By G. PATRICK PAWLING
Imagine the life of a missionary. You wind up in a place where the people speak some other language. They wear odd clothes. Their customs are different. They distrust anybody from the outside. And there you are, in the middle of the chaos, trying to talk about God.
This is the life chosen by Joe Matera and Jon Crans. Lately theyve been working with a couple of exotic tribes right here in southern New Jersey. You know them as surfers and skateboarders. Guess what? Theyre our kids, and like kids anywhere, theyre being thrust into something that can be beautiful or truly ugly. We call it life. When youre 14, one bad decision, one bad turn, one bad friend can lead a person down a very bad path.
This thing theyre doing, theres logic in it. Anybody whos ever set foot on a beach knows its a magical place, and anybody fortunate enough to be sitting on a board catching waves when the sun is rising or setting has known a feeling of man, whats the word? of connectedness, of appreciation for the beauty of the Earth, of thankfulness and gratitude and, yes, a feeling of smallness and humility because after all youre just another set of molecules to those waves.
Matera and Crans run an Ocean City group called Watermen for Christ. There are similar chapters around the world, and word is the organization is growing fast. Not that surfers and skateboarders need it any more than anybody else, but hey, youve got to start somewhere, and lots of kids surf and skate.
Watermen is for adults as well, but at times its office on Asbury Avenue looks like a teenagers room: skateboards, drums, couches, posters and kids kids bouncing, kids slouching and kids talking. The talk is about the last swell or the next swell or the next contest. Or about God, and how maybe its not so bad to live a good life. Or, sometimes, about how things arent so good at home and does God get mad at you for drinking?
Surfers and skateboarders studying The Bible? Believe it. These kids are proud of how theyre trying to stand firm against the downshore current of popular culture.
Dear God, Crans said during one recent Bible study. We thank You for how awesome You are. I pray for each of these guys tonight and that they will stay close to you. The kids listening in the room, every one said, Amen. With meaning.
Matera, 43, used to sell skateboards. Then he got into the kitchen design business. Now hes full time with Watermen, as is Crans, 27, a ministers son who also comes from a skate background.
The temptation is to think that these two guys have it made. Ocean City is a lot more comfortable than most missionary spots. So the temptation is to wonder if they surf whenever they want, hang with the kids and live on money supplied by supporters. Nice work, you say? Fact is, neither gets to surf as much as theyd like. Theres too much paperwork, running a certified non-profit agency, reporting to their financial overseers and doing the work theyve chosen. Its a job. Jobs are work. The difference with this one is that they may be doing some good. So they miss a lot of swells.
Look at me, Matera said. Im pale. I dont even have a good tan.
Why surfers? Well they wouldnt get as far as fast with bricklayers or newspaper columnists or truck drivers. They dont know those cultures.
Missionaries go all over the world reaching other tribes, people in the middle of the jungles, and we have our own tribes here in the U.S, said Crans. And who is reaching those people? Whos reaching our youth of today? We have our own tribes in this country.
They will both tell you right up front that they love their jobs. More important, the kids seem to enjoy it.
My friends told me about it, and I think its a pretty cool Bible study, said Chris Manganelli, 13. I went and I liked it. His buddies are cool with it. They dont think Im a kook; they think its cool I go but they think its boring, he said.
I think its a great organization, said his mom, Pamela Gibbs. Its something thats a very positive influence. Its an opportunity to combine surfing with something spiritual, and thats very positive for kids.
It helps me get through life, said another young surfer. I know what sin is now. When I go to the beach and surf I concentrate on the waves and on God. And, not coincidentally, It helps me not eat it as much.
Though much is made of the narcissistic surf culture, Crans says thats like Sesame Street compared to the skate scene.
The industry is so bad, so negative, Crans said. The influences on the kids are basically evil. Its basically sex, drugs and rock and roll. And a lot of the parents have no clue. Some of the kids dont have any idea either, but theyre eating it all up. And the companies dont care, they just want to make money.
Crans, an oil painter and a former house painter, remembers surfing at the lighthouse in Cape Hatteras, a spiritual place at sunset, no question, and getting so many good waves and watching the other surfers killing it and then, like a good session will do, it started him thinking.
I remember saying, Thank you God for so many waves. And it just hit me, these guys, all these surfers, are so close to His creation but so far from the truth, so far from knowing the real God.
Ive seen the trash and the crap that this world has to offer to these kids, and theres no end to it, Crans said. People continue to look for the next high, the next drug, the next great swell, the next big air on the ramp but outside of God youre not going to find anything satisfying.
Not that theres anything wrong with a good wave, mind you. The Bible says: They have seen the works of the Lord, and His wonders in the deep. For He spoke and raised up a stormy wind, which lifted up the waves of the sea. Think about that the next time youre getting drilled.
Its so good for my spirit, for remembering what Im doing, said Matera. You can get totally lost in the business of ministry, but its my business to be involved with the tribe.
(For more information, www.watermen4christ.org or (609) 525-0288)
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