Heaven Skates News

June 2004

Acts 13:44 On the next Sabbath almost the whole city came together to hear the word of God.

I wanted to write a special newsletter this month to tell you about a young man who’s been part of Heaven Skates since God started our program in 1997. His name is Alex Early and he turned 24 in May. In May he also married Jana Bradford. Alex was born and raised in Woodstock, Georgia, where he attended Sequoyah High School and then went on to receive a Bachelor of Arts in Christian Studies. Alex is now working on his Master of Arts in Christian Education at the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary extension program in Atlanta. He’s very active with the students at SouthCrest Church and does a lot of research for Pastor Jeff Chandler. Alex went with us on our skate mission trips and has presented the Gospel message on these trips and also at Heaven Skates skate park many times. Thousands of people, young and old, have come to know Jesus through Alex.

Acts 14:19 Then Jews from Antioch and Lconium came there; and having persuaded the multitude, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be dead.

While Alex hasn’t been stoned or dragged through the streets, I can tell you I’ve seen him spit on, punched, and pushed for witnessing to young people. I’ve stood with Alex in many skateparks where we felt evil lurking nearby. We were scared to talk about Jesus in such places. Only by the grace of God was Alex able to deliver a message, and thousands have accepted Christ because he didn’t back down. The best news of all is that Alex is now living in Newnan Georgia, where he’s made an amazing arrangement with a local skatepark called The Factory. On Monday nights Alex holds a short, to the point, Bible study. The skate park owner has agreed to give all the skaters who attend the Bible study, two hours of free skate time after the study. A couple of weeks ago I visited the park to see how things were going. This was only the third time Alex had held a Bible study at this skatepark. I watched 51 skaters file into the room and listen to Alex deliver a powerful message. I watched a group of young skaters fill out decision cards at the end. Just to give you an idea of how amazing this is, two hours of skate time for these 51 skaters ads up to a $612.00 loss for the skate park. Then I heard the skatepark owner ask Alex where they could do the Bible study when a hundred skaters came. That would mean a $1,200 loss for the park! Praise God for a skatepark owner who is willing to do this for the kids. I stayed around awhile and watched Alex work at building relationships with the skaters, many of whom hadn’t attended the Bible study. This young man is doing a true ministry. Many would have come, delivered the message, counted the numbers and then left. But Alex's ministry extends well beyond the Bible study as he builds friendships with the skaters. I do pray the owner will clean up the music played in the park. While I heard no bad words, groups like Blink182 were playing in the skate area.

Acts 23.12 And when it was day, some of the Jews banded together and bound themselves under an oath, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul.

Alex told me that in his second week he came under attack from several different areas. My word to Alex was to stay focused and never give up. The larger his group of skaters grows, the more he’ll come under attack. That’s just a fact of working with a sport that Satan has had control of for to long Satan has infiltrated skaters music, magazines, skate supplies, and many other areas of their lives, including bad things that go on behind the doors of their homes.

1^st Thessalonians 2:18 Therefore we wanted to come to you even I, Paul, time and again---but Satan hindered us.

Satan hindered even Paul, but Paul never gave up. Please pray God will be with Alex, because he’ll face many challenges in the future.

Currently at Heaven Skates:

We’ve had an offer of property for our skate park in a public park just up Hwy 5 in Woodstock. We will only accept this offer if we can operate freely. We are also looking at a property to rent in downtown Woodstock. We’re working on an event in Cartersville for July 12th and 13th, and also setting up an advisory board. I’ll tell you more about the board in next month’s news. It’s vital that we find property for Heaven Skates, so please keep us in your prayers. Satan has hindered us long enough!

Below are just a few of the portable ramps that your donations have made possible.

Please keep praying for Heaven Skates.