Grind Conference 2021
“For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.” 1 Corinthians 12:12
This scripture was so clearly seen at The Grind Conference this year. I’m a new intern with Ride Nature so this was my first time attending. So many skate ministries from all around the United States and some from out of country came to encourage one another, connect, pray, and worship together and to celebrate all that God is doing within the action sports community for the advancement of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
I got to meet so many incredible people that are in a relentless pursuit of Jesus and sharing His Good News within the action sports community. I was able to hear of miracles that the Lord has performed and how His faithfulness has been seen. The founder and some of the camp counselors from Camp Goodbuddy were there and I was able to hear about how the camp came together. The founder, Dunk, had a dream of creating a skate camp that kids could come to and have fun at but mainly so they would hear the Gospel. They were in need of a large amount of money or else they would not have been able to run the camp, and the next day they received a donation for several thousand dollars. Two guys named Tennessee and Josh had started up a skate ministry in Minnesota, but Covid-19 had affected it drastically; Youth for Christ basically adopted their ministry and what they were doing and now these guys are able to organize skate churches and events more effectively and beautifully so that Jesus’ name would be preached.
I could go on and on with stories like this. The weekend of the conference was encouraging and so good to see how faithful the Lord is when we are obedient to Him and passionate about the great commission. Jesus is worthy of our time, devotion, finances, and every breath that we breathe. It is a blessing to be able to use action sports to advance His kingdom and to see others doing it alongside us.
Mackenzie Pederson, Ride Nature Intern
