New Amigo

It was been two weeks since our last post and allot of things have been going down. Cold season is here as everyone has taken their share of being sick. Jake was the first one to get sick so we blame him for our own misery. Besides that we have been continuing our wax nights on Thursdays. It's exciting to see such a great turn out each week with both new and returning people. Each week we have around 30 to 40 people show up to get their boards waxed and/or eat some good food!

Another big change is that our group has increased in size. One of our coworkers over at Tahoe Donner Ski resort named Danny is a believer and a solid guy recently became homeless and was need of housing. Danny has a heart for the Lord and serving others so we decided as a group to invite him to live with us. After talking with our host family everything was a go and Danny is currently living with us. However, because of Jake, Danny is also sick at the current moment.
Please pray that God would keep us healthy so we are able to work and serve.

Friends + Snow = Awesome

There is never a dull moment in our lives. Everyday is filled with a new adventure. While we are only working part time our schedules have been packed. On Mondays there is the college group at night where we have dinner, fellowship and spend time in the word. Every Tuesday is Awana and a few of us have been helping out with the events. Wednesday nights are a reign of chaos as junior highers and high school teens flood the church with high doses of pure adrenaline and fun. Thursdays are when we host our wax nights and minster to unbelievers through a free dinner and board waxing. When we aren't working on the ski hills or church events our time is spend with new friends on and off the hill. God has blessed us with so many friends from the church, at work and people we befriend on the slopes. Our home seems to always be filled with friends and excitement.

Today was another amazing day. A couple of our friends from work and the slopes spent the night after a long day of riding. Yesterday we rode with a group of 12 guys at Northstar Ski Resort and it was a blast. This morning a bunch of us went back country riding and formed a narly 30 foot jump. It was a gorgeous day with tons of sunlight and deep powder. The mountains are beautiful and they attest to the skill and craftsmanship of God in creation.

SALVATION IS HERE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So right now all of us guys are celebrating like crazy because God is able to save. Tonight one of our coworkers accepted Jesus Christ as her lord and Savior!!!! How awesome is our God. We have been praying for weeks that God would soften her heart to the gospel and she has chosen to follow the one true God!!! In just a couple of weeks we could see God slowly moving in her heart and we are overjoyed to call her our sister! We have been inviting her to all the church events and wax nights and has been showing up regularly. In less than a month a person who was damned to hell is now risen in Christ and sealed for heaven! It could only be by the power of God! We are so overwhelmed and overjoyed by God's goodness and that He allowed us to witness his grace.

Please continue to pray for Andrea as she now starts a whole new life. She is dead to her sins and is now risen in righteousness through Christ. Pray that God will continue to show himself to Andrea, as He already has, and that God will protect her from the lies of Satan. Jesus is alive and he alone can save us from our sin!!!

God is Good, all the time; all the time, God is Good!

New Years Eve Party

Steve rocking a rail at a New Years Eve party in the church parking lot.

First Wax Night

This Friday Snowboarder's for Christ set up the very first wax night in Truckee, California and it was off the wall! The concept of the wax night is a way to spread the love of Christ through providing a free dinner and waxing for people's snowboards and skis. How can anyone pass up a free meal and gear tune up? We have been planning this type of event for months and it was exciting to see everything finally come together! The event took place at Sierra Bible Church, were we are serving, and over 25 people showed up to the event. We made a spaghetti dinner for visitors to enjoy while we waxed and tuned their boards.

God is so good and is moving in many ways. A few of our coworkers were able to make it to the wax night and we are so excited to see such a great turn out. Through this event we were able to share the gospel and show the love of Christ to a bunch of local unbelievers. One Guy named J.J. came to the event hearing about a free waxing for skis without knowing the event was connected to a church. He was super receptive to the gospel allowing Jake and Ryan Egan to share their testimony with him. People ending up staying till 12:00 at night. We are so energized and excited to see what God is doing and will do in the future. Please pray that God will continue to soften hearts and open way to the gospel

new casa. new friends

So we moved into in with a couple from the church. Jerry and Flori have opened up their home to the five of us ruffians for the next 2 months. Their generosity frees up alot of our funds for other ministry expenses and there's no way we would be able to rent a home like the one that they have it. It's going to be a fantastic base and a great location to invite our co-workers over to.

A quick word on Sierra Bible Church. The 5 of us have been on the receiving end of a great deal of love. I'm pretty sure that we've been given over 300 cookies in the first week alone. We've been invited to peoples houses to eat close to 10 times. We were allowed to stay in the entire church building (by ourselves) for 2 weeks as we were transitioning into housing. For everyone who tries to plan a missions trip and spends tons of time crunching numbers, what happened here is unique and un-plannable. But that should stop all y'all churches from making it happen for other teams that come into your church body!

Jobs are a blessing. We've got buds from Argentina, California, Brazil, South Africa, New Zealand, and all over the US. They know who we are and they're seeing our lives. In a couple of minutes the teammates who work at Soda Springs will arrive to the church building with the friends that they have invited. Monday nights are the young adult/college group nights. We'll be chowing and doing some worship. Normally there is some Bible and fellowship. Our pals from Tahoe Donner ski area are already here with another to come. Some know Christ, but most do not. Here's to a winter of sharing truth with new friends.

following Jesus isn't rocket science.

It's amazing how easy it is to forget the basics. Jesus Christ came and died for our sins and sometimes I forget that I should be super amped about sharing that with some new people. So, after the smoke settled on our first two weeks and the hectic confusion came to meet God's sovereign death grip, everything was still ok. More than ok actually, because Christ gave us a reason to come to Tahoe.

Housing- So we were mega split on housing. Some of us wanted to rent a house and others wanted to stay at the church and some wanted to accept an offer to live with a local church family. Everyone's amped about moving in with this generous family. Their hospitality and ministry to us will set an example for us as we turn to love on snowboarders.

Jesus Christ is freedom. Getting caught up with parties, girls/boys, and worshiping snowboarding is slavery. I got a chance to ride Squaw Valley the other day. I rode with a buddy from work and we headed up to the mountain super early. Riding the gondola up to the lifts we watched as a snowboarder in his mid 20's lit up some marijuana in the confined space. In the bench across from me, I watched as a teenage snowboarder observed with bright eyes. He was watching his role model live the rebel life that he so wanted. I asked the little guy what is name was. Maverick. I never asked if it was his real name, but we rode together for next 5 hours. He showed us his mountain and I asked him about his life. After lapping the terrain park for a couple hours we took a break and spoke about God. I don't know where his heart is at, but I think that he got to see mine for a bit. I want Maverick to choose freedom.