the greatest privileges and the adventure of my life to be a part of the national and international move of God within the surfing community which now comprises 180+ missions on 27 different nations and growing.

Here I was a number of years later and I was connecting with a group of Christian Surfers Leaders who all loved Jesus enough to take seriously his command in Mathew 28 to share his story and make disciples, to introduce fellow surfers to the family of God.  Each of us driven on by the impact of that divine moment when we first felt the love, grace & mercy of the Creator of the waves we surf.

(the real hero's of CS; Thanks for changing lives guys

Over the weekend we shared waves and discussed with heartfelt passion God’s loves for all his people, as all people are God’s people, and yet the chasm of choice given to us to accept His love and join his family. We dreamed of seeing our surfing tribe join His family, experiencing the full abundant and eternal LIFE he offers. We prayed that we would be used as conduits of His great Love. To journey through life with our people and in doing so advance his kingdom of love in the surfing tribe.

The weekend seemed to blur into surf, eat, connect and sleep. From an icy surf at Yo Yo’s in Lamberts’ where we were fully clad in  boots, hoodie and gloves   to sun set sessions at Elands Bay, lit up with cold solid perfection.  Literally every set seemed to increase in quantity and quality.  It was one of those perfect trips, and our crew made the most of the waves surfing until after dark and fumbling in on streaks of moonlight.

So you want to come to conference but don’t have the money. Below are some great ideas for you too use to get the money so you can come. Go out, get your buddies, and get it done. Conference is going to be awesome. See you there!!!
 

Run a Bar-One skate or surf competition.
You can get exposure for Christian Skaters and Christian Surfers as well as raise some money. Get everyone to pay in R20 or R50 to enter. Buy a Bar-One for the prize and run the competition.

Church support 
Talk to your church leaders and ask them to contribute financially. Churches may have amounts set aside in their budgets for conference purposes.

Host a bake sale
after church, noting that all funds will go to your conference trip. Make a display that details your trip for people to learn more about the mission they are supporting.

Business sponsorships 
Visit local businesses and ask them to sponsor a portion of your conference trip, such as one day’s worth of expenses. Target businesses that advertise in your church bulletin or whose owners you know directly.

Recycling 
One of the most innovative and green-friendly free fundraising ideas is collecting used cell phones and ink cartridges from local businesses and individuals for recycling and reuse. These items can often be sold to online or local companies for refurbishment and refilling, generating the cash needed.

Gardening and lawn care
Offer a lawn care service for a minimal donation.  Just ask your parents or neighbors if you can cut their grass for some money.  Simple as that!

Asking for donations from walkers
Engaging walkers in popular areas and asking them for donations can often prove financially rewarding.  Just take some conference brochures and ask people if they would consider getting you to conference.

Send a letter out
to all of your family and friends and let them know about your upcoming conference. Include information about the conference and what the ministry is as well as the costs involved, and ask for their support.

Car wash
Get your church’s permission to host a car wash fundraiser after Sunday services to help fund your conference trip. Gather together everyone that wants to go to conference and wash your way closer to having your trip paid for.

Raffle yourself off 
You may not have the money to pay for conference on your own, but you certainly have the time and the talent. Raffle off blocks of your time. The lucky winners will have your undivided service for a certain number of hours and you’ll do whatever chores they’d like.

It  all started on Denver’s first day back home from honeymoon, 22 July 2011, back at Chintsa East. This idyllic resort village lies just 40km east of East London along the coast heading towards Durban. Denver and his new wife Kristy had just returned from honeymoon. They had only been married 21 days. It was a glorious sunny day with a crystal sky, warm 18 degree Celsius water and light offshore winds. Chintsa beach was on form and the local surfers had been enjoying good waves for the previous  couple of weeks. Denver and Kristy paddled out together and were enjoying surfing with about 8 other surfers. It was 11am in the middle of a perfect morning and life was good. They had no idea of the horror that was about to unfold.

As Denver and Kristy’s surf session moved on, the crowd dwindled as surfers got out of the water. Kristy caught her final wave of the morning and went in, waiting on the beach with a friend and watching Denver, she expected him soon to come in. Two will become one flesh, so much in love, she was enjoying a beautiful day at the beach with her husband. Her nightmare was about to begin, right before her eyes. She would witness the whole attack. A tough ask for a new wife to watch her husband and think of his death.

Only three surfers were still in the water at the time. Denver saw the shark appear in front of him as he was facing the horizon. He was lying down on the board. The shark was roughly in a 12 o clock position relative to him, and too close to try paddle away. He sat up on his board, quickly and quietly so that he could maintain eye contact, steeling his nerve and getting his mind ready for the “Greg Emslie stare down” Trying to paddle away in a splashing panic is a sure guarantee that you will be attacked.

Denver was still facing 12h00 but the shark disappeared under the water. The beast was gone. Its first attack hit him from underneath. The shark had submerged and turned and gone away to Denver’s left before it turned again and made its attack. The shark came at Denver from about a 9h00 position like a bullet. He never even saw it coming. It ignored his left leg which would have been closest, swam past and bit into his right leg coming in upwards, under his right thigh, knee, shin and calf. The shark lifted Denver up out of the water and threw him over backwards onto his back into the water, severing his leash and separating him from his surfboard at the same time. Scarlet billows of blood colored the water instantly while Denver tried to get his bearings.

Immediately the shark attacked him a second time. This time the beast came from behind. It launched out of the water and took him over his left shoulder, neck, back and chest and punched him down to the sandy sea bottom. It pinned him on the sand and shook him like a bulldog with a bone. Denver knew for sure he was dead and only one prayer came to his mind  “Dear God forgive me” He knew he had less than a minute to live and he was on his way to his Creator.

The strange thing is how many prayers could have come to Denver’s mind? God save me? Christ help me get out of here? God help me get my fingers in this things eye? God make this thing let go?Looking death in the face, God chose to remind Denver of his sin and His forgiveness. (For all have fallen short of the glory of God) Denver was completely aware of his situation and accepted his death as a fact “God forgive me” The prayer was clear and it was the only thing that came to his mind. Incredibly in its second and usually final attack, the shark let go. When a shark comes back after its first hit, you are not in a good place.

I am hesitant to call Denver’s story a miracle but there is such an unreasonable sequence of small blessings in what has happened to him that you have to but wonder about the hand of God in saving him:

1. The shark let go in its second attack.

2. Denver’s friend in the water with him was Eric Harris, an oil rig trained first aid dive medic. Frightfully brave, Eric retrieved Denver’s surfboard after the shark severed the leash and paddled back into the attack, through billows of blood, to reunite Denver with his surfboard. He paddled in with Denver, encouraging him all the way and was on hand for “golden minute” treatment.

3. Lloyd Staples owner of the local ‘Barefoot Cafe’ restaurant was on the beach and phoned friend/surfer/owner Shaun Price of Buccaneers Resort and called for help. Lloyd had a phone and Shaun got the call! What if Lloyd was not there or Shaun did not get the call? Shaun is a walking switchboard of a sort and a one man triage center.

4.  Shaun has a shark attack kit at his resort. He dispatched a runner with the kit to the beach.

5. Shaun phoned a local doctor. It was her day off. She was at home resting in Chintsa East. What if she was on duty in town 45 minutes away? She was right in the resort and bolted for the beach.

6. Local fisherman Mark Drake was on the beach. He is one of the very few people who has a key for the gate and a 4×4 for the single and only, severely restricted access on to Chintsa East Beach. The attack scene is 500m from the car park. “Those boys are going to need some help” he thought and he ran for his 4×4. Question: What if Mark had been away fishing?

7. Denver has no medical aid. How easy is it to wind up dead at State emergency medical services or bleed to death in a queue while filling in acknowledgement forms of unlimited debt before any doctor will operate? Shaun Price rode with Denver to the finest emergency medical attention money can buy. Beacon Bay Life Emergency Hospital, East London. He walked in holding his credit card aloft. Blessing number seven: Shaun Price is a man of financial means and he spoke to the doctors in a language they can understand before they dabbed their first swab. Because of his means, business acumen and timing, the doctors were able to keep their bills to a minimum. Try asking for a discount after the bill is presented. The financial triage was under  control from the get go.

8. Denver’s trauma was massive and his lacerations were chaotic. The crazy blessing though was that every major artery was missed by the thickness of a prayer. Another mm here or another mm there and he would have been a gonner. Crazy as well, even though the shark had grabbed him over his upper torso, no lung was punctured. Both hands and both feet had lacerations and his right leg was savaged. Somewhere along the line the shark even took a number of bites into the tail of Denver’s surfboard.

Still though, relatively speaking he came out smelling like the proverbial rose. 9. Shaun, Greg Emslie and the Chintsa community, east and west, the East London (Border) surfing community and Surfing South Africa rallied to have a fund raising function at the Chintsa Country Bumpkin Family Restaurant. Support was unprecedented. Whamo! Denver’s bills were cleared in one fell swoop. Even after funds were allocated for recovery physiotherapy there was money left over. A small slush of funds were channeled back to the Surfing South Africa shark attack fund. The cup was filled to full measure, pressed and shaken down and still, some spilled over. Shalom or what?

Denver’s recovery has been radical and complete. 60 days later he was back in the water for his first surf, albeit at Nahoon Beach some 40km away.

So yes sharks do some times let go, some people are first aid trained and cell phones can link the right people quickly….. and yes there are doctors and 4×4′s and gates and keys and… and?… But nine blessings back to back, perfectly timed, weighted, measured, sequenced and in a row? That is a triple hat trick, a pretty crazy number of small mercies in a row to attribute to chance? Calling a miracle is not unreasonable. God’s grace and mercy is unfathomable. It is miraculous what God can do with a tiny prayer “God forgive me”

History:
In 1992 – 1994 when Christian Surfers was formulating here in South Africa, we were faced with a decision of a name. We had heard about Christian Surfers movements in other countries, but there was no global organization at that time. It pretty much was a move of God across the planet.

Bret Davis the pioneer of Christian Surfers (CS) in Australia felt compelled by God to keep on gathering the tribe so to speak. BD passion and drive saw the emergence of an international movement of like minded affiliates, this became the global organization “Christian Surfers”.

10 years later in France in 2004 we realized that an international identity and unified logo had been established around Christian Surfers. Our dilemma was that while we were in every way a part of this we had our own logo and went by the name Son Surf.

A slow process was then adopted where by we began to adopt the CS Logo and mix it with our logo. Gradually we dropped our old logo and went by the name Son Surf, but with the CS logo. We were ultimately walking a road towards changing our name.

Son Surf has not stopped, died or been assimilated by Christian Surfers, we have always been CS, but in order to go forward we feel we are at the point in our history where we need to brand ourselves under Christian Surfers,

John 10:10 and Joshua 1 are still two key verses that have shaped us and are still at our very DNA. Son Surf SA is Christian Surfers SA.

I hope that that explains it?

Blessings

Roy Harley
Founder Son Surf SA.

Image credit: Flickr

We’re serious in our mission to be a Christian witness and presence to the boardriding communities of the world. Come to Jeffreys Bay and be a part of our leadership program designed to teach you how your love for surfing or skating can be integral to furthering the Kingdom of God.

To sign up click here.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER NOW

Jesus the revolutionary proposed a simple concept
Connect people with God and build a new community based on this connection. Pour your connected self into a few willing people, and God will change the world through you! The fact that 2000+ years later we are holding a Christian Surfers and Skaters Conference on the bottom end of Africa is in itself proof that this revolution of love has changed you, I and the world at large.


This conference is about
A fresh connection with our great God, a time to come and be refreshed through worship and the word, to celebrate, have fun and connect with the creator. Its also about connecting with each other. Its about a simple people with a simple idea that together with God we are so much more than the sum of our individual parts. Its about a surfing and skating revolution of love for the Son. So come and connect!


John 15:5-8
I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.

Speakers

Brett Davis
As the director of Christian Surfers International, Brett pioneered the Christian Surfers movement in Australia as their first National Director in 1983. He then has pioneered the international movement since 1999. As an unchurched surfer he was reached by a fellow surfer and wants other surfers to have the same opportunity.







Bradley Jones
Being dubbed the “theological songbird of his generation”, he is the founder and director of Christian Skaters South Africa. Bradley lives in Jeffreys Bay with his wife and two kids while connecting the gospel of Jesus Christ to the skating community at large.







Gillian Davis
Gill is a gifted communicator whose honesty, wit and down to earth style help people engage with God in a refreshing and authentic way. Committed to bringing God’s word alive, she takes timeless Biblical truth and applies this to today’s challenges.






Conference T

YOU MUST SIGNUP BY March 26th TO RECEIVE A CONFERENCE T! Any registrations after March 26th will not receive a conference T-shirt. Click Here To Register Now

Design By

You will notice that things look a little bit different now, but we’ll explain briefly how each section works:

Join the Movement: A dedicated page where you can now quickly and easily become part of our mission. Have a friend or tw that you know are keen to be invovled, but are not sure how it works, send them to this page and one of our friendly staff members will contact you shortly!

Projects: View all of our different projects we have on the go under our banner of Christian Surfers South Africa, all in one place! It’s quite exciting really seeing what God is doing through this movement.

When a Surfer Gets Saved: We started this idea a couple months back and the response has been great! It’s a growing collection of stories from surfers who have had God change their lives for the better. Got some hours to kill or someone who needs to hear the Gospel in the least intrusive way possible? This is your page.

Resources: All our products we have on offer are now in one place on our site. They make awesome gifts, otherwise they make for some great entertainment. More exciting products coming soon!

Blog: This is where you can follow us and see what kind of stuff we’ve been up to. As well as find out about interesting happenings within the surf industry.