So, last Easter my husband tells me he wants to join some guys he had never met face-to-face before on a trip to Skid Row, LA. Let me give you a little background...."The homeless issue in LA County has reached epidemic proportions. According to The Institute for the Study of Homelessness and Poverty, an estimated 254,000 men, women and children are homeless in LA County each year. Every single night, some 80,000 people are sleeping on the streets while hordes of the wealthiest people in the country shuffle to and fro their evening activities, seemingly oblivious to the goings-on just a stone throw's away, in Downtown's Skid Row.
The stereotypical homeless person is a single, male individual. General disorder is associated to the mental image we create of the "typical" homeless person. We tell ourselves that he has a drinking or drug problem, is an ex-convict, or if he wanted to get help, he could. Statistics, on the other hand, show that families, headed by single mothers, are becoming more prevalent in the overall homeless population of LA. Rough nightly averages run from 20% to 40 % of the overall homeless populace is made up of families, with each usually consisting of at least 2 children. However, males do represent the majority of the "single population", taking up around three-quarters of the general populous. Also, studies do prove that 80% of the homeless on LA's Skid Row are addicted to drugs, alcohol, or a combination of the two. Mental illness and Sexual Deviance is also abundantly present. The LAPD has found that the drug of choice of Rowers is Crack-Cocaine with Heroin coming in as the second favorite narcotic. There is no need to seek out a dealer on Skid Row. In this neighborhood drug dealers commute in daily to bring the merchandise directly to the abusers. The drug scene on the Row is what Strarbucks is to rest of us. On top of all this, they suffer higher mortality rates in comparison to the rest of the county due to AIDS, suicide, homicide and cirrhosis of the liver. Infectious disease rates all are higher in Central City than elsewhere in the county.
So, my husband of 3 want to spend Easter here with a 3,000 video camera and his iphone to document life is this 3rd world country blocks from some of the wealthiest in America. I must be honest and say, I wasn;t very happy about it.
But, God was speaking to me....I ran into a director names Sam Slovick who had a featured documentary on Skid Row that week on MySpace. I never knew the intensity of Skid Row. In Miami, we have our share of drug use, homelessness, etc....but not like this. I had to admire the fact that my husband wanted to be a Christ-like example to these people. And, I had often imagined what it would be like to be on the streets as we had lived pay-check to pay-check for so long and often found ourselves hanging by a thread. But, the Lord had always been faithful to provide and we've been blessed to have the promises of God and the hope of Christ.
What would it be like to lose your home, job, and security with a family? I could only imagine. What would it be like to have no hope?
So these guys from Enoch Magazine decided to be His hands and feet that week on Skid Row. Check out the trailer, and pray that their movie brings more awareness. ..
There are so many others trying to open people's eyes. As Christian, we often focus on the poor of other countries, the fatherless, the widows....but what about the "least of these" right here in LA county. What are we doing with those we call our neighbors.
1. Who are the founders of Christian Skaters? Christian Skaters was the result of a life changed through a ministry at a skatepark. One Tuesday, our president, Ulises Frallicciardi, drove by a skatepark on the way back from picking up a bag of weed. He walked into the park and heard a message that changed him forever. He prayed to receive Christ and through the bag in the trash can. From that day forward his life was never the same. His family began volunteering at the park and attending a local chapter of Christian Surfers. Soon, both Uli and his wife became staff at the skatepark ministry. One evening, Uli's wife had a dream about starting Christian Skaters and with the help of Mike Pechonis, Joe Ferraro and many others, Christian Skaters was launched in 2005.
2. How did the concept of using skating as a vehicle to spread the word come about? The pioneer of Skate Ministry is Paul Anderson who founded Skatechurch in Portland, Oregon. Check out their video on the history of skatechurch that is posted on YouTube. Skate Ministry is a natural progression. Those who love skate are usually very passionate people. When they realize the love that God has for them, that passion redirects to the one who saved them..Jesus. Think about it...How much faith does it take to believe that a board will land under you feet after kick flipping a 10 stair? If they have that much faith in their board, how much more could they have in Jesus Christ.
3. What goals have you accomplished and what are your current goals? We stepped out in faith with the vision to equip and encourage others to reach skaters. We now work with skate ministries in over 90 countries. Wow!!!! We are blessed to host conferences, demos, events, and mission trips around the globe. This is more than we ever imagined. In the future we'd love to put out a full-color magazine, offer grants to build parks, and support skate missionaries.
4. Are you associated with any pro skaters? We are blessed to call some amazing skaters our friends. We pray for, encourage them and support them in all they do. We do not have a team but co-labor with many pros, ams and skateboarding legends. We are simply stoked to call these people family in Christ. It's hard not to get star struct sometimes, but these guys are soldiers , true to the core, and we are blessed to work with them. We love each of these guys and are blessed to have them as part of this growing body of skate ministries. 5. Where do you see Christian Skaters in 5 years? In five years, we hope to continue to see lives changes. We hope to see more pros lives impacted and to begin to see a change in the skateboarding industry. We hope to see skate ministries in every country. We pray that many more pros will come to know Christ and begin to be bright lights in an often dark industry.
