Wild West Christian Surfers

Urban reminder

2010-05-24T20:46:00.000-07:00

Do before you talk, what a great reminder!

they have even bought Jesus into the 1080 debate!

2010-05-12T19:01:00.000-07:00

A guy I work with is a very passionate campaigner for banning 1080 and showed me this sign he had made for an elderly gentleman's mobility scooter! I love the west Coast.

Searching for forgiveness?

2009-12-08T19:12:00.000-08:00

http://www.driftsurfing.eu/surf_article.asp?ID=1844

This is a great story and the author really projects the longing and struggle for forgiveness in this guys life. God has provided it in Jesus, we have to beleive this and trust him in this.

Praise where praise is due

2009-11-25T19:57:00.000-08:00

Using her fame to bring glory to her king......its beautiful.

National Conference 09

2009-09-01T21:04:00.001-07:00

Christ centred surf Mag!

2009-07-21T20:05:00.000-07:00

http://issuu.com/reversalmag/docs/iss1

May God continue to work through you guys.

Ever feel like lifes just comming down on you?

2009-03-16T12:26:00.000-07:00

As surfers we want the waves to cover us so we can get the barrel, sometimes the wave closes out and sometimes you make it through and come flying out from the barrel fully stoked. You learn to come out of barrels by looking for the opening or light at the end of the tunnel. The same can be applied to life in that we learn to come out of a seemingly impossible and intense time in our life that looks hopeless by looking to Jesus who is for us the light and the opeing at the end of the tunnel. He gives us the hope to carry on even if it looks like a close out.

2009-03-12T20:43:00.001-07:00

Lurking in the depths

2009-03-12T20:43:00.000-07:00

He will do it through us

2009-02-19T11:14:00.000-08:00

VERSE:
I will show the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, the name you have profaned among them.
Then the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Sovereign LORD, when I show myself holy through you before their eyes. Ezekiel 36:23

THOUGHT:
God can and will use us even though we are not worthy vessels for him to use. The word word gives us many examples of people God used when they did not measure up to his moral and holy requirements -- for example, think a little about Samson or most of the other Judges! God will be revealed as the holy, mighty, and awesome God that he is through us to the nations. So let us be willing tools in his hands because he is going to work through us to display himself. Let us offer ourselves to him for his service and his glory.

2009 National Events Schedule

2009-02-15T19:20:00.000-08:00

January 09 (Late) CS Locally starts up N.Z Wide
January 09 - 23rd-26th CSNZ's Parachute Music Festival Stand Hamilton - Mystery Creek
February 09 - 7th/8th Local Camps Local groups
March 09 - 7th/8th South Island Gathering Dunedin
March 09 - 21st/22nd Girl's Camp (To be confirmed)
April 09 - 10th-13th Easter Camp Taranaki
April 09 23rd-May 6th Mission Fiji Fiji
May 09 23rd/24th North Island Gathering Raglan
June 09 - 20th/21st Wairarapa Surf Comp Wairarapa
July 09 Surffest - Film Festival N.Z Wide
August 09 Group Visits N.Z Wide
September 09 Group Visits N.Z Wide
October 09 - 23rd-26th National Conference Raglan
November 09 - 28th/29th Camp Mount Mount Maunganui
December 09 - 31st New Years Gathering (To be confirmed)

The heart of CS by Kris Stice

2009-02-11T00:08:00.000-08:00

Check out the CSI e-magazine

2009-02-11T00:00:00.000-08:00

Find out what God is doing in the surf community around the world through people who seek to serve him....This is a great encouragement to everyone.

http://www.groundswellmagazine.com/

Punakaiki Trip

2009-02-10T23:40:00.001-08:00

Weeny peaks, a mission to get down the cliff, beautiful scenery and a good time crew.

swell is good all week so get out there!!!!

2009-01-25T12:30:00.001-08:00

Check out the swell, good till after next weekend with a long period swell you could check out the Ross mussel beds or find a bank in town. But get amongst it all week while you can.

Just look how God moved throughout 08!

2009-01-11T12:31:00.000-08:00

God has been faithful to us for during the year. We have prayed for many things and the following list highlights the ways in which God has answered these prayers, so let's praise Him for His faithfulness:

PRAISE POINTS

January
* Tide charts - support from mainstream surfing organistations saw the 2008 tide charts go into the Dec '07 NZ Surfing magazine and the 2008 Nationals competitors packs
* King of Kings Skate tour - heaps of young people turned out around the country to see this USA based ministry

February
* the Carruthers family were able to relocate to the Sunshine Coast and begin a church plant amongst the local surfing/beach cuture
* the ASP Chaplaincy role was set up by Christian Surfers International and the first ASP event -the Gold Coast Quiksilver Pro- was a great start to this new initiative, allowing a trial run to then be undertaken at the rest of the WCT events in 2008

March
* the Girls Camp went off, with ideal 2 foot, glassy surf both days of the camp
* an awesome Easter camp was held at Taranaki, with great weather, waves, ministry and fellowship
* finances were received to build up the CSNZ resources

May
* the Fiji mission trip went well, despite David having to return to NZ during the trip. Gordi did a great job in his place. The team enjoyed good surf and fellowship. The surf coaching and comp went well. Valuable contacts were made with the newly formed CS Fiji crew.

June
* the 'Walking On Water' movie was hosted by CSNZ and WOW staff members - Todd and Renae Morehead, from San Diego. Large crowds turned out to see the movie and lives were clearly touched.

July
* the SurfFest film festival set up by the Welly crew went national and screenings around NZ, hosted by CSNZ groups, went well. Plenty of money was raised for SurfAid in the process and valuable relationship-building took place between CS organisers and contestants.
* the pain of a ruptured disk in Gordi Webb's back was relieved with the help of our prayers

August
* finance came through for Matt Foster and Mel Clark to get to the CSI conference in South Africa to represent NZ.
* the surf around Jeffreys' Bay went off during the week of the CSI conference. Epic conditions were on hand for the conference delegates.

September
* our prayers for the JESUS Classic Surf comp -run by CSUK- were answered with sunshine and the best surf in 4 months .

October
* finances came through for Kris Stice and Pio Nakesu from Fiji CS to get to the CSNZ Conference at Raglan
* the CSNZ conference went well. God's protective hand was on a van load of crew returning home after conference. Nobody was badly hurt when the vehicle crashed ..and the surfboards remained undamaged.
* Todd and Renae Morehead and CS Japan ran a successful outreach in Japan. Large numbers attended events and heaps of DVDs were given away.

November
* the Mount camp went off, with fun waves on hand at the Island for campers
* Fozzie's CS group visits went well, with Fozzie experiencing no major hiccups while on the road. Wendy and Hana looked after while he was away touring.
* the new Surfer's Bible was launched by CSI and the Bible Society, in both New Testament and full-Bible versions (a new move).

December
* Marcello won the teaching job in Kaikoura, that we prayed for.

Plus: in 2008 God blessed this Tuesday Pray Day weekly prayer service with a large amount of finance that was given to me for the purchase of a new (and reliable!) computer and also FREE Broadband access due to another generous gesture - God is good!

"How we thank God for all of this! It is He who makes us victorious through Jesus Christ our Lord!" 1 Cor. 15:57

Wise words

2008-11-25T16:06:00.000-08:00

"He loves thee too little who loves anything together with thee, which he loves not for thy sake".

Augustine.

Loving God comes before all things in the christians heart, soul and mind. If we love surfing together with Jesus but dont love surfing because of Jesus or for Jesus glory then we love Jesus too little.

Do you love surfing to glorify Jesus?

Sunday morning

2008-11-09T00:04:00.000-08:00

Hannahs Board Bag

2008-10-16T01:18:00.000-07:00

Great job Hannah!!!

Spiritual Health Questionare

2008-10-09T01:34:00.000-07:00

If you want a good survey / assessment of whether or not you are in good spiritual health then ask yourself these questions and answer them honestly:

How is your attitude to your work colleagues, your boss, your friends and most importantly your family?

Can you explain the Gospel?
Are you able to give an account of your faith?
How well are you relating to God? Are you spending time talking with him regularly?
Are you soaking in the truth? Reading God's word.
Are you becoming more like Jesus?
Are you trusting Jesus more and more each day?
Is your faith increasing?
Is what you believe being practiced?
Is your heart getting softer?
Is Jesus your LORD and Saviour?
Are you fleeing the desires of your youth?
Are you taking your cross up daily? Living a life characterised by service and devotion.
Are you serving others out of love? not self seeking.
Who are you trying to please?
What insecurities are you pampering?
With whom or what are you competing?
What rewards are you seeking?
What shame are you covering?
Do you want to know God?
Do you want to know more about God? More of him.
Do you want to spend time with God?
Can you see God working in your life? Are you even looking?
What thoughts occupy your mind the most?
How real is Jesus to you?
Is praising God hard?
Are you willing to obey God even if he asks you to do something hard or requiring faith?
Do you regularly talk about Jesus in your conversation?
Do you love what is good and hate what is evil?

Striving

2008-09-28T17:11:00.000-07:00

VERSE:
No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
-- 1 Corinthians 9:27

THOUGHT:
"Practice what you preach!" "I'd rather see a sermon than hear one any day." "Put your life where your mouth is!" Those of us who speak out most openly about our faith in Jesus also need to make sure that we hold ourselves accountable to the same standard we are calling others to follow.

PRAYER:
Father in Heaven, please help my walk to be consistent with my talk and may my talk always be pleasing to you! In Jesus' glorious name I pray. Amen.

Schake Photography Rules

2008-09-27T02:13:00.000-07:00

Hey here a couple of images taken by Juergen Schacke a great Hokitika photographer

Cover it

2008-09-14T18:50:00.000-07:00

Please remember to pray for the Welly team as they hold the Wairarapa surf comp. Pray that their organisation would be top notch that their display of the gospel would be second to none and that people would see and come to know Jesus through this event and the people that run it.

National Conference

2008-09-11T15:24:00.000-07:00

Hey guys here is the national conference rego form. We have all committed to going so the sooner you can get the forms back to me then I will send them off. This will be a real blessing to all who go.

CSUS whats happening blog link

2008-08-25T13:28:00.000-07:00

http://cswhatshappening.blogspot.com/

It's Online!!!!!!!

2008-08-04T14:34:00.000-07:00

Click on the link or go to the council website and have a look from there..

http://www.westland.govt.nz

http://222.154.246.230:85/view/index.shtml

Big Brother is watching

2008-07-24T18:12:00.000-07:00

Yeooow! the Council has installed a really good web cam on top of its building. We will soon be able to access this and check the surf from your own home. I will let you know when its all go so untill then get on your bike and tell us all if its firing.

Spoof Logo

2008-07-24T02:15:00.000-07:00

Tehehe, he is a little idea we had a while back and did for a bit of fun.

Premiere Photos

2008-07-02T14:33:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos from the WOW Premiere held in Greymouth during July.

Buy a board and Help CSNZ

2008-07-02T14:22:00.000-07:00

There is a stylish 70's twin fin retro tint board for sale on trade me at the moment. If you purchase this board you will be helping the CS national leaders get to the international conference in South Africa........go on buy a board for yourself and help the team out at the same time.
The generous staff at Backdoor surf shop have provided the board.

International Surfing Day

2008-06-08T13:44:00.000-07:00

Ever needed a legitimate excuse to go surfing? Well, on June 20, 2008, you finally have it: International Surfing Day. Created by SURFING Magazine, this unofficial, official surfers' holiday gives us a chance to promote and celebrate the sport while bringing awareness to the state of our oceans and beaches.

The goal is simple: take the day, or at least a part of the day, to go out, catch a wave or three and -- while you're at it -- help clean up your favorite beach. Beautify your own stretch of sand!

Hokitika Beach front!

Queens Birthday Weekend

2008-05-22T14:45:00.000-07:00

June 19th West Coast Premiere

2008-05-19T02:01:00.000-07:00

Winter Plan

2008-05-12T23:04:00.000-07:00

Hi team,
We are in the throws of planning the winter schedule for cs and we want to give you all a list of planned activities so you know what we are going to be doing. We need to know what days suit you best for meeting so we can get as many there as we can. activities included will be making movies, surf fit training, making an indo board and board decoration nights. If there are things you want to do let us know particularly ideas to reach out to our surf community.

Peace

Children of light

2008-05-01T02:23:00.000-07:00

When I look at this pic it's the light that captivates me and that is what I was trying to catch in this image. Light radiates, bounces off and shines through stuff so we can see it. As children of "the light" Jesus radiates from and shines through us to display himself showing himself to the world through us.

Jesus was Black ..................and White

2008-04-26T22:45:00.000-07:00

I enjoyed getting rolled in the shore break while trying to get some good images. The light was beautiful and I was simply stoked to be enjoying the time and catching moments as the sun descended. This photo is the result of one photo that originally looked average, the composition was interesting and I tried to play with the colours but it just didn't come up well.......until I switched it to black and white. "Let your yes be yes and your no be no" The world we live in tries to tell us things are blurred around the edges to divert us from following the straight path. Read what Jesus said and follow them. There is no grey in that!

How do you bring people to Jesus? Food for thought

2008-04-21T13:56:00.000-07:00

A man is stumbling through the woods, totally drunk, when he comes upon a preacher baptising people in the river.

He proceeds to walk into the water and subsequently bumps into the preacher. The preacher turns around and is almost overcome by the smell of alcohol, when he asks the drunk, "Are you ready to find Jesus?"

The drunk answers, "Yes, I am." So the preacher grabs him and dunks him in the water. He pulls him up and asks the drunk, "Brother have you found Jesus?" The drunk replies, "No, I haven't found Jesus."

The preacher shocked at the answer, dunks him into the water again for a little longer. He again pulls him out of the water and asks again, "Have you found Jesus my brother?" The drunk again answers, "No, I haven't found Jesus."

By this time the preacher is at his wits end and dunks the drunk in the water again but this time holds him down for about 30 seconds and when he begins kicking his arms and legs he pulls him up. The preacher again asks the drunk, "For the love of God have you found Jesus?"

The drunk wipes his eyes and catches his breath and says to the preacher, "Are you sure this is where he fell in?"

Live this

2008-03-17T14:08:00.000-07:00

Hey this is an exert from a daily verse and thought I get emailed to me, The challenge to us all is to live this truth!

VERSE:
Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you.
-- Philippians 3:17
http://www.SearchGodsWord.org/desk/?query=Philippians+3:17

THOUGHT:
"I would rather see a sermon any day, than hear one." I'm not distressed because people want to "see a sermon," but because so many of us don't "practice what we preach." As leaders -- whether as friends, parents, or in positions of authority -- our primary tool of influence is our life of character (or lack of it). Do you practice what you "preach"? All of us who seek to influence others redemptively, MUST! Why? Because most folks need to both hear and see the message before it becomes a part of them.

Home Brewed Surf Wax

2008-02-29T12:43:00.001-08:00

We had a fun time last week mucking around I mean developing our home made wax formula. Everyone has sworn to secrecy on the recipe so it can't be leaked to our competitors. The idea is to be able to sell this to raise funds for CS and give it away as a means of showing the local surf community of the gift Jesus is to us and bless them. Once the recipe is really good and ready to produce on a larger scale we can come up with some good packaging incorporating a tract.

CS on tomorow

2008-02-25T12:15:00.000-08:00

We are meeting every week from tomorrow onwards! 6:30pm at Si & Nome's house at 71 Weld St . Bring your surf stuff we will surf (if possible) then go back to our house for a snack and a talk. Please organise to be picked up at 9pm if you can. Check out the Wal Waterman comic attached cos we will use this as the basis of our talk this week.

Next Event: GO for Gold Greymouth March 1 08

2008-02-24T12:04:00.000-08:00

Hey team this coming weekend we will be cruzing up to watch day two of the Go for Gold surfing comp in Greymouth, come and see the south islands best surfers battle it out at Cobden enjoy a surf and hang out for the day. Yet to find out a start time but we will head up early so we can make a full day of it. Bring your surf gear so we can have a couple of surfs, food for lunch etc. It looks like the weather will be wet in the morning but turn out fine in the arvo. The comp usually finishes around lunch time. Contact us to confirm you can come.

Film Premiere Outreach

2008-02-20T11:22:00.000-08:00

We have a sweet opportunity to impact people in our community with the message of the gospel! Walking on water are touring the country in June-July partnering with CS groups to host outreaches where the film is shown and the gospel presented. We are investigating venues for the event at the moment. Please pray for Gods leading and direction in how we go about doing this.

Surf Fest 08

2008-02-19T18:33:00.000-08:00

Amateur Surf Film Festival 2008

Amateur Surf Film Festival 2008 - Hosted by the Wellington Crew - An opportunity for amateur film makers and surfers alike to have a go at hitting the big screen. Submit a 3 minute homevideo of you and your mates…… and WIN!!! - Videos Due in by 5th July... check out the offical website for entry forms and more information... [http://www.surffest.co.nz]

Kick-off 13th Feb 08

2008-02-10T12:04:00.000-08:00

Hey team we will meet at the lower Beach Street car park for a talk and surf on Wednesday. Meet at 7:30pm bring your stuff if you can come and we will aim to finish about 9pm before it gets dark.
We will try and do this ever second week during summer so you can get as much water time as possible under your belts. Other than that if the swell is good we will send out a text or email to tell you if we are going out for a surf. As the daylight goes and the rains set in we will do other activities as well.

What defines you?

2008-02-04T11:16:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we had a new staff member introduced to us at work. When the person who was introducing the new staff member to me was telling the newbee who I was and what I did she defined me as a surfer. But she is wrong, first and foremost I am a follower of Jesus. I was gutted, what a shake up for me! There is something wrong if people don't see Jesus before all the other entertainments in our life.

This is the challenge:
Be so obviously a follower of Jesus that people define you as a Christian before they add any other lables to you.

South Island Gathering 1-3 Feb 08

2008-02-04T00:56:00.000-08:00

Wow we are just in the throws of recovering from late nights and 5am mornings but we had a blast!
Dawn surfs, leadership training, heaps of food, great fellowship, weather and plenty of whitewash for the learners. We have lots to be thankful about! When you are praying this week cast your minds back to the weekend and thank God for his generosity.

Our team made huge headway and are standing up (on waves) all over the place. The next phase will be getting on to that green face of the wave. Here are some of the better images of the weekend. We will have a slide show at our first CS meeting next Wednesday!

New Team Member

2008-01-30T01:48:00.000-08:00

Look at what we just purchased by Gods grace and provision! This 1995 Toyota "people mover"will help get all you groms and boards to and from the beach with ease. Super stoked that God continues to provide for the needs of this ministry.

The Single Fin "Project Board"

2008-01-24T11:52:00.000-08:00

Wow we just got given an old single fin surfboard that will serve as a good learners board! Its a bit rough but we can patch the holes, sand her back and get her up and going in a few days.

I am continually amazed at Gods provision.

Riding one of these will teach you style that you can't get when all you ride is a Thruster.

Learn 2 Surf Cobden

2008-01-16T17:46:00.000-08:00

Hey team here is a photo of some of you at the learn to surf we went up for rescently in Greymouth. Yep the conditions were awful but we got out there and had a go. As Murfies Law suggests you know it was clean and off shore when we got home.

New Year's Enthusiasm

2008-01-01T23:28:00.000-08:00

Hey guy's welcome to the new year I am praying that it will be a fruitful one and that God would keep our minds open to the things we can be doing both together and in our local community.

Please pray and have a think about the sorts of things we could do as a group, where are the needs, what would be good to achieve in the coming year. We will try and get an official meeting / gathering to kick things off in the next 2 weeks.

Lets start out how we mean to carry on.

God never asks us about our ability or our inability but out our availability!

Wakadate

2007-12-16T23:08:00.000-08:00

The board is much further on than this at the moment, being sanded and the rails are ready to go on but I first need to make the swallow tail rails. This is a job that will take some skill but I'm up for the challenge. I will post more photos soon. Here is the board after both sides were laminated on, the photo shows how I laminated it without sanding the panels on the external side and has a nice rustic appeal.

Register Now!

2007-12-16T19:06:00.000-08:00

Registration for the South Island Gathering is now out. We need to know who intends to come so we can finalise where we sleep and the venues etc. It will be a great weekend, getting together as Christian Surfers and other related ministries to encourage each other, learn about the ministry and of course surf. Please print out the form, and give it back to me or send it in to the address on the form. If parents need more information feel free to get in contact with me or any other leaders. God is working among the south island surfers, come and see we are not alone.

Lamination

2007-11-29T15:44:00.000-08:00

The K-Waka has now got it's bottom laminated on (what a stress). Using an expandable gorilla glue that will allow for all my construction errors its all stuck on now. Every step brings the project a little closer to being a real board.

Hoki Firing

2007-11-21T22:40:00.000-08:00

Hoki beach firing earlier in the year.

Up and Riding

2007-11-21T22:27:00.001-08:00

This week the waves were small and the conditions right to get our keen grommies out into the water, learing to paddle and have an attempt at getting up on their feet. The new yellow board got its feet wet on the west coast after being baptised in Christchurch the weekend prior. We had a great time over on South side with Issac getting to his feet for the first time and Christy is ooohh so close, keep working on it girl. The stoke was shared and a beautiful summer evening was made the most of. Well done guys!

Waka update

2007-11-15T01:29:00.000-08:00

Things have been progressing slowly, the shape is easier to see now and the daunting bit is about to start with the deck and rail laminations.

CS Weekend in Feb

2007-11-04T18:00:00.000-08:00

"Do you have an interest or heart for: Christian Surfers, Snowboarders for Christ, Skate Ministry? Then we would love to host you for a weekend"

The weekend will include:

Guest Speakers
Training
Promo DVDs
Delivery from CSNZ

Cost: Free

"Hosted by a local leadership team and CSNZ - registration out soon".

The Kawaka Waka

2007-11-04T01:58:00.000-07:00

Ive been making a 5'8" hollow, wooden, retro fish as a project during the rainy season. I'll keep you posted on the construction. Here is the frame so far.

The new board

2007-10-23T22:37:00.000-07:00

Praise God! we were able to purchase a new soft top surf board on Trade me for about $150 less than all the other places. We were not able to go to national conference because the costs were too high but it all worked out for the best because if we had gone we wouldn't have been able to buy the board. Now there is nothing except weather holding us back!

The Start

2007-10-22T21:31:00.000-07:00

This is the first blog so just testing out how it all comes up. This blog is set up to inform anyone who wants to know what we are up to and to give the locals a digital point of reference.