Christian surfers

Christian Surfers International is a trans-denominational mission movement that shares the love of Jesus amongst the global surfing tribe. It was founded in the early 1970s on the Northern Beaches of Sydney, Australia.

Yummy Surf

Friendly people at a comp in Australia

The movement, which is incorporated as a not-for-profit in Australia, also has chapters in New Zealand, The United States, The United Kingdom, South Africa, France, Japan, and Brazil. It now has a mission presence in over 20 countries around the globe, and has received recognition for its commitment to the international surfing community, organic faith initiatives, and compassion activities such as Tsunami-relief and other aid projects. For more see below, or go to the international website [1].

CS (as it is often referred to) publishes the 'Surfer's Bible' and a yearly color pictorial 'Groundswell Magazine', runs mission trips, camps and surf comps (such as the Jesus Pro Am), premieres films through the Walking on Water Foundation, provides a positive mentoring environment for young surfers, offers hospitality for traveling surfers, and undertakes numerous social action initiatives (in the countries listed above, and also abroad).

At its core the movement is about spiritually aware surfers using surfing to make the world a better place - by sharing Jesus' love.

Whilst there are many members of the global surfing tribe who follow Jesus, some you might know are:

• CJ Hobgood
• Damian Hobgood
• Joey Buran^[1]
• Al Merrick
• Eric Arakawa
• John 'JC' Carper
• Timmy Curran
• Tom Curren
• Skip Frye
• Bethany Hamilton
• Chris O'Rourke

Articles relating to Christian Surfers:

1. Washington Post ‘Surfer Dudes Catch Some Gospel Along With Waves: N.J. Gathering Tends To the Body and Spirit’ By Michelle Garcia’ [2] 2. BBC ‘Tsunami Challenge’ by Surfing Wales [3] 3. BBC ‘Surf Bible for Australian ‘grommets’’ (BBC Asia Pacific) [4] 4. Sydney Morning Herald: ‘May the Board, er, Lord be with you’ By Kelly Burke [5] 5. Surfers Village (Global Surf News): ‘Christian Surfers UK Tsunami Cup goes off in Porthcawl’ By Phil Williams [6] 6. Centre for Evangelism and Global Mission ‘Evangelism as Risky Negotiation’ by Mike Frost [7] 7. Surfing Rabbi, A Kabbalistic Search for Soul. ‘Fellowship Is Pipeline to Deeper Spirituality’ By Matt Sedensky [8] 8. Australian Surfing Life: Editorial ‘Holy Shit: The Christian Surfing Revolution Revealed’ by JJ, December 2004, issue #195

References

1. ^ Virgen, Steve (July 25, 2009). "Buran officially in Hall". Huntington Beach Independent. http://www.hbindependent.com/articles/2009/07/27/sports/hbi-spsurfers072409.txt. Retrieved July 27, 2009.