The Power of a Gathering
The first International Gathering in Hawaii. Circa 1993.
The Power of a Gathering
The First Christian Surfers International Gathering
As told by Brett Davis:
By 1992, as news of other Christian Surfers groups trickled in via letters and the occasional visitor from around the globe, we began to entertain the idea that maybe God wanted us to reach the whole surfing world. This seemed remotely possible in the English-speaking, Christian or even post-Christian surfing world with which we were familiar, but outside of that we were struggling.
Places like Morocco, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Central America were all opening up to surfing in the 80s and early 90s. But these were pre-internet days when international communication and travel were very expensive.
Not only that, we had no cross-cultural experience, no language skills, no missionary-sending capacity, no resources.
In short - no chance.
Still, one cold May morning in 1991 during a visit to CSNZ, an excited Marc Dyer pressed me to set a date for an international conference.
We barely coped with the national one!
To rally the surfers of the world we figured the shore of Oahu, Hawaii would be our best shot.
I hand wrote invitations on Australian eucalyptus leaves and mailed them with an accompanying letter to all our global contacts. Mail was slow and tedious and yet—one by one—every country responded positively.
Brett Davis’ hand written invitations to the first ever Christian Surfers International Gathering.
We arrived at the rustic Salvation Army Camp in Hawaiian at the Mokuleia coastline on October 25, 1993. Some 40 delegates from seven nations joined us, including YWAM friends and others interested in local church-based surf ministry. We prayed, played and dreamed of what God might do and the end result was a decision to form a network called Surf Ministries International.
This first International Gathering helped the movement clarify its identity, goals, direction and a global vision that wasn’t just focused around English-speaking post-Christian nations but a vision that incorporated places where interest in surfing was steadily growing, places like Sri Lanka, Central & South America, Indonesia and Europe.
The very first International Gathering set in place the foundation for Christian Surfers to reach every surfer in every nation.