By Drew Repp
Staff Writer
Surfing is possibly more synonymous with Malibu than anything else. With 27 miles of coastline, the breaks are endless, providing for a surfers paradise. Although born in Hawaii, surfing developed here during the ’40s, ’50s and early ’60s. The consistent and smooth break produced what became the original perfect wave and Malibu quickly became a haven for a community of surfers.
This community has held strong through the decades of war, love, excess and technology, holding on to their common bond of riding waves. It has evolved with the sport itself as surfers have come and gone and left their marks. And in the wake of past surfers, a new and subtle wave in the community has been growing, a pipeline of Christian surfers.
Joey Jimenez, a 2004 graduate of Pepperdine, spent many hours in the water and working in Malibu and has experienced the movement first hand. “My outlook on the Christian surfing community there in Malibu was pretty unique thanks to my own hours spent in the water, time spent working at Becker, and being a part of a young church …The Christian surfing community was growing at the time because of the guys and girls in town who were walking daily with Christ and eager to spend time at the beach surfing with friends. It was, and has been, I would say, those guys and girls then and now who are responsible for the growing Christian surfing community thanks to their literal preaching of the Gospel without words.”
Many of those preaching the Gospel through their surfing are having an impact. “Part of the reason I’m a Christian is because a pro surfer came and talked to my school when I was younger and shared his testimony. It had such a large impact on me. I just respected him so much cause I could relate. And it lead me to really question God in my life. I think I have the similar effect on younger surfers who know me and wonder about God,” says Joel Christensen, a San Diego native attending Pepperdine.
And their seems to be no better time to wonder about God than in such a beautiful setting as that of Malibu. Junior Ryan House says that surfing is, “A good time for fellowship, because you are surrounded by God’s creation.”
Jimenez adds, “There is something inherently ‘spiritual’ about being outdoors in general, but especially while surfing and having the opportunity to clear your mind, find excitement, and realize how small you are and unimportant some things can be. There were few times I would get out of the water, even on a flat or windy day, and not feel like I had just spent time with Jesus. That was largely due to conversations I would have with friends in between sets, or the time I had alone to pray in the water or just realize how fortunate I was to be there and get to do what I was doing.”
Simply “being out there” might be what started and is keeping this band of Christian surfers together and growing. “Being a Christian and a surfer has been interesting. First of all, all of my high school friends who happen to be non-believers, all surf. And now that we’re growing up, surfing is the only thing that ties us together. So because of surfing we’re able to keep our relationships and I’ve been able to share my walk with a lot of them. The results have been huge. My best buddy has recently become a Christian and we’ve shared many a conversations about God while surfing,” says Christensen.
The results surfing is having on Christians and non-Christians alike is not confined to individuals and small groups of friends. Nor is it just in Malibu. Many organizations are popping up all over the world, all with relatively the same message of how amazing God is and how He can be seen through surfing.
One such organization is Walking on Water, which was started by professional surfer Bryan Jennings in 1995 with the hope of conducting overnight surf camps for junior high and high school students. Jennings’ aspiration was to use his surfing abilities to share his faith.
Since 1995, the non-profit organization has had over 1,000 students attend their surf camps and clinics in San Diego, with some of them coming from as far away as Puerto Rico and Australia. Walking on Water has also expanded its outreach to also include worldwide outreach events through their surf videos Changes, The Outsiders, and Noah’s Arc. Both The Outsiders and Noah’s Arc have been shown here in Malibu, filling the local high school gym with viewers.
2001 Pepperdine graduate Maaren Powers has been working with Walking on Water for four years as a volunteer, camp counselor, surf camp co-director, and is currently the surf camp coordinator.
“I have really seen God do a lot through the surf camps. We have a lot of fun, but we also are able to share Jesus’ love with these teenagers and they come back to camp, call and write us and let us know that their lives have changed,” says Powers, “I think it has also been great to see how God has led us to Work with people all over, non-surfers and surfers alike. People come to surf camp or to a video premiere who have never surfed in their life, and they leave knowing that there is a God who loves them and wants a relationship with them. So, I can see how God has used Walking on Water outside the surfing community as well.”
Whether in this tight and growing community or reaching out from it to share the love of Christ to others, the surfing community is having an impact. And here in Malibu Pepperdine is playing a major role. Jimenez sees it, “The crop of students at Pepperdine has also been pretty influential in the continued growth of the Christian surfing community there in Malibu. I saw more and more college kids starting to surf on my way out of Pepperdine which would only mean that more and more opportunities for God centered and God driven relationships to be built by those people sharing the ocean.”
05-26-2005
