2019 Israel Mission Trip Recap

We recently returned from a pioneering mission trip to Israel. We were presented the opportunity to come and see what the action sports scene looked like in Israel and knowing that there were less than 1% evangelical Christians and that it was ILLEGAL to proselytize or share the Gospel with kids under 18, it seemed like the need was pretty evident. Our time there was divided between visiting skateparks to explore opportunities for local outreach, visiting historical holy sites, and doing local evangelism. Our experience on this first trip was incredible and almost every skater or kid we met along the way was super excited about us being there and potentially coming back, and extremely thankful for any skate gear we were able to share with them.

One of our main goals on this trip was to find local skaters to partner with for future ministry within Israel. Our very first day in Tel Aviv, we went to a local skatepark and within 5 MINUTES: God provided the most divine encounter with our new Jewish friend Itamar. Itamar runs an outreach center across from the skatepark which helps provide skateboard rentals and lessons for underprivileged kids in the area. He wasn’t even supposed to be at the park that day, but he just HAPPENED to be there! No doubt in our mind that it was God’s timing for sure! We were able to share our heart, the Gospel, and our vision to return with him and were able to bless his outreach with multiple new complete skateboards (nearly 3 times more expensive than in America!), shoes (which are hard to come by for the kids), and some new Ride Nature shirts. Our host and in country contact, Larry, was also able to provide Itamar with a New Testament Bible in Hebrew for him as well! What was especially awesome about this trip was that every time we met skaters in the parks, they were so receptive to hearing about Jesus (not a typically acceptable topic of conversation in a heavily traditional Jewish country) but they were very interested in learning more! Having traveled to over 30 different countries around the world, I can honestly say, Israel might be one of the hardest places I've traveled to do ministry. With there being so little Christian influence or believers in the country and with their hostility toward the faith, it broke our hearts to think about how close LITERALLY they were to the truth. There is so much potential for skate and surf ministry in Israel and we were so encouraged to see that first hand on this trip. We're going to go ahead and plant a little seed for you all, in August of 2020 we'll be headed back to Israel and we would love to have you join us on that trip! Be on the lookout for our 2020 trip schedule that should be going online next week!

To the ENDS!

- Derek Shatto (Ride Nature's Director of Skate Outreach)