Proposal for Christian Surfers in Puerto Escondido
How might a CS type ministry run in PE Mexico?
This was a draft document and has since been replaced by a proper working white paper. For more details visit www.christiansurfers.info/mexico
Modified: August 2001
Author: Mike Allbutt; Editors: Brett Davis, Andrew Caruthers, Ronne Jones, Christian Surfers US
Introduction
As far as I am aware, about ten or so years ago some enthusiastic guys moved to Puerto Escondido to do outreach amongst the surfing community. The original workers have since moved onto other ministries and the current staff want more people to join them in their efforts. In this paper we will be discussing what are the perceived needs and what are some of the ways these might best be met. [Online Feedback form]
History
Puerto Escondido has been know as a great surf beach for some time. Many surfers have either visited regularly or moved here to make the most of the great waves that Zicatela often provides.
SFMI
Eric and Rocky moved to Puerto Escondido, got some land and started to build El Refugio. They worked in the local community and also got to know and lead some of the surfers to the Lord. On Tuesday evenings they began the bilingual Bible study, that still functions today. Without these two guys, the main building structure that is El Refugio wouldn't exist.
PE Mexico
Ronne and Sherry Jones moved to Puerto Escondido 7 or so years ago, found Rocky (whom they had heard of) and together they began to work together. While Eric and Rocky have moved away, Ronne and Sherry (and their 5 kids) are still their and have bought land and built their own house a few blocks away from El Refugio.
Under Ronne's leadership, the caf of Aroma Divino right in the beach at Zicatela has started. He worked with and facilitated Ruth-Anna to get a vision into a reality. The thriving restaurant is frequented daily by the local surfers and many tourists, and is now a hang-out or meeting point.
Christian Surfers
The ministry of Christian Surfers was established by Brett Davis in the 1980's in Sydney Australia. Brett and his wife visited Puerto Escondido last year and stayed with Ronne and the team. It was during this time that it was confirmed to him that this area would be a great place to have a Christian Surfers style ministry functioning.
Demography
[Demography: The branch of sociology that studies the characteristics of human populations]
Puerto Escondido
As the name suggests, Puerto Escondido is a hidden port. It is a small fishing community that has many great beaches nearby and therefore attracts surfers, both young and old. At times it doesn't seem that there are too many people but to have a guess, maybe there are 100 thousand in the surrounding community.
The majority of the people are Roman Catholic and many participate in the special events. Like Mexico 90-95% of the total population are Roman Catholic. There are a few good and growing churches there though who at times reach out to the general population.
Tourists are welcome to Puerto Escondido as a large focus is tourism. They have a special shopping area for the tourists as well as the normal town centre where all of the major business's are found. An airport is 10 minutes out of town and there are at least 2 major bus terminals.
Surfing Culture
Maybe due to the financial situation, not that many locals surf. Those that do are very passionate about the sport and can be know to be quite aggressive. They are also a small community to themselves but due to their family life, they all know one another well. To reach them one needs to be befriend them as relationships is the most important. Mexico is a relational based society as opposed to a task orientated one of the west.
The surfing culture is a hard one. Those in it are seemingly looking for acceptance in what they do. Gaining this type of acceptance often seems necessary as many of the surfers lives have been disrupted due to negative family backgrounds. They are an association group who are searching for meaning in life, and many stay with the drugs, sex and surfing since that is all they know.
Many tourists come to Puerto Escondido for various lengths of time. Many come to for a holiday but end up getting caught up in the hard Zicatela scene. If the area of Zicatela can be turned around for Jesus, then the gospel will be taken to many other places with these surfers whose lives are radically different.
It is into this type of area that Christian Surfers would like to see an even more productive surfing outreach happening. Some of the locals have become Christians and their testimonies are a living visible example to others around.
Format
The proposal that is outlined below is to used in conjunction with and add to the existing ministries that are happening in Puerto Escondido. It is seen that the ideas proposed herein will be other ways to help extend the Kingdom of God. Many of the ideas have been borrowed from various effective Christian Surfers ministries already in existence around the world.
Bible Studies
As outlined earlier, it is seen that more of the surfers are opening up and willing to hear about the things of God. Having small Bible studies with those open/keen to learn would be a good starting point. These could run for 1 hour each week and be for those wanting to know more about Christianity. The group size would be monitored but is often best with between 3-5 participants.
Also, some people won't want their mates knowing that they don't have their lives all together and are doing the studies, so it could be helpful to have discussions at a venue that is not out in the public eye i.e. not at Aroma Divino but maybe at El Refugio instead.
The original course would require them to come for 1 hour for 4 weeks to learn about the uniqueness of Christianity. As the weeks progress, it would be hoped that they would here and see the differences, make a decision to follow Christ and begin attending the Tuesday evening Bible study and fellowship times.
Discipleship
Not if, but when these surfers surrender their lives to Christ, they will need further discipling. This is a necessary component for all new Christians if we want them to grow and stay firm in their new found faith and freedom. A similar 1 hour a week Bible study and nurturing time with El Refugio staff/local Christian leaders would benefit them no end.
Camps
Using camps to move people along in their search or walk with God has been very effective amongst the surfing ministries in other locations around the world. These camps would be seasonal and have different focuses at different times. Some camps could involve the new believers and provide further discipleship in-between surfing secret or not-frequented surf spots.
Others camps could be targeted to the younger surfers and be used as a coaching camp. An evangelistic camp could be another option whereby Christian surfers would invite a friend who they have been working with of late. Maybe there will be times when visiting teams help to pay for and run a camp. This idea maybe suitable to the under-privileged youth of the community.
When people get out of a regular environment they can be more open to changing. Camps create this opportunity and may also work effectively in Puerto Escondido. A camp doesn't necessarily need to function the same as one would in the west, but what is suitable to Mexico can be found.
Club
An effective way to reach the people/youth in an area is to establish same interest clubs. Since we are interested in surfing/bodyboarding, then a Christian club that incorporates surfing would be another helpful way to outreach. Already many such clubs are functioning around the world and a similar structure could be achieved.
Everyone especially youth need to belong. We all cry out for it and a Christian Surfers club would offer them a place to belong and one that is in a conducive environment to getting them saved and discipled. A club could meet regularly for meetings, assist in surf development/coaching, provide finances to those needing assistance, be another example to the community of Christian love.
The club would have members, and the membership structure of other Christian Surfers ministries should be adopted. This would prevent non-Christians from getting into leadership and giving the club a bad name. It might be beneficial to have the club associated with Aroma Divino.
Competitions
All people, especially youth, want to be the best; and to prove that they are. Competitions can be used for good by utilising this drive to be "numero uno". Competitions have great potential to draw new people into a group. Those who may not like to come to more overt events such as Bible studies or camps, often will still attend competitions; especially if they are run well.
Quite a good number of comps have been run in the past in Puerto Escondido and the way that they draw people has been proven. Different comps could be for different groups of surfers/boogers. At times teams could again run or attend comps. Events such as these can also be great to lift the awareness of Christians in the surfing community and make people aware of Bible study opportunities open to them.
Competitions if done well can often be great avenues to share the gospel in public to those who would normally not listen. After the event and before the prizes are given out, gospel presentations can be given. At these events a public display of the Christian worldview can help to bring down the walls stopping people from accepting Christ.
Surf Team
Once we get a few good surfers/boogers who are Christians, then it might be time to establish a Christian Surfers surf team. This group would be representatives of the Puerto Escondido Christian Surfers and surf in various comps, financially aided by the club/ministry. The potential for this team is both good and bad, so it is at this stage only and idea that might be considered down the track.
Surf Coaching
To increase the level/quality of surfing in Puerto Escondido then it is seemingly feasible to do surf coaching. This as a strategy to reaching and investing time into the local guys should work as there is nothing like this currently. By doing coaching, the Christian coach would really get to know the student (likewise the student to the coach) and hopefully become good enough friends so that they could discuss more personal life issues. Showing someone that you care and that they are more to you than just a number is often a big step to gaining the opportunity of sharing Jesus.
Travelling Surfers
Since it isn't solely local surfers in Puerto Escondido but also a large number of tourists, then at some stage down the track a ministry reaching them can be implemented. A possible ministry to these tourists can be focused or linked in with Aroma Divino, since it is a location that they would have become familiar with. How such an outreach to the visitors of Puerto Escondido will happen is still unclear, but the opportunity is large.
Hosting short term mission teams
Linking in with El Refugio, Aroma Divino and the new Christian Surfers club (and other suitable groups), the P.E. Mexico ministry could and should certainly continue the hosting of short-term mission teams. Groups and individuals who get the opportunity to visit and do trips like this will nearly always go home changed (for the better) people. Often too, after having see the need of cross-cultural mission work, they will then get much more actively involved in obeying the great commission.
Apart from the usual visitation schedules and work activities that these teams already usually do, specific training could also be given. This could even be run in the format of a discipleship training school but with the focus on preparing them to be able to better reach the surfing community.
Needs
If all of these ideas for ministry in Puerto Escondido are to blossom and come to fruition, then many needs will need to be met. For the needs to be met then much prayer is going to need to be offered. Prayer is the main thing that allows God to work. If we want the surfers to be reached then we need to get praying; and don't stop.
Workers
On a personal level, we need personnel who will take up this vision and work with the existing team to get the various outreaches running. There will be a need for those who come to learn Spanish and then work with discipling the locals. At other times these workers could be working on getting the new outreach arms active and helping in whatever other ways they are able.
Materials
The material needs takes into consideration the financial burden that these new programs will place on the existing P.E. Mexico outreach budget. More dollars will need to be raised to both cover Bible study materials and the material expenses of setting up Christian Surfers club. The need for boards would come up at some time too when the club, coaching and sponsorship are implemented.
Timeline
For things to happen it is good to set some goals so that one can aim at something. We would like to set some goals time wise in relation to getting the various ministries up and running effectively.
It would be good if we could have one or more workers in Puerto Escondido by August 2002. These people would be settling in, and over the next year learning the language and getting people into the Bible studies. During this time the competition outreach could be strategized and future comps arranged.
All of the new compliments to the existing surf ministry currently headed up by Ronne, would only get off the ground when the right people for the job get them happening. This might be some of the current staff, but probably needs the assistance/work of new labourers for this "harvest field".
It would therefore be hoped that within 2005 all arms of this new strategy would be occurring (although maybe not the team idea). From then on local Mexicans would be more intentionally being trained to carry on the work from then on. Locals should be doing most if not all of the work by 2007/8. This goal is dependent of the conversion rate, which at the moment is slow.
Conclusion
If all these things come to pass, then it is only due to the faithful prayers to the saints all over the world. These are some ideas that might be useful to getting Mexican surfers of Puerto Escondido saved and into the Kingdom of God. The job can't be done on our won so please think and pray as to what part you can play.