The Dennis Leon Interview

In 1 Samuel 13 we read the account of David being instated as King and God referring to David as “a man after God’s own heart”. What a beautiful and incredible thing for the maker of the universe to say of a man. A man after God’s own heart. If there’s one thing that’s clear when speaking to Dennis Leon it’s that he is a man after God’s own heart. Dennis’ deep love for the Father is palpable; it permeates out and you can feel it in every word he speaks. His love and adoration for the Creator results in a deep love for humanity and wanting to see the Kingdom of Heaven being brought down to earth. 

Dennis has been involved with the Christian Surfers movement for many years, he has led multiple chapters and God has used this humble and obedient servant to influence and change the lives of many.

On Upbringing  

I am the youngest of six, with a single mom, and we grew up in extreme poverty. I was raised by my grandma and I knew what it was like to really see her struggle to make ends meet. Sometimes I went to bed hungry and I only got my first pair of shoes when I was nine years old - a pair of rubber boots, so that I could go to school.

It was tough, but being raised here and in that way wasn’t a bad thing - it has made me really appreciate what God has given me now. Even now that I have “things” those things don’t have my heart, because I grew up with nothing.

On getting to know Christ 

Growing up in Costa Rica, pretty much everyone is Catholic by culture. I knew of Jesus and the Bible, but there was no genuine faith or commitment to him. 

I had my first experience of God with a group of Christian Surfers around 1989. There was a guy named Jerry Dow, the guy who started Christian surfers in the United States. He came on a mission trip to the town where I was raised with a bunch of teenagers when I was 11 years old.

How those guys read their Bible, the way they embraced me and let me use their boards left an impression on me. These guys were doing all the cool things in surfing while leaving out the crazy and rebellious things about the sport. That really resonated with me. In those days, surfers were pot heads and beach bums that led reckless lives. These ‘Christian Surfers’ were clean cut, they were nice, kind, humble and didn’t cuss. I honestly thought this was a new religion. It was my first experience of a God that I could imagine myself believing in and following.

On making a commitment to Christ

The turning point came around my 18th birthday. I was one of the first guys from our town to go to high school; I was on the National Junior team for surfing - things were going well for me, but I hadn’t committed my life to Jesus. Everyone thought that I had it all together, they said I was the last person that needed Jesus.

Just before I turned 18, the Lord opened my eyes and I felt I needed to accept Jesus - that was a miracle. I thought that if I really wanted to become a Christian, I needed to go to the Evangelical Church as opposed to the Catholic Church. Growing up, we said we were Catholic, but we didn’t live any differently to anybody else.

I went to a Pentecostal church with five people and they’d always make an altar call. I came forward for every altar call until the pastor had to tell me I didn’t have to come forward every time... I just wanted to make sure I was in!

It was then that the pastor told me I couldn’t surf anymore if I really wanted to become a Christian. So I listened to him! I was surfing for the national Costa Rican team at the time - I quit the national team and stopped surfing for an entire year. The first year of being a Christian, I didn’t surf at all! It was really hard for me. Looking back, I can see that it was a really legalistic approach, but I feel like God used that. It was like he was asking me: “Hey, do you love me more than surfing?” After a year of reading the Bible and learning more about God, I realised that surfing was a gift God had given me, so I started surfing again. 

On meeting his wife, Kyle

My wife is from Santa Barbara, California. She was one of the groms that was part of Christian Surfers in the early days. Her family moved to Costa Rica in 1999 when her father got a position as a teacher at a boarding school. That’s when I met her. At first I was more like the older brother but after six months I started liking her. And that was pretty scary. Since I had decided to follow Jesus when I was 18, I didn’t hang out with girls or have a girlfriend, so I was nervous to mess it up. We dated for three years, one of them long distance and then we got married in 2002.

On moving to Santa Barbara

After we got married, we moved to Santa Barbara and lived there for a few years. It was a good time for me to connect with Christian Surfers again.

At the beginning, moving to Santa Barbara was like escaping from God’s purpose for me. My goal was to be a good Christian, but I didn’t think of myself as a pastor or leader in the Church. But God found me where I was. God had a purpose for me there. Like many people, my goal was the American dream: I was going to move there, work really hard and then move back to Costa Rica and start a surf camp. I had everything going for me, there were not very many surf camps, everybody knew me and I had worked in tourism a lot. I had everything planned out.

But God had a different plan for me. I had a deep respect and love for Christian Surfers Santa Barbara, because that’s how I got to know Jesus (and my wife!). I was shocked when I found out that there was no Christian Surfers Chapter in Santa Barbara anymore. My wife and I took some time to pray about it and eventually restarted the Santa Barabara chapter in 2004. We started meeting at our house and it flourished!

On Full-time ministry

The pastor of our local church in Santa Barbara approached us and asked if we would consider praying about starting a Spanish-speaking church for the Latinos in Santa Barbara. We prayed about it and felt called to lead the ministry, and that’s when we said ‘yes’ to full-time ministry.

We began working in the Lower East Side and West Side of Santa Barbara, working with underprivileged teenagers and people that were in gangs. We took kids to the beach that had never been to the beach, even though they only lived four blocks away from it. That’s how we started the Pura Vida Church. 

On planting a church

God called us back to Costa Rica in 2009. We have four kids, so our house has always been packed full of kids. Our church started at home, almost more as a Christian Surfer’s Chapter - for the first two years the average age was 14. From there, it grew until we eventually started meeting at a community centre.

Then people started coming from the city. They were often only able to come every second weekend, so a guy asked me to help them start a Bible study at one of their homes in the city. I helped them with some basic stuff and they started meeting. After three months, the guy came to me and said, “I think we have something more than a Bible study” - about 50 people were meeting in his garage every week! And that’s how the church in the city started.

On leading a church

I just want people to learn how to follow Christ wherever they are. Christ loves you just as you are, but he loves you way too much to leave you the same way he found you. But changing you, that’s his job, not mine.

For us, discipleship starts before conversion. We love people for who they are, and show Christ in a way that is authentic to them. People want something that is real. 

A message for young surfers

Don’t base your identity on what you do, what you have or what other people say you are. You are much more than a surfer, don’t let that define you. We’re primarily sons of God… and then we surf.

Advice for people who want to start a Christian Surfers Chapter

Be sure of your calling. That will help you stay motivated when the discouragement comes.