The 10/40 Window

"The 10/40 window is located from 10 degrees to 40 degrees north of the equator.  It includes North Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia.  There are 65 nations in this window and we believe 45 are surfable.  A goal of Surfing the Nations is to create a new awareness of this region and present a strong challenge to this generation of surfers to GO!  Surfers are awakening and seeing that this is truly a hidden window of opportunity.  Yes, there's great sacrifice and cost to pay but the rewards will be great...We believe surfing is one of God's creative tools to capture the heart's of this generation for the purpose of changing lives.  Can a small group of committed surfers help change the world?  Yes!"   - Surfing the Nations Newsletter, Sept 2005

With Surfing the Nations targeting every surfable nation (a nation with its boundaries on an ocean) in this generation, we will be traveling to the Middle East.  Egypt, Jordan, and Israel.  Yes there is no surf in Jordan, but there are deserts of sand dunes for sandboarding.  And yes there is awesome surf in Egypt and Israel.

And now we are off for the Middle East.  We won't be seeing the Hawaiian islands until Dec 22.  We will miss you, but are excited to see you soon.

Feeding the Hungry

One in five Hawaii residents suffers from hunger.  

As surfer's giving back, we provide Oahu's largest and most dependable food distributions. Once a week we work with the Food Bank of Hawaii to distribute food to families in Kalihi.  Families who otherwise might not have the ability to provide food for their children.

This week we were blessed with an abundant amount of food.  I've been with Feeding the Hungry for 2 months and yesterday greeted us with the most food.  The people were glad for it.

 

There are regulars I have gotten to know just by talking with on a weekly basis.  Families that I can get to know.  There are some amazing stories of people struggling to earn money to bring their family to Hawaii.  One gentleman by the name of "Tino" told me he has been working for years providing money to his wife and kids in the Philippines.  The food he receives at our distributions are a blessing.

Amazing things are happening in Hawaii, and to be apart of it is simply eye-opening.  You can be apart of this change.  Check out Feeding the Hungry

Wahiawa + Music + Neon colors = Great times

 

Follow the music and neon colors on Halloween Eve night and you might have stumbled across a raging party.  And by party I mean a group of really, really cool people hanging out.  And by raging I mean bumping music and lots of dancing.

Our high school ministry, Ignite, hosted our first outreach event on Friday night.  An art show with music and plenty of neon colors.  Kids followed the music and came in off the streets.  Where one might only find drugs, drinking, and strip clubs on a Friday night, Surfing the Nations was a positive environment for these kids.  

Eukarezt was there.  A local christian artist, displayed his talents and inspired the kids with his graffiti-art.

I love event planning.  Putting on art shows or music shows is a passion I have.  I love organizing things like this.  Especially when the event is catered to kids as cool as them.  Being able to have fun in a alcohol/drug free environment.  Having fun without caring what others think of you.  Showing others that you can be cool and have fun without alcohol or drugs.  What a way to live.  What a way to reach out to the younger generations.  

Keep your eyes and ears peeled for future events.  I have a feeling that this won't be the last and our Wahiawa bar will be the place to be on a Friday night or Saturday night on this side of the island.  Just a thought.

Passion in action

Haleiwa Beach Park played host to a very unique church this past Sunday.  Once a Month Church is held on the last Sunday of every month and caters to the house-less of Hawaii.  Buses were rolling in full of families from the Waianae coast and North Shore of Oahu.  As a part of Surfing the Nations, I took part as a volunteer for the church service, probably one of the most humbling experiences of my life.

Once a Month Church provides a church service for people who are not always accepted in other conventional churches.  There are free raffle prizes including food, bags of rice, toiletries and other necessities.  And of course lunch is provided.  

One of the most unique parts of Once a Month Church is the offering/tithe portion of the service.  At most churches when the offering is passed around, people place money inside.  As Once a Month Church caters to the house-less of Hawaii, instead of asking them to place money in the offering everyone receives an offering from the church.  


As I finish up my second month here at Surfing the Nations, I am truly grateful for everything that God has done in my life.  To be able to see His work in action here at Haleiwa was amazing.

Menehune beach bum boogie

With the Maui/Lanai team and Bangladesh team back home, we are all resting and planning for the next outreach. Surfing Middle East. The next international outreach is planned for Egypt, Jordan, and Israel. I am really excited for what is being planned for the trip. We will be holding the 2nd annual Aloha Surf Classic in Alexandria, Egypt, our biggest outreach of the trip. There will also be sandboarding lessons in the Jordanian desert and more surfing on the Mediterranean coast of Israel. As we near the trip dates we are continuing to fund-raise and plan more outreaches.

Meanwhile on the North Shore, we took part in the Menehune Surf Contest. We helped put on the event as the clean-up crew and beach clean-up coordinators. The entire event was successful, even though the waves were small. All of the kids had a blast. There were kids as young as 5 years old surfing the waves. It was awesome to help out with a surf contest, as it was my first time attending a surf contest. What also made my day was meeting and talking with Jack Johnson. Great day.

Shout out to my Lanai peeps

This trip has been one of God's work. I have been busy from day one. Now wrapping up Lanai, I see how much God has moved on these islands. It is amazing to be apart of everything. When we arrived to Lanai, it was full of projects and work. We were responsible for construction that would hopefully bring a church closer to completion. King's Chapel Lanai is a new church that holds its services out of the Lanai high school cafeteria. During construction, I felt like Jesus as a carpenter. It was hard work, but completely worth it. It was so fulfilling to see the fruits of our labor.

We also helped out with their beach ministry during their monthly movie night. The movie was awesome, Ratatouille. It was awesome watching a movie under a full moon. Seeing how much a church with a heart for God can accomplish. As simple as it was, and as meager as it may have seemed, God was present and even the visitors enjoyed the entire night.

Seeing how much happened was amazing. Seeing the works in people's lives. The children here were awesome. They had that child-like faith and spiritual maturity people often strive for. They all were an inspiration to me. The love they had in their hearts. It was refreshing to see this love in people, families, children, churches, and an entire island.

"For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Luke 12:34

Maui journal entry

A journal entry of the events on our third day in Maui...


26 September 2009

"Woke up. Surfing day. Today we will surf Lahaina.

"Ate breakfast at 7:30. They made oatmeal with fresh lilikoi. The lilikoi we picked yesterday was fresh. I ate leftover pizza from the high school youth group meeting last night. 2 cheese pizzas. Coffee was delicious.

"After breakfast did my devotional. God put Luke 9:62 on my heart. "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God." He is continually stressing this call of missions on my life. I need to follow Him 100%. Turn from the past. Prayer was good. Asked for waves to surf.

"We loaded up the cars with the boards. All 10 boards. Drove to Lahaina. Had to stop a couple of times to fix the board straps. Got to Lahaina. Weather was beautiful. Surf was nice. We had 2 hours to surf. Jumped in the water. Got pummeled on the inside. Figured out the break. Got pummeled again. Caught a couple fun sets. some of the Swedes caught some nice waves.

"Came in for lunch. Ate under a large banyan tree. Had our bible study with some Hawaiian music playing in the background. Left to get some iced coffee. Coffee was very good. Put the boards back on the car. Drove back to Kihei. Put the boards away. Picked up Ellin. She stayed back cause she was sick. Prayed for her.

"Left for Paia. Drove on the sugar cane road. The air smelt really bad. Got to Paia. The town was really cool. Went to look at some waves at Hookipa, Maui's big wave spot. Waves were pretty big. I wouldn't have went out. The water was too cold and the current was too strong.

"Met a cool kid Hanalei. He hung out with us. We ate dinner at Paia town. We went around town to sticker slap Surfing the Nations stickers. Ate a spanikopita from Mana Market, a cool health food store. Ate my food with the girls at a crepe restaurant.

"Met a lady Gloria. We took her home to Kihei. Looked like she needed some love. Hung out at home. Funny how this seems like home now. Played guitar. Played drums. Drank warm spiced cider. Thank you Kat. Watched TV. Fell asleep. God was awesome all day. God is awesome always. Awesome day."