THE SNOWBOARDERS + SKIERS FOR CHRIST

TRAILMAP

1

THE

q

2

Table of ContentsAppendix A: Brah-verbs 66-68Appendix B: A Sample week of a WakeWell Leader 69Acknowledgments 70

1. What Is This Document? 4-5

ENGAGE 4. Getting Ready for Serious Fun 19 —Some Basic Principles

4.1 Commitment in Prayer 4.2 Motivations—Don’t Believe the Hype

5. Key Relationships to Pursue 20

5.1 Christ 5.2 Mentor 5.3 Your Local Church 21-22 5.4 Your Local Wake Community 23

5.4.1 Connecting on the Water 24 5.4.2 Connecting with the Cable Park 25 5.4.3 Connecting with the Wake Industry 26-27

5.5 Christian Riders 28

LEARN2. All about WakeWell 6

2.1 Why Wake Ministry? 2.2 A Brief History of WakeWell 7 2.3 What Is WakeWell? 2.3.1 Core Values (B.R.I.D.G.E.) 8 2.3.2 Statement of Faith 9 2.3.3 Ministry Style and Activities 10-11 2.3.4 Ministry Model 12-13

3. Considering WakeWell Leadership? 14-17

page #

3

ACT 6. Leadership Teams 30-31

7. Running Your First Official Events 32

7.1 Your Goal as a Leader and Your Events 33 7.2 Choosing Specific Events 34-35 7.3 Running a WakeWell Event 36-37 7.4 The Brand and Your Chapter 38-40

DIRECT8. In It for the Long Haul—Some Basic Principles 40

8.1 Commitment in a Flakey Culture 40-42 8.2 Vision Casting 42-43 8.3 How to Gauge Long Term Success 44

9. The FAITH and CHURCH Bridge Parts 45

9.1 Developing Faith in Jesus Christ 46

9.1.1 Evangelism 47 9.1.2 Bible Studies 48 9.1.3 Discipleship 49-51

9.2 Partnering with the Local Church 52

9.2.1 What Does Partnering Look Like? 52-53 9.2.2 The General Strategy 54-55 9.2.3 Potential Roadblocks 56-57 9.2.4 Accountability with the Local Church 58 9.2.5 Doctrine and the Local Church 59 9.2.6 Community Prayer 59

10. The Kitchen Sink 60

10.1 Leaders and Workers 60-61 10.2 S.M.A.R.T. Goals 62 10.3 Donor Relations 101 63 10.4 "I'm Feeling Over It" 64 (Advice for Discouraged Leaders) 10.5 Transitioning Out of Leadership 65 (and Dissolving a Group)

4

1. What Is This Document?Hello. You have successfully reached the fourth page of the WakeWell Ultimate Leader Hand-book. We are very glad—delighted, actually—that you have made it this far. It takes a lot of courage to open a document with a lot of words in it. Don’t worry though. We’re fairly certain that your casual perusing of this text will be an informative and enjoyable experience, not a call-home-and-sob-on-the-phone-with-mom ordeal. No promises, however.

So what are you getting yourself into? This Handbook exists as a resource for both current and prospective WakeWell leaders (hence its many words). For your viewing pleasure, we have divided the Trail Map into four main sections in accordance with our How to L.E.A.D. a WakeWell infographic (see the next page). The infographic is designed to help prospective leaders quickly grasp the general process of running a WakeWell Chapter by breaking that process down into four phases. The acronym, L.E.A.D., picks out the four phases: Learn, Engage, Act, and Direct. That is, in order to run a successful WakeWell Chapter, our leaders are encouraged to first learn about WakeWell and then commit to our mission, vision, and values. Then they need to engage with their WakeWell director and their local communities (i.e., build relationships). Next, they should act (i.e., set goals, make plans, and run some events). Finally, our leaders must direct and cultivate the movement they have begun for the long haul.

Feel free to skip around and investigate the Handbook as needed or desired. Due to its compre-hensive nature, many sections of the Handbook may not be relevant to you at any given mo-ment. So, there is no need to worry about an information overload!

Our hope is that this document will bless all who open it. To God be the glory!

Sincerely,

The WakeWell Team

WARNING:If, while reading, your vision gets fuzzy, your pulse quickens, and you begin to sweat—all classic symptoms of processing too many written words at once—just take a deep breath and keep turning the page until you find a large picture. Stare at that picture for a while. Everything will be okay.

5

THE FOUR PHASES OF

more about Wakewelland pray about joiningyour local chapter.

With your communityand with the wakewellchapter leaders.

Build a team and castvision to launch yourown chapter.

Love and serve yourcommunity.

n

6

LEARNSections 2 - 3

This section of the Handbook is concerned with helping individuals new to WakeWell get the “big picture” of what we are all about (mission, vision, values, what we do, etc.). If you are a prospective leader who is interested in officially committing to the ministry, section 3 is an infor-mal outline that we recommend you work through.

2. All About WakeWell2.1 Why Wake Ministry?There are currently more than 4 million wakeboarders, wakeskaters, and wake-surfers in the USA. Even for the aver-age wake enthusiast, wake sports are not merely a hobby or an after-school activity, it is a way of life. Every Spring, millions of people all across the nation dewinterize their boats, dust off their equipment, and get their soft, soggy, holiday-plagued bodies back into shape in order to chase the fleeting joys and experiences that are found on or at the lake. But too many get dragged away and enticed by the party scene that is ever present and encour-aged by the wake culture. Inevitably, they often run into a wide variety of problems: substance addictions, STDs, unplanned pregnancies, abortions, physical injury, poverty, depression, and loneliness. These problems are all a result of attempting to find mean-ing and purpose in an unsustainable lifestyle.

PHASE-1

LEAD

The Core Wake Riders are virtually unreachable by the contemporary American church. They have their own cultural norms, customs, language, and dress. Most of which are completely for-eign to the average Christian. It doesn’t help that they are always out on the water every Sunday morning! These riders desperately need an outpouring of God’s grace and love, but this can only be accomplished by believers who are willing to go and pursue these individuals on their own turf.

Wake ministry also offers excellent opportunities to connect and build meaningful relationships with the average shredder, regardless of age, gender, or commitment to the Lord. It is ultimately through these relationships that the gospel can be shared, disci-ples of Jesus can be made, and fellow Christian riders can be strengthened and encouraged.

7

2.2 A Brief History of WakeWell

Back in the day, there used to be a website called DallasWakeboarding.com and let me tell you, it was AWESOME! This website came about during the “Forums are cool” phase of the early 2000s and it quickly became one of the most popular wake-boarding forums. During this time, the Dallas/Ft. Worth area had a rapidly growing wakeboard scene with a lot of people joining the sport and getting hooked…one of those people who was already hooked was a guy named Alf Evans. Alf was a simple dude and a man’s man. Alf liked cars, Star Wars, and most of all, wakeboard-ing…but most MOST of all, Alf loved Jesus! After serving and working at several churches and ministries, Alf and his wife Kelly decided to move back home to Texas. Upon moving to Texas, Alf quickly got connected to DallasWakeboarding.com and began to build a following of fellow DFW wakeboarders who also loved Jesus. Many people on the forum were very excited by this, while many others were rather annoyed and agitated. Around the same time, one of Alf’s pastors showed him a video by Stephen Baldwin called “Livin’ it” that talked about Skate Church…and that was the lightbulb moment! Alf knew that he needed to integrate his passion for Jesus with his love for Jesus, and now he had a ministry model to follow. So in order to continue to build Christian relationships while not creating a burden to the forum mediators, Alf decided to start WakeboardChurch.com in 2008 as a forum for gathering Christians together in the DFW area to ride, have fellowship, and share their passions for both the Lord and the sport of wakeboarding. Several unique crews formed at various DFW lakes and thus Wakeboard Church Chapters were cre-ated, and eventually a few out-of-state Chapters began to follow the same model.

Then in 2011, Alf and his family began to feel the Lord calling them overseas to Cambodia, a place that they had visited on a mission trip with their local church. Being obedient to the call and the incredible opportunity Alf, Kelly, Trey, and Shaeffer all packed their bags and relocated to Cambodia. But before they left, Alf handed over the reins of Wakeboard Church to Mark Heger, a tall, skinny, Jesus-lov-ing 26 year old wakeboarder who had no clue how to tie his shoes, much less run an organization. But after hearing affirmation from the Lord, from his wife, and his community, Mark accepted the job and began to dream about how God was going to use this ministry to impact the wakeboarders of the world.

In late 2012, after much thought and prayer, Mark felt God speak to him about evolving the ministry to the next level, which involved changing the name of the ministry and restructuring the organization to be more outreach-focused within the wake culture. Then in the Spring of 2013 WakeWell was announced as the new name of the ministry, with the vision of bringing the living water of Jesus to the wake culture. From there, WakeWell slowly grew and expanded as more and more Chapters began to pop-up at lakes and cable parks all across the country.

2.3 What Is WakeWell?

WakeWell is a movement of likeminded Christian leaders who have a passion for wake sports and for the people who participate in them. It is our desire to connect the people of the wake culture to Jesus Christ through establishing chapters that focus on fellowship, evan-gelism, and discipleship while partner-ing with the local church.

We believe that wake sports, the hype of the industry, and the WakeWell brand are excellent tools to establish genuine relationships with lost and un-churched individuals.

We firmly believe that the Church would not be effective at building a bridge into the wake culture with the hope of converting the people within the culture. We feel that the best way to change a culture is to transform it from the inside out. Thus WakeWell ex-ists not to “build a bridge” but instead to BE THE BRIDGE.

BE THE BRIDGE.

Mission WakeWell exist to be the bridge connecting the wake culture to Jesus Christ through estab-

lishing chapters that fo-cus on fellowship, evan-gelism, and discipleship

while partnering with the local church.

VisionTo bring the living wa-

ter of Jesus to the wake culture and live in such a way that His love can be clearly seen and ex-perienced through our

words and actions.

“Indeed, the water I give them will become in them

a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

John 4:14

2.3.1 Core Values (B.R.I.D.G.E.)

BELIEVING: Our faith is grounded in biblical truth. We, as the body of Christ, pursue a lifestyle of prayer and worship.

Psalm 119:105 “Thy word is a LAMP unto my feet and a light unto my path.”

RELATIONSHIPS: We intentionally build relationships with the people God has placed in our lives, regardless of their religious persuasion, physical or spiritual state, or lifestyle preferences. We earn the right to be heard through love, acceptance, and genuine friendships

Romans 13:8 “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.”

1 Corinthians 12:27 “Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.”

IDENTITY: We enjoy living in the laid-back, recreation-focused culture, but we recognize the culture’s identity crisis. While we re-late with the culture, we remain obedient to God’s Word and find our eternal identity in him.

1 Peter 2:9 “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”

DOING: We selflessly demonstrate our love for Jesus by putting others ahead of ourselves through serving one another, the local communities we live in, and the entire wake culture.

Matthew 5:16 “Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

GOSPEL: The most important thing in our lives is the Good News; we readily share that message of hope in our words and deeds.

John 8:12 “I (Jesus) am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

ENGAGING: Through building trust and rapport in both commu-nities, the non-believing wake culture and the Body of Christ, we desire to facilitate introductions, interactions, and relationships between the two. Connecting riders to the body of Christ and helping the body of Christ to engage with the unreached wake culture.

Matthew 28:19-20 “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey every-thing I have commanded you.”

8

PHASE-1

LEAD

GOD: There is one true God, the creator of the universe and of man-kind. He eternally exists in the three persons of the Trinity—the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Each person of the Trinity equally possesses all the attributes of deity

(Deuteronomy 6:4; 2 Corinthians 13:14).

JESUS: Jesus Christ is God. He is the eternal and living Word, who became man, being born into this world through the virgin, Mary. Jesus is perfectly God and perfectly human, united as one person. He lived a sinless life. Jesus died on the cross as our substitute, taking upon himself the punishment that we deserve. By his death, Jesus made a once-for-all atonement for sin. We receive forgiveness of sins by turning to Him in faith. He rose from the dead bodily, and ascended into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God the Father. He is the only mediator between man

and God (John 10:30; John 1:1-14; Luke 1:35; Romans 3:24; 1 Peter 1:3-5; Ephesians 1:7; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 Corinthi-ans 15:3-7; Acts 1:9-10; Romans 8:34; 1

John 2:1-2).

THE HOLY SPIRIT: The Holy Spirit has come into the world to reveal and glorify Christ, and to apply the saving work of Christ to men. His fullness, power, and control are appropriated in the believer’s life by faith. Every be-liever is called to live a holy and fruit-ful life by the power of the indwelling Spirit (Romans 8:9; John 15:26; Gala-

tians 5:22-23; Ephesians 5:18).

BIBLE: The Bible is God’s infalli-ble written word, fully inspired by the Holy Spirit, and our supreme

authority (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter

1:20-21).

2ND COMING: Jesus Christ will come again to the earth—personal-ly, visibly and bodily—to complete and fulfill God’s plan (Acts 1:11;

Hebrews 9:28).

MANKIND: Man is created in the image of God. He sinned by dis-obeying God and earned death as a result. All of mankind’s nature is corrupt. It is impossible for any per-son to make himself acceptable in God’s sight. Every person is in need of regeneration by the Holy Spirit (Genesis 1:26-27; Romans 3:22-23;

Ephesians 2:1-3).

SALVATION: The salvation of mankind is wholly a work of God’s grace. It is not the work, in any de-gree, of human striving, goodness, or religious activity. God imputes His righteousness to those who put their faith in Christ alone for their salvation. As a result, God declares them right in His sight. Each person must be born again of the Holy Spir-it and can be assured of his or her salvation immediately upon trust-ing in Christ as Savior. The Word and the Spirit of God alone are the basis of this assurance (Ephesians

2:8-10; 1 Peter 1:18-19).

THE CHURCH: The visible Church is the gathering of God’s faithful and saved people for the purpose of worship, edification, mission, and use of gifts according to His word. Jesus Christ is the head of his Church. God encourages all of His people to assemble together locally and regularly for worship, participa-tion in Christ’s ordinances, and the ministry of the Word for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness (Ephesians 1:22-23, 4:11-13; Hebrews 10:24-25; Romans

12:4-5).

OUR COMMISSION: Jesus Christ commands all believers to be involved in the making of disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything Christ commanded. His purposes require that all worldly and personal ambitions be subser-vient to Him. This is true disciple-ship. Jesus also commissions this body of all believers (the Church of Christ) to operate as one; that is, to work together with united purpose and vision to spread the gospel of Christ to all nations (Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 1:8; 2 Corinthians 5:14-20; 1

Corinthians 12:12-14).

2.3.2 Statement of Faith

We recognize that many who attend SFC’s activities do not hold the following beliefs, but we still encourage their attendance. However, these statements define the doctrinal standards for our leaders, staff, and teaching. SFC also seeks to partner with local churches that acknowledge the truth of these statements.

9

2.3.3 Ministry Style and WakeWell Activities

There are at least two main styles of ministry that an organization can adopt. The first is the programs-based approach. Organizations that opt for this direction pro-vide a fairly rigid structure or model for doing ministry and then expect their leaders to implement that specific model. Thus every group within a ministry model organiza-tion will look very similar, regardless of the location. An example of a ministry model organization is Young Life.

In contrast, there are ministries that take a mission and values based approach. These ministries give their leaders goals and guidelines in the form of mission, vi-sion, and value statements and then let them use their own discernment (within the borders of the guidelines) to do whatever it takes to meet the goals of the ministry in their local communities.

WakeWell is a mission and values based movement. This decision has a significant impact on what activities WakeWell groups participate in. We encourage our leaders to dream big and run events that will most effectively reach the wake culture in their area. As a result, each WakeWell Chapter looks different.

Since there are no “standard” events that every WakeWell Chapter must follow, the best we can offer is a list of different types of events our groups have done and contin-ue to do:

CAMPS/CLINICS: WakeWell Chapters often host weekend camps or clinics for riders in the area to connect, learn new skills, and talk about Jesus. Bringing a crew of kids (Christian or not) to events like these is an excellent ministry tool.

CONTESTS/RAIL JAMS: WakeWell Chapters will often partner with a cable park and host a contest. This has been done a lot of different ways.

EVENT BOOTHS: Some Chapters set up “WakeWell booths” at large events (e.g., the PWT, local events, Surf Expo, etc.) and then give out free pan-cakes or high fives— whatever it takes to meet people and serve the local community.

VIDEO PREMIERES: The wake industry has lots of videos, films, and web-edits. produces shred films. Order piz-za, set up a projector, and watch some old wake videos to get people stoked.

BIBLE STUDIES: Bible studies in various forms are a core component of many WakeWell Chapters. Some groups study through a book in a friend’s living room; others meet in a local coffee shop. Bible stud-ies can even be done on the boat in the middle of the lake.

TRIPS: Some groups plan trips to new and exciting locations. They advertise it, take their crew, and go. Nothing builds lifelong relationships like being stuck in a car with someone for fourteen straight hours. 10

PHASE-1

LEAD

WEEKLY RIDE DAYS: Many Chapters get crews of local riders to meet once a week to ride at the lake, river, or cable park. This is a great way to make sure that everyone who attends gets to participate. Weekly ride days encourage fun, fellowship, and usually end with a short message from the bible provided by one of the Chapter Leaders. We have found that a having a consistent meeting time goes a long way in developing a committed group of riders. If meeting on boats, make sure to communicate the rules of the boats, and encourage everyone to bring some money to chip-in for gas.

VOLUNTEERING: Many WakeWell groups frequent-ly look for ways to serve their local communities. This takes a variety of forms: serving at a soup kitchen, cleaning up after a big event at a local resort, playing in the Sunday morning worship band, etc.

11

12

INIT

IATEIN

V

EST

INTEG

RATE

CULTIV

ATE

Leaders

Chapter

Wake Culture

LocalChurch JESUS

Wakewell

d

13

WakeWell LeadersCW - WakeWell Leaders INITIATE conversations, relationships, and events with the wake culture.

CC - WakeWell Leaders INVEST in their local church through attending, serving, and volun-teering in order to further their own walk with

Christ and build up the body of believers.

2.3.4 Ministry Model

People often ask, “How does WakeWell work?” or “What does WakeWell do?” In order to help people understand, we have created this simple ministry model that shows how WakeWell moves and interacts between the wake cultre and the local church.

As you can see, this model works in both directions, Clockwise (CW) and Counter-Clockwise (CC), and you can jump in at any point on the wheel and still “do” WakeWell effectively. Follow along as we walk through the model:

Local ChurchCW - Through consistency and strong relation-ships the local church INVESTS in WakeWell Leaders with biblical teaching, Godly wisdom, worship, and eventually may or may not sup-

port the ministry or Chapter with reasources.

CC - Through consistency and strong relatin-ships the local church is able to INTEGRATE some people from their congregation to help

assist, serve, or lead at the WakeWell Chapter.

Wake CultureCW - Leaders within the Wake Culture CULTI-VATE the relationships they have built and con-nect people into WW Chapters where they can experience Fellowship, Evangelism, and Com-

munity.

CC - The Wake Culture feels loved and cared for by the WW Chapter and they decide to INITIATE with the WakeWell Leaders to get plugged in.

WakeWell ChapterCW - WakeWell Chapters INTEGRATE new be-lievers into the Body of Christ by connecting

them into the local church.

CC - WakeWell Chapters CULTIVATE the relation-ships they have with other believers and wake enthusiasts, and introduce them into the wake

culture.

...and the most important aspect of this model is that it all revolves around Jesus. Without having Jesus at the center of our thoughts and actions, we will not be able to fulfill our role in the Body of Christ.

“Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” - (Colossians 3:17)

14

3. Considering WakeWell Leadership?

PRAY, PRAY, PRAY: Prayer is the basis of all that we do at WakeWell. Thus your journey to become a part of the WakeWell community must begin on your knees, seeking wisdom from the Lord. Psalm 127:1 says, “Unless the Lord builds the house, the laborers labor in vain.” Be sure the Lord is really leading you and that the timing is right.

ASSESS NEED: If you are looking to bring WakeWell to your area, make sure that there is a good reason to do so. We emphasize this for a couple of reasons. First, it’s going to be near impossible to cultivate an effective wake ministry in the Sahara desert, or any place that does not have a wake or lake community of some sort. Second, you don’t want to reinvent the wheel! If others are already doing effective wake ministry in your area, we highly recommend that you join their cause instead of causing a division. WakeWell desires to support and partner with any existing wake-related ministries (or any other min-istries) that are already meeting the community’s relational needs.

SELF ASSESS: Don’t forget to ask yourself this important ques-tion: Do I have leadership ability? Now this does not mean that you have to be the greatest lead-er that’s ever lived. But if you are going to be a WakeWell leader, it’s important that you have some leadership gifts and a character that is able to handle the associated responsibilities. Com-pare and contrast these lists of responsibilities WakeWell leaders and workers have:

PHASE-1

LEAD

We are always looking for new leaders to join and support our growing ministry. In this section, we outline a few action steps for anyone who is thinking hard about starting a new WakeWell Chapter in your community or joining the leadership team of an existing Chapter.

15

WORKERS• To share in the work of the ministry• To own, implement, and communicate

the vision of the group• Be responsible for personal discipline• Administer and organize life• Be a servant to the individuals in the

group• Position of influence• Responsible to give an account to God

for their life• Encourage and motivate individuals to

a given end• Is involved in outreach• Recognize wake sports as a tool for

building relationships and sharing the gospel

• Befriend/witness-to/disciple riders

LEADERS• Equip believers to do the work of the

ministry• Discern and communicate vision for the

group• Be responsible for group discipline• Administer and organize the group• Be a servant leader and shepherd the

group as a whole, especially the workers• Position of authority• Responsible to give an account to God for

the group• Encourage and motivate the group to a

given end• Is involved in outreach as well as coaching

workers in outreach• Able to teach others to recognize and use

wake sports as a tool for building relation-ships and sharing the gospel

• Disciple workers

Do you feel comfortable taking on the responsibilities of a WakeWell leader? Would your particular gifts and abilities allow you to fulfill these expectations? Take some time to ponder (and pray over) these and related questions. We also recommend getting a second opinion from someone wiser than you that will be straightforward and honest with you.

16

YOUR LOCAL CHURCH: If you are considering WakeWell leadership, make sure you are plugged in to your local church. Talk with your pastor; hang out with the elders; try and find men and women of like vision for the wake community; go on mission trips, etc. The local Church is an integral part of the life of every WakeWell Leadership Team and Chapter. You cannot “be a bridge to the wake culture partnering with the local church” if you are not connected to the local church!

LOCAL WAKE SCENE: To effectively be a bridge, you also need to be plugged into your local wake scene. Do you have a season pass to your local cable park? Are you connected to other riders at your lake? Do you know the guys and girls who work at your local shops? How many of your friends are active riders? Do you have relationships with any local reps, boat dealers, or other folks in the industry? If you can’t answer these questions the way you’d like, don’t stress about it! This does not disqualify you from becoming an WakeWell leader. All it shows is that you have some work cut out for you on that side of the bridge.

PHASE-1

LEAD

BEGIN BUILDING SUPPORT: No man is an island, and we want to make sure all of our Chapter Leaders feel equally supported by WakeWell staff and by individuals within their community. WakeWell Chap-ters are required to have at least 3 leaders on their leadership team in order to share the responsibility and remain in fellowship. Therefore, before you are begin planning out all of your Chapter activities and meetings, you should start by finding and befriending some other like-minded leaders in your local wake scene. Also, it is never too early to begin building relationships with your cable park staff, your proshop workers, your boat dealers, and your local wake riders. Get out there and make friends!

17

RECEIVE HIGH-FIVES FROM WAKEWELL:1. One for successfully jumping through all the hoops.2. Another one for wanting to be an official part of the team.3. Another for passing safely through the LEARN phase into the ENGAGE phase.4. And one more for your desire to keep in touch on a regular basis.

TALK TO US: Make sure to keep in touch with the WakeWell staff in your area. (If WakeWell is not very established in your area, you might have to go directly to your country’s national director. Alternatively, if your coun-try currently lacks a national director, get in touch with the WakeWell international director.) The WakeWell staff will be more than happy to help you think through this process. Regular communication also allows us to get to know you better and demonstrates that you are serious about your interest in WakeWell. This latter point is significant because in the transient, sketchy, flakey wake culture, we are often bombarded by people who express interest but never follow through!

COMMIT & APPLY: We know that “commitment” is pretty much a swear word in our free-spirited, easy-going wake culture, but if you have gotten this far and you’re still stoked on WakeWell, we would encourage you to officially make the decision to GET INVOLVED! Maybe even go ahead and repeat the following statement aloud. “Hey, I’ve read about WakeWell, watched some videos on the website, and I’m stoked on sharing in the calling and mission of WakeWell. Count me in!” If you’ve made that commitment, you should contact your local WakeWell director. Your director will walk you through the official application process. The application process will require you to jump through a few hoops which may include some light paperwork. Be aware that this process may vary from region to region and country to country. It is important that you acquire the more specific details from your local WakeWell director. (Similar remarks apply if you want to start an WakeWell Chapter in your area in addition to becoming a leader.)

18

ENGAGESections 4 - 5

PHASE-2

LEAD

When a building is constructed, the engineers spend a lot of time ensuring that the foundation is structurally sound. If they did not do this, the building would have little hope of surviving for the long run. Similar remarks apply to building a ministry. No ministry can succeed un-less it is built upon a solid foundation of relationships, with the foremost relationship being with Christ.

The engage phase is primarily focused on building a relational foundation in your local community that can ultimately support a full-fledged wake ministry down the road. In this section, you will find information on what relationships you should actively seek to build along with other practical advice to help you as you start your jour-ney with WakeWell.

We feel that it is important to stress the ENGAGE phase because many WakeWell leaders have a tendency to jump straight to the ACT phase. This is understandable because it’s important to do work as a WakeWell Chapter! But it’s also not a recipe for sustained success (remember the Bi-ble’s warnings to those who “forget to count the costs”). With that said, you don’t have to build a thousand good relationships in your community before you start acting as a WakeWell Chapter. It will often be the case that WakeWell leaders are working through parts of the engage and act phases simultaneously. This is perfectly acceptable and even expected.

19

As you get started on your journey as a WakeWell leader, it’s important to keep these two basic principles in mind.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways

acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths.” – Proverbs 3:5-6

4.Getting Ready for Serious Fun —Some Basic Principles4.1 Commitment in PrayerSuccess as a WakeWell leader begins on your knees, humbly asking the Lord for his blessing and guidance. We often underestimate and neglect prayer, but it is spiritual oxygen; without it, our ministry will suffocate. Thus praying is one of the most im-portant things you can do.

In submitting our plans, lives, visions, and activity to God in prayer, we allow the source of power into our program and lives. Thus it should always be a part of your local ministry strategy.

4.2 Motivations—Don’t Believe the HypeMost of the Western world recognizes the hype (i.e., the cool factor) of wake-boarding...and most board sports in general. It looks cool. It reeks of “style” and all of those “trend-setting” characteristics that make any subculture cool. That means that we, as dedicated riders, have a powerful tool at our disposal that we can use to cause as much good or harm as we see fit. Allow us to elaborate. In YOUR hands, riding a board can be a powerful tool for mentorship and ministry, or it can be a major stumbling block in your personal life. If you are not careful, you can find yourself riding soley for yourself and using the hype of the industry as an end in itself (for your own personal “coolness” and/or your identity) rather than as a tool to reach others for Christ. Let’s take the “tool” analogy one step farther. Look at shredding like a chain-saw in the hands of a lumberjack. A lumberjack can chop down a small forest in the same time it takes to chop down one or two trees with a hatchet (trust us lumberjacks on this one, no need to try it at home!). But with the power and efficiency of a chainsaw comes the ability to dismember yourself and the other lumberjacks around you quite severely if you get careless. Thus wake sports are a powerful tool that can bring about a lot of good or a lot of damage. If we can harness the power of wake hype and not get caught up in it ourselves, we can then utilize the “cool factor” as a tool to open doors and allow the Lord to work powerfully through us! So use the hype for the gospel. Hype the hype because it works. But don’t believe the hype, because it’s dangerous. In light of all of this, it’s imperative that you continually CHECK YOURSELF BEFORE YOU WRECK YOURSELF, your ministry, and everyone you’ve ever loved (well, maybe not everyone you’ve ever loved but certainly some people that you care a lot about). Make sure to check your heart, your motivation for ministry, and your attitude. Every time you get up on the water ask yourself what your focus is for that day. Are you riding for your community, for the gospel, and for Jesus? Or yourself? As you go about praying for your ministry with WakeWell, ask God to help you keep your motivations pure. This is also one area in which a mentor (more about mentors below) and fellow leaders (once you have them) can hold you accountable.

20

5. Key Relationships to Pursue We recommend that you strive to build solid, strategic relationships with four groups of people. In par- ticular, you should focus on your relationship with the Lord first, then on relationships with a mentor, your local church, and local shredders (both Christian and non-Christian).

Although you should have some of these relationships in place before you even get started on your journey with WakeWell, the purpose of the Engage phase is to take these relationships deeper and acquire new friends along the way.

PHASE-2

LEAD

5.1 ChristChrist is the cornerstone of your relational foundation. Without him, it does not matter how established the other relational pieces are; it will all be in vain. A significant portion of your time and energy as a WakeWell leader should be poured into develop-ing your relationship with Christ. Remember, as a WakeWell leader you are called to be an example to others in many areas, espe-cially spiritual ones.

Ideally, the development of your relationship with Christ is some-thing that will flow naturally out of your involvement with your local church and any mentors you might have. In addition, there are plenty of resources out there on this topic that you should take advantage of. You can chat with your WakeWell director about getting access to some of these resources (i.e Mike Barnes’ books, “Which Way Is The Ocean” and “First Steps as a Follower of Christ”). You can also get WakeWell USA’s Instaser-mons on Instagram and the website (wakewell.org).

5.2 MentorWhile not a requirement for WakeWell leadership, we highly recommend that each leader have a personal mentor in his or her life. A mentor can be a pastor, a close friend, a family member such as a parent/grandparent, or really anyone older and wiser than you who is an active believer with a faith equal to or (preferably) more mature than yours!

If you pursue (or are currently pursing) a mentor-mentee relationship, keep in mind that the real responsibility of the relationship falls on the shoulders of the mentee rather than on those of the mentor.

For example, if you want to set up a mentoring relationship with your pastor, you will need to show your pastor that you are serious about being mentored. After all, pastors are really busy. Think about Jesus in this context: Jesus responded most often to those who sought earnestly after him. In general, a busy mentor who is being pursued by a mentee hungry for insight is much more willing to give guidance and a helping hand.

Another thing to keep in mind: WakeWell leaders are required to maintain regular communication with their WakeWell director (i.e., regional direc-tor, or national director, or international director depending on the country). Your director has been hand-picked as someone who has extensive ex-perience with wake ministry. Consequently, your director will have wisdom and knowledge to pass on to you.

21

5.3 Your Local ChurchAs a WakeWell leader, you should already be plugged in to your own local church. What does “plugged in” look like? This will look different for everyone, but the following tend to indicate plugged-in-ness:

• You attend services on a weekly basis• You serve in some capacity (help setup chairs, teach Sunday

school, play on the worship team, work in the sound booth, greet at the door, clean up after the service, etc.)

• You have good relationships with church leaders (i.e., they have a place in your life where they could “call you out” if you needed to hear it)

• You are involved in a small group • You support your church financially (tithe)

Why is being “plugged in” to a local church so important? For starters, it’s vital for thriving as a Christian. Lone ranger Christians—those who do not consistently interact with other Christians—are more likely to fall away from the faith, attempt to justify their ungodly behavior, and become stagnant in their walk with the Lord. In addition, they are unable to bless and be blessed by others.

Second, as a WakeWell leader, it’s required of you. We require this because of the countless benefits associated with being a part of the local church and because it will be crucial for connecting your chap-ter to your local church when it comes time to do so down the road. So what kind of relationships should you pursue within your church?

22

Our recommendation is this: develop strategic relationships. Be-friending Timmy the third grader is important, but he can’t give you the keys to the church’s gym. You need to build relationships with leaders in the church who have the authority to approve your fu-ture plans for partnering with their church (for more on partnering with the local church, see section 9.2).

The specific relationships you should pursue will differ depending on the size of the church. For example, you if you attend a medium sized church (roughly 200-500 people) or larger, it is usually difficult to get to know the head pastor well. Here are some general recom-mendations based on church size:

Micro (less than 50 people): senior pastor or elder

Small (50-200): senior pastor, elder, and whoever is running the youth ministry

Medium (201-500): elder or youth pastor(s)Large (501-1500): elder, youth pastor(s), young adult pastor if applicable

PHASE-2

LEAD

Mega (1500+): youth pastors and young adult pastor(s)

Another recommendation: network through the strategic relation-ships you develop. For example, say you get to know the youth pas-tor at your church really well and he supports your vision for minis-try. Most youth pastors know the other youth pastors in town; they talk and may even collaborate to reach the community’s youth. If your youth pastor is hyped on you, he might encourage his other youth pastor friends to get on the SFC bandwagon; or he might give you the contact info of other youth pastors and get you to contact them with his blessing. Either way, doors have been opened with other churches that might not have otherwise been possible.

23

5.4 Your Local Wake Community Being well connected with the wake community in your scene is vital to the success of your ministry. It’s hard to minister to riders if you are not friends with very many or you don’t know their needs! In addi-tion, having connections with your local cablepark or with the local boat dealerships industry will be highly beneficial for your Chapter down the road.

Although there is a lot that could be written here, we want to focus on four key issues: connecting on the water, connecting with local businesses, connecting with the industry, and connecting with other Christian riders.

Don’t forget to:• Send out a text/facebook message/call before you leave your house to head to

the water. Always try to involve a new friend or two when you ride. • Carry your phone so you can collect new phone numbers and connect with oth-

ers on the water. • Know the WakeWell info (mission, vision, website url, etc.) to tell to people if

they are interested. And it’s always a good idea to carry some extra stickers to handout!

24

5.4.1 Connecting on the WaterWe all want to spend a lot of time riding. As an WakeWell

leader, you should use your shred time to have fun, but more importantly for ministry. Hanging out on the water is obvi-

ously one of the best times to meet riders, make new friends, and start the process of reaching people for Christ. Here is

some practical advice for meeting people on the water:

PHASE-2

LEAD

At Lakes or Rivers:

1. Try to ride with a bunch of different people. Don’t get caught in the routine of always riding on the same boat with the same group of riders...change it up. Invite people out on your boat one week, and then invite yourself onto your bud-dies boat the next week. Constantly try to engage with new people and keep your “crew” open.

2. Talk! Remember that time before cellphones when people actually had to communicate face-to-face? The good news is that you can still engage in actual conversations at the boat ramp, at the gas station, on the water with other boats, and if you turn the music down you might be able to have conver-sations in your own boat!!! What?!?!?!

3. Keep a positive attitude and be joyful. Don’t let your riding ability (or lack there of ) dictate your mood, but instead be in-tentional about giving thanks and praise to God for the day. Other people take notice when you constantly stay positive.

4. Don’t be afraid to pray for someone. Follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. Despite what you might think, people are often much more receptive to prayer than you think. Prayer also shows a lot of love and can change the situation.

5. Be present, be encouraging, and be thankful. Put down your cell phone and pay attention to everyone who rides. Make it a point to let others know that you enjoyed watching them...even if they didn’t ride “up-to-par”. And always thank your boat driver and the other people in the boat for their pa-tience and service.

6. Have stickers on your board that represent things you value. For example, WakeWell stickers. You’ll find that people will come up and talk to you about your stickers. This is rad; now you’ve made a new friend without even trying.

25

5.4.2 Connecting with Your Cable ParkBuilding a solid relationship with your local cable park is import-ant can be super beneficial. If you spend a lot time and do a lot of things at your cable park, it is crucial that the staff holds you and your ministry in high regard. After all, it’s the staff that allows you to host events, hold metings, and give messages. You are encroaching on their business, so let’s be as respectful as possible. Here are some tips for connecting with your local cable park:

At Cable Parks:

1. Show up. Consistency is a key component to any relationship. If you only go to the cable once a month, it is going to be really hard to build solid relationships there. But if you go to the cable consistently (even if you don’t always ride), people will begin to recognize you as someone who cares about the sport and the people.

2. Talk! Remember that time before cellphones when people ac-tually had to communicate face-to-face? The good news is that you can still engage in actual conversations in the parking lot, with the person at check-in, in the pro-shop, in line at the start dock, and if wait for people when they fall you can even talk while you walk!!! What?!?!?!

3. Keep a positive attitude and be joyful. Don’t let your riding abil-ity (or lack there of ) dictate your mood, but instead be inten-tional about giving thanks and praise to God for the day. Other people take notice when you constantly stay positive.

4. Learn people’s names. Remembering someone’s name goes a long way toward breaking down barriers and building a rela-tionship. From the staff at the park to the regulars that show up on the same day each week, calling them by their name instead of “Dude”, “Bro”, or “Man” makes people feel important.

5. Serve Others. If you see the staff at the park working hard on something, ask if you can help them. If an event is going on, ask the event organizer if there is anything you can do. If a rider is working on a certain trick, ask if they want any pointers. If someone is trying something new, ask if they would like you to film it on their phone.

6. Have stickers on your board that represent things you value. For example, WakeWell stickers. You’ll find that people will come up and talk to you about your stickers. This is rad; now you’ve made a new friend without even trying.

26

5.4.3 Connecting with the IndustryBuilding long-term relationships with shop owners, sales reps, boat dealers, and others in the wake industry is important. In many ways, it is the industry that dictates what is important to the culture. So one way to positively change the culture is to impact those who are primarily responsible for setting the agenda. Industry relationships play a strategic role in fulfilling WakeWell’s goals; they can also lead to great benefits for your local ministry.

Now before you run off to your local shop and say, “Hey, duuuuude, I’m Shaun. I do Jesus wakeboarding. Let's be friends. Oh, can I have some free stuff?” let's slow down and talk about a more realistic plan of attack.

Since you are looking to run a local ministry in your city, it's important that you reach out to the folks who are locally employed by the industry. Now you might have a major boat company right in your backyard. If you think you can connect with them, go for it. For most, however, the em-phasis will be on building lasting relationships with local shop owners/employees, boat dealers, and local sales representatives.

PHASE-2

LEAD

SHOP OWNERS/EMPLOYEES: Your local pro shop is a great place to start building relationships within the industry. Here are some tips for success:• Pick a shop or two to be your own.• Show up and just hang out. This is a totally normal activity. Stop by

your shop(s) once a week and chat about wakeboarding, life, or what-ever. Note that this will also have the added benefit of allowing you to connect with other local riders that you will inevitably run into at the shop.

• It might cost you a few extra dollars, but buy your stuff from your local shop! We cannot emphasize this enough. Financially supporting a local store with your purchases is the easiest way to love on a shop owner these days.

• Do whatever you can to support your local shop. Refer your friends and family to it, promote it at your future WakeWell events, etc. Every shop owner will love this kind of support.

• When you are able to do so, get your local shops involved in your events. Invite them to throw up a booth at your contest or video pre-miere.

27

SALES REPRESENTATIVES: • In order to build relationships with local reps, you need to figure out who they are and

how to get in touch with them. This can be surprisingly difficult. The most efficient solu-tion is to network through a local shop owner that you know really well. If you have a good and honest excuse for connecting with local reps like putting together a big event and you want to get some reps there, your shop owner friend should be able to connect you with reps who might be interested.

• The life of a rep can be hard. It often feels like people only care about you because you can give them free stuff. As a WakeWell leader, you need to be particularly sensitive to this. We don’t want reps to think that the “Jesus dudes” are trying to connect with them just to get free stuff. So as you go about trying to build relationships with reps, make it clear that you are MORE INTERESTED IN THEM AS PEOPLE than you are interested in free stuff.

• As much as you can, offer to help reps out. . Let’s say, for example, you run into a rep at an event. Offer to help him pack up his stuff! Just serve and don’t ask for anything in return. If the rep offers to give you something in exchange for your help, make a state-ment and don’t take it this time. You don’t want to run the risk of making a rep think you helped out just so you could get some swag. Serving selflessly speaks volumes about your intentions, values, and character as a WakeWell leader and follower of Christ.

• As a general rule of thumb, we suggest not taking anything from a rep until you’ve developed your relationship a bit. Selfless actions make a long-term impact that is way more important than another free t-shirt.

• Start with one rep. A strong relationship with just one rep can go a long way. All the reps know each other. So if you’re tight with one rep and can get him or her to vouch for you, this can open doors with other reps that might not otherwise be possible.

• Just like with local shops, try to get your local reps involved with your bigger events like contests, video premieres, and instructional clinics/camps. If you can help reps out by providing them with an opportunity to sell their extra stuff, you’ll find that they will be more eager to jump on board with your event.

The bottom line: Regardless of who you interact with in the industry, always remember that they are real peo-ple who need to know about Jesus. Love on them, be there for them when they need it, work to build lasting friendships, and don’t use them for their stuff! The rest will fall in to place.

28

5.5 Christian ShreddersIt is important to build relationships with other Christian riders for at least two reasons. First, a major part of WakeWells ministry is to build-up and encourage the body of Christ in wake communities across the world. If you are not actively pursuing relationships with fellow Christian riders, then you cannot successfully engage in this aspect of WakeWell’s ministry.

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” - John 13:34-35

Second, your fellow Christian riders will make excellent volunteers and fellow leaders for your WakeWell Chapter. This is especially per-tinent if you are in the process of starting a new Chapter in your community. WakeWell requires a leadership team to be established before a Chapter can be officially launched (see section 6 for building a leadership team). If you have local Christian friends that like to ride, think about whether or not they would make good WakeWell leaders (see section 10.1 on leaders and workers). If so, consider asking them to pursue WakeWell leadership with you. If you don’t see a lot of lead-ership potential, encourage them to support your cause and become volunteers instead.

So, if you don’t have many Christian friends in your local community, place an emphasis on making some. We feel confident that if you look hard enough, you will find at least 2 others! We realize that some communities lack other Christian riders alto-gether. Maybe that’s why you’re there! If that’s the case, start on your knees. Pray that God would rise up other local Christian riders that you can befriend and partner with. You should also seek direct guid-ance from your regional, national, or international director if this is your situation.

PHASE-2

LEAD

29

NOTES

30

ACTSections 6 - 7

The ACT phase is all about doin’ work. You know you’ve entered this phase if you are (1) casting WakeWell’s vision to your com-munity, (2) developing an existing leadership team, and (3) starting to do activities as an official WakeWell Chapter. In this section of the Handbook, we provide some guidelines and prac-tical advice for undertaking both of these endeavors.

Remember, many WakeWell leaders are often in the act and engage phases simultaneously. Indeed, a strategically crafted event can be integral to making huge relational advances with the different people groups we discussed in the engage section (see sections 5.1-5.5). Just be careful not to neglect the engage phase in your zeal to act!

6. Leadership TeamsWHAT IS A LEADERSHIP TEAM? • Three or more dedicated and commit-

ted Christian leaders working togeth-er to run a WakeWell Chapter.

LEADERSHIP TEAM EXPECTATIONS • Leadership teams are expected to

meet at least once a month to plan the direction of the group.

• The leadership team is accountable to its country’s SFC National Office for the major decisions it makes for its Chapter.

BENEFITS OF A LEADERSHIP TEAM• It is Biblical (a” threefold cord is not

quickly broken” Ecclesiastes 4:12). • It divides leadership responsibilities

to lessen the work load. • It creates accountability. • The team provides encouragement

and support to one another.• There are more resources and skills/

abilities than if there were just one leader.

PHASE-3

LEAD

Leadership teams are generally required for the official formation of a WakeWell group. This section breaks down the concept of a leadership team and offers advice about how to build a strong one.

31

LEADERSHIP TEAM MEETINGS• Meet regularly (at least once a month for chapters) at a set time and place. • Someone needs to organize and lead it. We recommend rotating this respon-

sibility.• The location, structure, and format of your meetings should allow you to easily

pray and discuss your WakeWell Chapter.• Make sure everyone’s opinion is heard and respected. God wires each of us dif-

ferently; consequently, we will not see eye to eye on every issue. God, however, uses our various strengths to further His kingdom. A diverse group working together is much greater than the individual parts.

• Have a method of accountability. For example, assign specific tasks to specif-ic people and then have a time of evaluation after the tasks are completed. Allow praise or rebuke where necessary; be prepared to give and receive criticism.

• Maintain the spiritual nature of your meetings. Include praise, prayer, and a time of sharing.

CHOOSING NEW LEADERS• No one should vaguely suppose him or herself to be a leader. Local leaders are

officially approved by the National Office and any local leaders already present. • A good rule of thumb for evaluating potential leaders: Are they committed

enough to ‘cut it’ in a role at a local church? If not, then prayerfully reconsid-er them.

• Potential leaders need to be committed to Christ, the Chapter’s other leaders, and to the vision and mission of WakeWell.

• Potential leaders must be able to fulfill the expectations and responsibilities assigned to WakeWell leaders (see section 10.1).

• Potential leaders should also be people who have proven themselves faithful to serve in small things (also see character qualifications in 1 Timothy 3:1-12 and Titus 1:6-9).

• Be wary of those seeking prestige or power, recent converts, or those who have drifted in with past failures in other ministries.

• Make sure potential leaders clearly understand the challenges associated with being a WakeWell leader.

• Expect a willing, prayerful commitment by your potential leaders. Leader-ship cannot be forced on anyone.

32

7. Running Your First Official WakeWell Events

7.1 Your Goal as an WakeWell Leader and Your EventsThe goal of every leader is to help fulfill the vision, mission, and values of WakeWell. In less abstract terms, the goal is to make followers and disciples of Jesus Christ in the wake culture. What does that look like practically? Remem-ber that the mission and values, not the events, connect WakeWell chapters throughout the world. Again, these are:

Vision: To bring the living water of Jesus to the wake culture and live in such a way that His love can be clearly seen and experienced through our words and actions.

Mission: To be the bridge connecting the wake culture to Jesus Christ through establishing chapters that focus on fellowship, evangelism, and disciple-ship while partnering with the local church.

Values: Believe. Relationships. Identity. Doing. Gospel. Engage.

PHASE-3

LEAD

The bridge can be broken down into three sections: WAKE, FAITH, and CHURCH. WAKE: Connect with the wake community FAITH: Develop faith in Jesus Christ CHURCH: Partner effectively with the local church Each section should be addressed with various events and activities. Now what do these different types of activities look like?

CHURCH FAITH

WAKE

33

WAKE activities involve anything related to wakeboarding, wake-skating, and/or wakesurfing. These activities generally focus on:• Using the hype to make

friends and build relation-ships

• Building WakeWell’s public presence at local lakes, rivers, and cable parks.

• Fellowshipping with other believers

• Bringing living water of Jesus to the wake culture

FAITH activities encompass any-thing that involves the develop-ment of faith in Jesus Christ in others. These activities generally focus on:• Sharing the gospel• Encouraging and exhorting

fellow believers through bib-lical teaching

• Bible study• Discipleship • Prayer • Worship

CHURCH activities include any-thing related to your local church. These activities generally focus on:• Serving your local church• Building relationships with

local church members and leaders

• Connecting believers to the local church, other local be-lievers, and other ministries

• Group accountability with the local church

Thus the WAKE, FAITH, and CHURCH bridge parts represent the three core components of WakeWell’s ministry at lakes, rivers, and cable parks across the country.

34

PHASE-3

LEAD

7.2 Choosing Specific EventsOne question that our leaders often wrestle with is what specific events they should run with their WakeWell Chapter. Everyone wants to effectively reach their community, but it is not always clear how this should be done.

We encourage you to use the picture of the bridge as a visual measuring stick for evaluat-ing the various activities you are thinking about undertaking. Everything that your group does should ultimately fall under at least one of the three parts that compose the bridge. If you cannot fit what you want to do under the bridge, you probably shouldn’t pursue it as a WakeWell sanctioned activity.

Here is a practical example. Imagine that you wake up one morning with a great idea: “Let’s get the whole Chapter to show up early to the PWT event and hand out free coffee and donuts to all the riders and event staff.” Being the good WakeWell leader that you are, you then ask yourself: “I wonder if this activity fits with the mission, vision, and values of WakeWell. Well, it looks like it fits under the WAKE part of the bridge . . . so I guess that’s a go!”

Alright, now re-run the scenario. This time your idea is to drive 3000 miles to California so you can work on evening out your tan with a bunch of WakeWell bros during the middle of the season. It’s seems pretty tough to fit that idea under the bridge without breaking it, so it’s probably not a good idea for an official WakeWell activity.

Another factor to keep in mind when planning activities is targeting at least one of WakeWell’s core values. Most ideas will fit more than one value. A Bible study, for example, will fit “Believing,” “Identity,” and “Gospel.” You must recognize that there is no magic solution to figuring out what specific events you should run. Each location has a different demographic and different needs, thus it is nearly impossible to have a one-size-fits-all event that will be a slam dunk for every WakeWell Chapter. With that said, here are some tips that you can work through to help you make a decision.

LEARN THE NEEDS: Let’s start with an obvious point: you need to have your fingers on your community’s pulse in order to know what they need and what they will respond to. Do you have a bunch of starving ca-ble operators? Feed them. Is ev-eryone in your community into winching drainage ditches? A boat contest is probably not the right event for you. We strongly encourage you to pray that God would reveal to you your com-munity’s needs and fitting ways

LEARN FROM THE PAST: Look over the different events that other leaders have success-fully pulled off. See section 2.3.3 for an overview of various things that have been done in the past. This is a great resource to mine for potential ideas.

USE YOUR PHONE: Dial up other WakeWell leaders and WakeWell staff members. Chat with them. They all have plenty of experience and would love to help you figure out what to do with your specific

THE SKY IS THE LIMIT: Leaders are encouraged to be creative. Just make sure it fits with WakeWell’s mission, vision, and values!

DON’T BE CONSTRAINED:Do not feel constrained by what any other groups are doing, even if everyone else is doing it. The local leaders know their community best and what it needs.

EMBRACE TRIAL AND ERROR:There is no shame in the trial and error process. Trial and error has been the history of WakeWell. If a community is not receptive to video premieres, try something new. The rolling stone gathers no moss, as they say. WakeWell rolls on moss-lessly for the cause of Christ.

VARIETY:Don’t think that you need to discover the one-event-to-rule-them-all. Consider running a variety of events. All WakeWell events fall into either the “recurring” or “infrequent” categories. Examples of recurring events generally include Bible studies and weekly ride nights. Infre-quent events include contests, video premieres, and instructional camps, for example. Each type of event has its own advantages. Recurring events gen-erally allow you to build deeper relationships more effectively by offering more consistency. If you are at the cable park every Thursday afternoon for a WakeWell ride night, you have the opportunity to get to know the Thursday night cable operator pretty well. Infrequent events, on the other hand, usually offer better opportunities to draw a crowd and make a big splash in the community. Thus we suggest that a healthy balance of both types of events could help you achieve your goals.

Note: many events and activities that you engage in will fall under more than one part of the bridge. For example, if you hold a video premiere in a local church, your event falls under the WAKE and CHURCH parts of the bridge. This kind of cross-pollination is encour-aged because it helps facilitate further connections between the local church and the wake community.

35

7.3 Running a WakeWell EventPlanning a WakeWell event is often easier than you might think. Some of this information may seem obvious, but having the basics on lock will prevent unnecessary stress and make things run a lot smoother the day of the event. Note: what follows is primarily writ-ten for someone planning a larger, infrequent event such as a contest or video premiere. With that said, much of this still applies to running ordinary, run-of-the-mill events.

PRAYER: WakeWell events are ultimately de-signed to help introduce people to Jesus, which clearly requires the work of the Holy Spirit in addition to your hard work. Thus it makes complete sense that you should be talking with God about the whole process. Set up prayer teams before, during, and after the event. Make sure to pray for wis-dom, guidance, encouragement, and His blessing on your event!

DO RESEARCH: Find people who have done similar types of events in the past. Once you find someone, politely trap them in a corner and pick their brain for good ideas, tips, and mistakes to avoid. If you cannot find someone in your local area, pick up your phone and start calling other WakeWell leaders. It is very likely that someone within the WakeWell network has successfully pulled off the event you are trying to plan. There is no need to reinvent the wheel.

THINK THROUGH THE DETAILS: Make a list of everything you’re going to need; have someone else look it over as well. There are many things to consider: the date, the venue, setup, advertising, sponsors, cleanup, and way more. Sometimes you need to think outside of the box. For example, if you’re planning on having a lot of people and your event will be outside, did you consider ordering a Port-a-Pot-ty? You’ll get better at this the more you try it!

36

PHASE-3

LEAD

DELEGATE: The vast majority of events will require more than one person to make it all hap-pen. Find people you trust to help you out. Your fellow leaders should be an obvious place to start. You’re not going to be great at everything, so capitalize on the strengths of others. If you’re not sure what your friends will be good at, just ask.

RELAX AND ENJOY: If you’ve prepared properly, the day of your event should come together smoothly. No matter how much you plan, however, something small will probably go wrong. Don’t worry about the small stuff. If you don’t make a big deal about it, nobody else will either.

REVIEW: Take some time to think through the event. Make sure to ask others what they liked and disliked about the event. Take notes that you can refer back to when planning your next event. This is your chance to take the things that didn’t go so well and figure out what it will take to make them go better in the future.

THANK: Make sure to thank anyone and everyone that helped pull off the event. Make calls, send cards, and/or write emails or texts; whatever it takes to make sure that everyone knows that you really appreciated their support. Properly thanking your supporters is one of the best ways to ensure that they will help you again.

37

7.4 The WakeWell Brand and Your Chapter WakeWell—the name, lettering, and logos—are the official trade-marks of WakeWell. They are designed for the exclusive use of this ministry.

WHO CAN USE THE LOGO? Recognized and approved WakeWell groups may use the logo. Any other individual, organization or group must receive permission from a National Office for its use.

God calls us to be stewards of what we’ve been given. Therefore, we want to be careful about who uses the logo. Use discretion; if in doubt, contact your National Office.

HOW CAN IT BE USED? The logos may be used on, banners, tents, local media, advertising, promo material, placards, stickers, tattoos, and more.

PRINCIPLES TO OBSERVE:• Strive for excellent presentation. • Any variations of the logo need to be discussed with your National

Office. • The name of WakeWell has a great deal of value. Thus WakeWell

Chapters should seek the good will of their communities. When others think of our brand, a positive response is desirable. It is the responsibility of the leadership team of each Chapter to work towards this end. This responsibility is amplified by the fact that name of Jesus is reflected by our brand.

38

PHASE-3

LEAD

Examples:

39

40

DIRECTSections 8 - 10

Most WakeWell groups enter the DIRECT phase after their first or second active season. You will know that you are in the DIRECT phase if your Chap-ter has a “regular gig” and you are looking to develop and manage your movement for the long haul.

In this section of the Handbook, we outline some long-term goals to strive for along with some advice for achieving long-term success with your WakeWell Chapter.

PHASE-4

LEAD

41

8. In It for the Long Haul —Some Basic Principles

8.1 Commitment in a Transient CultureHave a long-term attitude toward ministry. To be instrumental in changing communities, we must plan to stick it out for the long haul. That means the c-word: COMMITMENT! And we are not just talking about being committed to one geographical location for a long period of time or fulfilling the obligations of your leadership contract. Your commitment also needs to be reflected in your heart, attitude, and effort. Consider the following story from Josh Stock, SFC’s international director:

Floyd, his wife Lindsey, myself (Josh), and Val (my wife) had just spent our first full year getting SFC up in Summit County, Colorado. By the end of the winter, we had a leadership team, a board of advisors, a website, and all sorts of goals for our newly founded ministry. We had been meeting twice a week with our young adults and had a fairly encouraging season. We had also been meeting monthly with our advisory board (a.k.a., “the boardies,” who consisted of three local pastors) for about 5 or 6 months when

we spw8.1 COMMITMENT IN A FLAKEY CULTURE: As many of you can attest, the wake culture is filled with a LOT of flakey individuals. From failing to follow through on promises, to never showing up on time (if at all), to not taking any responsibility upon themselves…our culture has HUGE commitment issues! With that being said, what better way is there for us as Christians to stand-out from the culture than by showing that we are committed to the individuals we are serving? But how do we do that?

One of the ways that we can fight flakiness in our culture is to simply be consistent. Consistency goes such a long way with people, and it allows them to feel comfortable and secure. And being consistent in someone’s life can make them feel known, cared for, and loved. Therefore we feel that it is important to try and be consistent with the activities, meetings, and intentional times that ou and your Chapter plan and partici-pate in.

Now, hear me when I say that this does not mean you need to meet every day or do an event every week of the year. But it does mean that whatever your Chapter decides (and tells people) it is going to do...whether that is weekly meetings, random fun monthly activities, or yearly contests...that you should stick to your word and be as consistent as possible until God tells you to stop.

8.2 Vision CastingOne of the most important attributes of a successful WakeWell leader is the ability to cast vision. No, this isn’t about having some kind of magical clairvoyance. Having magical pow-ers is rad (and often helpful), but getting people stoked on the mission, vision, and values of WakeWell is even more rad!

A good vision caster is someone who understands where a company, organization, or minis-try is headed and then has an almost magical power to get people hyped on that direction. Jesus, the apostle Paul, and Steve Jobs were excellent vision casters. Look what happened to their movements.

Practically speaking, vision casting is more like playing a game of Follow-the-Leader than just preaching at people. The best vision casters lead by example and invite others to follow suit. So if you want people to get excited about WakeWell, you need to be excited about WakeWell first. If you want people to volunteer their time to serve the wake community and share Jesus with lake dudes, you had better be the first person in line.

With that said, good vision casting also involves expressing WakeWell’s mission, vision, and values (the things setting the direction of your ministry) in a language that others will under-stand. So it’s not just “do as I do”, but also “think as I think”. This is essentially Jesus’ model.

Communicating in someone else’s “language” is easier said than done. Here are some exam-ples. If you’re talking about WakeWell with some random cable rats, you might approach the subject as follows:

Yeah, dude, it’s called WakeWell and it’s sick. We like to shred and work in the industry and stuff, but we also like to hang out and talk about Jesus too. It might sound lame or old fashioned, or whatever, but that’s wack ‘cuz Jesus is this radi-cal dude who said crazy stuff and did crazy stuff like thousands of years ago that actually applies to us right now in some weird, trippy, spiritual way that most riders don’t usually think about. And dudes will tell you it’s lame, but who are we to let other people tell us what to think, right?! So, it’s rad and pretty progressive, you know? Like Jesus was the original punk. Plus, we get to feed our fellow lake rats and coach little grom how to be better riders and more importantly, how to be better dudes.

42

PHASE-4

LEAD

On the other hand, if you’re sharing SFC with a grandma-aged audience in a local church, you might say something like this:

This is obviously a more comical take on how to address different people with the same message. We do this, however, to emphasize the fact that different people hear the same message in different ways. As a vision caster, it’s important to recognize your intended audience and then tailor your message accordingly to maximize its reception by that audience. This is the same principle the apostle Paul employed while he evangelized: “To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews” (1 Corinthians 9:20).

Now you may find yourself saying, “I tried some of this stuff, but our volunteers just don’t get it.” Well, why is this? Bad volunteers? Maybe. But what about poor leadership on your part? It’s useless to complain about volunteers who “don’t get it” if you are not leading the charge in both word and deed! Be the first in line to serve and minister.

“Passion breeds passion.” If you’re having trouble getting others excited about WakeWell, take a second to remind yourself why you’re excited about it and then BE EXCITED! As the leader, you set the tone and attitude for your ministry. Do with zeal what the Lord has called you to do and let the Spirit be the one to draw others. Remember, Jesus told his disciples to “Let your light shine before all men so that they may see your good deeds and give glory to God who is in Heaven” (Matthew 5:16). If you let your light shine through the way you serve and love your wake community, others will follow.

Greetings, Body of Christ. Paul says that some believers are toes and others are ears, but also that each of us has our place in His Body. My friends and I are wake-boarders who love Jesus, and yes, the we are the same folks that have tattoos and piercing (wait for laughter). The wake culture is one that perceives the world as a playground and is bent on finding the next big high or adrenaline rush. But they are seeking; they are hungry. Hence, I want to challenge all of you to recognize this unique culture as a mission field. Go ahead, laugh if you will, but this culture speaks its own language and obeys its own rules; it has its own norms and faux-pas. WakeWell is a group of young people dedicated to taking the life-changing message of Jesus to this lost and hurting people group in a language they will understand. We ask you to consider how you can partner with us to help make disciples of Jesus Christ in all nations, tribes, and tongues, which includes the wake culture.

43

8.3 How to Gauge Long Term SuccessThere are two primary ways for you to gauge your success as a WakeWell leader. The first involves asking a sim-ple question: Under my leadership, is my group pursuing events and activi-ties that fall under all three parts of the bridge (The bridge parts are covered in sections 7.1.)?

Balance is key here. If you are spending all of your time running shred events and neglecting the others, something is wrong. Our hope is that each group engages in all three types of activities with an appropriate balance. What is an appropriate balance? This depends on factors that will vary from location to location. What really matters, how-ever, is that you have balance, even if it’s not perfect. In light of this, you can gauge your success as a leader in part by the extent to which you are successfully leading your group to engage in activities that fall under all three bridge categories in a balanced manner.

The second gauge of success revolves around this question: Am I actively discipling others?

What is true discipleship for WakeWell? At its core, it is dependent on two things: (1) teaching riders to live out (embody) our values in the wake culture; (2) giving riders a practical example to follow in your own life. So when you ask, “Am I actively discipling others?” you are really asking whether you are embodying WakeWell’s values and teaching others to do so as well. If you can honestly answer “yes,” then you are succeeding, at least in part, as a WakeWell leader.It is important to note that this gauge of success is not determined by the number of people you are discipling at any given time (or by how many you’ve discipled in the past, etc.). You are succeeding as long as you are teaching the values to someone and embodying them yourself as an example for oth-ers. God often starts us out small, so it’s quite possible that you don’t have very many people to teach the values to right now. If this is the case, you are not failing as a leader!

For some more practical advice on the topic of discipleship within WakeWell, see section 9.1.3.

44

PHASE-4

LEAD

As we discussed in section 7.1, each of the three parts of the bridge—WAKE, FAITH, and CHURCH—represent different types of activities every leader (and by extension, WakeWell Chapter) needs to undertake in order to achieve WakeWell’s goals of making followers and dis-ciples of Jesus Christ in the wake culture. Thus the WAKE, FAITH, and CHURCH parts represent the three core components of WakeWell’s ministry in lake communities all across the country.

Recall that each part of the bridge has its own purpose for WakeWell leaders to pursue:

WAKE: connect with the wake community FAITH: develop faith in Jesus Christ CHURCH: partner effectively with the local church

This section of the Handbook focuses specifically on the FAITH and CHURCH parts of the bridge. Meeting the goals of these bridge parts tend to take more time and to require an established group. Hence, we have included this information in the direct section. (What about WAKE? Since the WAKE goal is primarily relational, we covered the information per-tinent to it in the engage section. See section 5.4.)

9. The FAITH and CHURCH -Bridge Parts

CHURCH FAITH

WAKE

45

46

9.1 Developing Faith in Jesus ChristThe middle bridge part is FAITH. Its goal is to foster and develop the faith of the riders in your commu-nity. In many ways, this is probably the most difficult component of WakeWell’s ministry. For most of us, riding, making friends on the wa-ter, and being plugged into a local church are just ordinary parts of our lives. But introducing someone to Jesus? Woah! Leading a Bible study? Double woah! Discipling people? Triple WOAH! It’s a whole new ball-game!

Unfortunately, some of the per-ceived challenges associated with the FAITH part of the bridge can lead to a general neglect of FAITH events and activities. But this component is just as important as the other ones. As we’ve mentioned before, if you don’t have either of the WAKE or CHURCH parts on lock, you are ultimately a bridge to nowhere. But if you don’t have the FAITH compo-nent locked down, you don’t even have a bridge! Thus we cannot suc-cessfully complete WakeWell’s goals of making followers and disciples of Jesus Christ without it.

This section of the Handbook con-tains a bunch of practical advice for the FAITH part of the bridge. In par-ticular, we will focus on three crucial FAITH activities: evangelism, Bible studies, and discipleship.

Before we get started, we want to throw out a couple quick disclaimers. First, these are not new ideas. Evan-gelism, the study of God’s Word, and discipleship are topics that have been discussed by the Church for a very long time. Thus WakeWell is not attempting to reinvent the wheel in what follows nor are we pretending to provide an exhaustive discussion of these subjects. Instead, we are offering a basic primer on these ideas to get the juices flowing in your brain.

Second, the three areas that we have chosen to discuss can be viewed as a sort of vague series of steps or levels of faith development that a believer typically travels through: first conver-sion via evangelism, then knowledge acquisition via studying and discussing God’s Word, and, finally, true disciple-ship. With that said, we recognize that every person’s relationship with God is unique. We have discovered that most people are at very different levels of faith (or non-faith) in God when they make contact with WakeWell. So, you need to be wary of viewing what we discuss as a ready-made formula that you just walk people through to help develop amazing Christians. Instead, we encourage you to view these three lev-els of faith development more as three organized and healthy opportunities to engage every individual no matter where he or she is at faith-wise.

PHASE-4

LEAD

47

9.1.1 Evangelism If you’ve been around WakeWell for any amount of time, you will have heard some of these phrases regarding evangelism: “you have to earn the right to be heard” and “be quick to listen and slow to speak.” This is because we believe that rela-tional evangelism has proven to be effective in the wake culture. What does this look like?

STRANGER DANGER: In the wake culture, folks generally have their own agendas and aren’t naturally inclined to be open-mind-ed to what a total stranger has to say. Therefore, when we meet peo-ple and strike up a conversation, we haven’t found a whole lot of success with, “Hi. I’m Gary. You need Jesus in your life or you’re going to hell.” While that may be true, it lacks the “gentleness and respect” that Peter speaks about in 1 Peter 3:15.

RELATIONSHIPS FIRST: We at SFC have found that “cultivat-ing” a relationship with someone prepares the proverbial soil of his or her heart by building trust and credibility. The New Testament is full of reminders that our actions as believers are the evidence that we’ve indeed been born again in Christ. Hence, our lives and our actions are what give power and credibility to our words. If people see that we live selfless lives, keep our promises, and put others first, they should recognize these things and give heed to our words when we do speak them as a result.

LOVE UNCONDITIONALLY: It is very important that we re-member to build relationships with others based on unconditional love. That is, we must love with no agen-

da. We don’t love people just so that they become a Christian. That is between God and them. We also don’t stop loving people if they say, “No, I don’t want to be a Christian.” After all, Jesus asks us to even love our enemies.

TIMING: There is a time to share your pas-sion for Jesus with people. We’d advise you to listen to the Holy Spir-it’s prompting on when and how to bring that up. We also know from scripture that when the time is right ,we need to be bold, open, honest, and respectful.

BE WARY OF IMPATIENCE: This idea is closely related to the one above. Since we’ve all grown up in a “microwave-minded” cul-ture, we’ve come to expect imme-diate results. In turn, we are both impatient and unappreciative of the time that it often takes to do evangelism well. But the reality is that relational evangelism takes time. If you rush things, you run the risk of damaging a friendship and turning someone permanently off from the truth of the gospel.

Now, does this relational evange-lism approach sound like it could be an elaborate excuse to just be a nice guy and never bring up the often counter-cultural message of Jesus? It does. That is why we must walk a fine line. But how does one be respectful, quick to listen, and patient to earn the right to be heard while still being bold about sharing the gospel? Here are a couple of things to consider.

The gospel message is GOOD NEWS. The word “gospel” literally

means “good news.” This is because the message of Jesus is a message of salvation and redemption! Jesus “saves” us from ourselves, sin, and a broken relationship with God. As a result, the gospel is our lifeline; it is our only hope. It goes without saying then that the gospel brings with it a sense of urgency. We feel that urgency to share our testimony with others out of love and passion for Jesus and what he has done for us. These feelings are amplified by the fact that we don’t know how many more times we will get to interact with our non-Christian friends, a very real concern in the seasonal wake culture. In light of this, we encourage you to let that urgency fuel your desire to share the good news, but rely on the Holy Spirit’s prompting as to when and how to share it.

48

9.1.2 Bible StudiesWhen someone commits to follow Jesus, the best way for that individual to solidify his or her commitment is to study Jesus’ words. After all, how can they follow him if they don’t know what he said to do? Studying the Bible also has the added benefit of helping the new believer learn to hear the Holy Spirit’s “still small voice.” It is important to note that Bible studies are equally important for us “old believers.” No mat-ter where you are in your faith journey, there is still something for you to learn (or relearn) from studying God’s Word. This is why WakeWell places such an emphasis on Bible studies; they are just too important for faith development to ignore. Thus, one of your jobs as a WakeWell leader is to encourage the Christians within your sphere of influence to get plugged into a Bible study.

Now does this mean that you have to start your own Bible study? No. Many SFC leaders are intimidated at the thought of leading a Bible study. If you can relate with this feeling of in-timidation, we have two pieces of fantastic news for you.

FIRST: In most WakeWell settings, a Bible study looks less like a public speak-er addressing an audience and more like hanging out with other friends, reading from the Bible, and then talking about it.

SECOND: It is probably the case that there are many Bible studies already happen-ing in your community (through the local churches) that you can attend and invite your friends to. This way, you don’t have to lead one yourself! This will save you time, stress, and energy.

This second point is important and deserves some elaboration. There is a lot to be said for not reinventing the wheel, even if you are not intimidated by the thought of starting your own Bible study. Bible studies run by local churches are often really great. Furthermore, participating in a local church’s small group is another important way to go about partnering with the local church. Such small groups offer opportunities to connect with other church members and even church leaders. With that said, if you feel the need to start a Bible study yourself, go for it! WakeWell com-pletely supports this. For example, what if there are no small groups in your community? Or what if some of the small groups run by the local churches would not be a good fit for the people in your wake scene? In these instances, you should think hard about starting your own.

So let’s say that you decide to start your own small group for whatever reason. What should you do with it? There are many things you can do with it. And we want you to be as creative as possible! We do encour-age you to follow one basic guide-line: maintain the spiritual nature of your small group meetings. In particular, make sure to encourage and challenge others with the Word.

The Apostle Peter’s letters to the new Christian churches provide us with a good reminder of how to lead the charge in encouraging and challenging others with the Word. Several times he says things like “I am reminding you” or “so that you will remember.” We, as humans, tend to be a little forgetful. Peter kept “reminding” his readers of what Jesus said and how Jesus wanted them to live. He also reminded them to place their hope and trust in Jesus and in his Word.

Peter’s example provides a great picture of our roles as WakeWell leaders. We are continually pointing people to the Word of God in our words, in our actions, in the way we treat others, in our response to negative circumstances, and maybe most directly in sitting down and saying, “ok, let’s crack open the Bible and see what it says.”

For more bible study resources, feel free to contact your local SFC director.

PHASE-4

LEAD

49

“Discipleship” refers to the process of becoming a seriously committed follower of Jesus. When Jesus called his disciples and said, “follow me,” they knew that this would mean serious sacrifice. For example, after Jesus told his disciples that they must put their families and livelihoods be-hind them for his sake, he also told them that, “Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:27). Nothing has changed for followers of Jesus today. We must be willing to lay down everything we hold dear in order to put Jesus first in our lives.

Although we’ve listed some important general characteristics of a disciple, what does it look like practically speaking? One thing we know for sure is that Jesus’ final command on this earth was a commission to his followers to “Go . . . and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20). As Jesus’ followers today, this commission still applies to us. It is our responsibility as believers to make disciples and to teach his words.

So we know that Jesus called people to both be his disciples and make more disciples. What does that look like for us today, especially as WakeWell leaders?

WakeWell is focused on teaching and living out the six values found in our B.R.I.D.G.E. acronym. We base all that we do as a ministry upon these six biblical values (and on our vision and mission statements). For WakeWell, a disciple (and especially one of Jesus’ disciples within the wake cul-ture) is a person who studies these values, teaches them to others, and lives according to them.

9.1.3 Discipleship

50

The first value is BELIEVING: “Our faith is grounded in biblical truth. We, as the body of Christ, pursue a lifestyle of prayer and wor-ship.” In light of this, some questions you may want to challenge yourself and those you are discipling with include: • Am I walking with Je-

sus?• Am I studying my Bible? • Do I have a daily devo-

tion or quiet time with God?

• Am I seeking God’s will in prayer?

As a disclaimer, holding to this as a set checklist of activities only makes you a disciple of Jesus as much as swimming and trying to breath underwater makes you a fish. We’re not stress-ing a “checklist” or “stair-way to Heaven” mentality in our approach to our beliefs. Instead, we believe that these are some of the fruits of a person’s life who has been born again, knows Jesus, and lives according to the Bible.

BThe second value is RELATIONSHIPS: “We intentionally build up our community, connecting peo-ple to the global network of Christian riders and the body of Christ.” The relationships we build are in accordance with Jesus’ command to love one an-other. Some questions to consid-er in relation to this value are:• Am I actively pursuing rela-

tionships? • How many new riders have I

met? • Have I met new people at

church this year? • Am I building good, Godly

relationships with the people already in my life?

While we remember that people are not “our projects,” we still rec-ognize the need to be intention-al with all of our relationships. Because of this, some WakeWell leaders like to challenge them-selves to pick three relationships to focus on, build into, and pray for throughout the winter.

The third value is IDENTITY: “We enjoy living in a laid-back recreation-focused culture, but we recognize the culture’s identi-ty crisis. While we relate with the culture, we remain obedient to God’s Word and find our eternal identity in him.” As a disciple, we have laid down our lives to pursue Jesus. If we really be-lieve that our identity is in him, we can challenge ourselves and others with these questions:• What is the most important

thing to me when I get on the water? Learning a new trick? Hanging out with my crew of friends? Building God honoring relationships? Or just having fun?

• If I don’t land my trick, do I get mad?

• Am I scared of what people will think of me if I can’t per-form? Do I really see myself as dead to sin and alive in Christ?”

Remember the stumbling block that “hype” can become if we’re not on guard.

R IPHASE-4

LEAD

51

The fourth value is DOING: “We selflessly demonstrate our love for Jesus by putting others ahead of ourselves and serving one another, the local communities we live in, and the entire wake culture.” The New Testament is full of verses about how our actions prove to others that the words we say are true. The apostle John says that we know we are born of God when we love others. Jesus says that what you do to the least of your brothers you do to Jesus himself. It is, therefore, very important as a disciple to “do unto others as you would have them do unto you” and to serve others as if you were serving Jesus. Test yourself (and others): • Have I been serving others?

On the water? In church? Even when it means laying down my pride or my com-fort?

• Am I encouraging others to serve?

• Is my WakeWell Chapter holding or helping out with service-oriented events?

• When people see me, do they see me serving myself or serving others?

DThe fifth value (and proudly representing the letter “G” in the BRIDGE acronym) is GOSPEL: “The most important thing in our lives is the Good News; we readily share that message of hope in our words and deeds.” We believe the message of Jesus dying for the world’s sins to restore a right relationship with God is the most pressing and im-portant story ever told. It is this story and the power of the Holy Spirit that has radically changed our lives and is what spurs on every disciple of Jesus. So ask yourself (and others):• Do I really believe this mes-

sage is of utmost impor-tance?

• Do my actions reveal this heartfelt conviction?

• Am I eager to tell people this GOOD NEWS or am I afraid that I may lose friends for opening my mouth?

• Did I share my testimony with any of my friends this season? Have I shared at an WakeWell meeting?”

GThe sixth value is ENGAGING: “Through building trust and rapport in both communities, the non-believing wake cul-ture and the Body of Christ, we desire to facilitate introductions, interactions, and relationships between the two. Connecting riders to the body of Christ and helping the body of Christ to en-gage with the unreached wake culture.” We must constantly be aware of the B.R.I.D.G.E. we are building. What two things are we attemtpting to connect? For WakeWell Chapters it is our goal to connect the wake culture to Jesus while partnering with the local church. But if you aren’t careful, you might end up build-ing a bridge that leads back to yourself, or leads to nowhere at all. Ask yourself (and others): • Where am I leading people

to? • When was the last time I con-

nected people from the wake culture and the church?

• How can I be a better ambas-sador of the church in the wake culture, and a better ambassador of the wake culture in the church?

E

52

9.2 Partnering with the Local ChurchWhen two groups, “partner,” they connect and agree to work together to achieve some end or goal. Within the context of pursuing wake ministry, connecting to and working with the local church is absolutely critical for every WakeWell Chapter. If you are not working closely with the local church, you are ultimately building a bridge to nowhere.

In this section, we want to offer some practical advice for how to effectively partner with the local church as well as discuss some unique elements associated with this part of the bridge.

9.2.1 What Does Partnering Look Like?

In an ideal situation, what should the relationship between your WakeWell Chapter and the local church look like? What are you aiming for?

• You plug new and old believers that need a faith community into the local church.• You serve the church with your time, gifts, manpower, and financial resources. (Building a trust-

ing relationship takes time. We need to show that we’re not only in this to receive!)• The local church supports your ministry by supplying things such as a physical location to hold

events, volunteers, and accountability with church leadership.

PHASE-4

LEAD

53

9.2.2 The General Strategy The general strategy is this: actively seek to partner with your own church (and those of your fellow leaders) first and then branch out to the other churches in your community.

Now how does this partnering business work? How do you go about effectively connecting with the local church and getting support for your ministry for the long haul? The basic ideas are summed up in this handy acronym: C.H.U.R.C.H.

Credibility HumilityUnrelenting service RelationshipsCommitmentHype the vision

54

UNRELENTING SERVICE: This is arguably the most im-portant ingredient. The wake culture is pretty selfish. Every-one inside the culture is already aware of, and thus everyone on the outside looking in at us will eventually realize how selfish we are if they look long enough. Therefore if we want to stand-out from the wake culture we need to act counter-culturally. The idea boils down to this: pursue service opportunities individually and as a WakeWell Chapter as much as you reason-ably can. There is probably no better way to turn heads and gain favor for your ministry than constant service.

CREDIBILITY: If you’ve been around WakeWell long enough, you’ve probably heard someone use the phrase “shred ability = credibility” (see Brah-verb #9 in the appendix). The idea is that you can gain relational credibility with other rid-ers if you can shred really well. That is, if they are impressed by your ability, it might be easier to strike up conversations with other riders.

The same general princi-ple applies to churches: you need to build credi-bility with local churches, starting with your own, if you want them to partner with your wake ministry. Achieving credibility, then, should be your overar-ching goal as you work to partner with the local church goal. The remain-ing acronym letters focus on ways to build credibili-ty with the local church.

HUMILITY: Cultivating humility in one’s character is absolutely essential for a Christian. Consider some of the things scripture says about humility: “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” (James 4:6); “Be-fore destruction a man’s heart is haughty, but humility comes before honor” (Proverbs 18:12); “The reward for humility and fear of the Lord is riches and honor and life.” (Proverbs 22:4); “He [God] leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way” (Psalm 25:9).

In the context of gaining cred-ibility with the local church, it should not be surprising that hu-mility is also important. Nothing turns people off like an arrogant, proud person who thinks he has it all figured out. But if other Christians recognize that you have a humble character, they will be more willing to work with you and support you. This, in turn, will open doors.

Although the cultivation of true humility takes lots of prayer, hard work, and time, don’t let these things keep you from start-ing the process right now! It’s too critical to pass up.

PHASE-4

LEAD

C H U

55

RELATIONSHIPS: This is a no brainer: no partner-ing will occur without relation-ships. We covered this topic in section 5.3, but let’s briefly recap what we suggested there. The basic idea is this: make sure to develop strategic relationships with leaders in your church who have the authority to approve your plans for partnering with their church. Then, network through those relationships to reach other local churches.

COMMITMENT: You need to be committed to your local community and your ministry in order to expect change. You also need to be committed to your local church and, to the extent that you can, the other churches in your com-munity. Commitment to your church (and the local church in general) involves maintaining a “plugged-in” status, continued service, and the further develop-ment of the relationships you’ve built and are currently building.

HYPE THE VISION: As you develop your strategic relationships and begin to share your passion for wake ministry with church leaders, we strong-ly encourage you to focus on hyping your vision for wake ministry in your community (and how that fits into the bigger vision for ministry that WakeWell has). Remember “passion breeds passion.” If you’re hyped on what God is doing, chances are good that someone else will be too!

WARNING: One way to damage your credibility with a church is to waltz in and start asking for stuff: “Can we use this? Give us volunteers! Will you please give us some cash?” If you begin by emphasizing what you need from the church, you run the serious risk of seeming like a par-asitic ministry (i.e., a ministry that merely wants to mooch on the re-sources of the church without giving back). Consequently, don’t start out asking for things from your local churches. Instead, focus on your vision and how you can help the church. If church leaders get stoked on your vision and your service to the church, they will approach you about how they can support your ministry.

When you finally get to those important conversations where church leaders are asking you what their church can do for your WakeWell Chapters, we recommend the following tips: (1) avoid asking for financial support right away; wait until you’ve thoroughly developed a strong relationship over a long period of time; (2) focus on ways to incorporate the church and its members into your events. For exam-ple, ask if you can host an event or bible studdy at the church.

R C H

56

9.2.3 Potential Roadblocks Connecting with the local church is not always easy. There are a few different things that can prevent Christians from taking your wake ministry seriously. But the more you are aware of these potential roadblocks, the better chance you have of overcoming them.

1. Sounds Like a Vacation: Wake ministry sounds like an oxymoron to a lot of churchgoers. This is because Americans tend to associate wake sports with recreation, wealth, and vacation. This association can cause some Christians to think that your aspirations for wake min-istry sound like a clever excuse to be on a perpetual vacation. Should you find yourself faced with this type of attitude, we recommend the following strategy for overcoming it. First, emphasize that wake ministry utilizes wake sports as tools to achieve the end goals of making followers and disciples of Jesus Christ. For WakeWell, wake sports are not ends in themselves. Second, to the extent that you can, demonstrate the specific needs of the wake community in your area. Odds are the punk kids that are always getting in trouble are riders. Find ways to demon-strate that the riders in your area are hurting, that they are real people with real needs, that they are someone’s children, and that they are in dire need of Jesus.

2. The Flakey Culture: Fact: wake culture is flakey. The people are flakey, the styles are flakey, what’s hyped is flakey; everything is flakey! There is very little loyalty between riders and companies, companies and employees, and customers and companies. Even the jobs are seasonal. So a lack of commitment is embedded into the culture. As a result, many of the people who are interested in wake ministry tend to be flaky. One day they are stoked on reach-ing fellow riders for Jesus, then the next day they are moving to Cali to live on the beach. Many churches in lake communities are well aware of the flakey nature of the shred culture and the Christians within that com-munity. Thus when you try to partner with a local church, the church leaders might think that you will not last a year or that they will never hear from you again. If this is the case, they will be unlikely to support you (well, they might give you a pat on the back and a thumbs up as they show you the door). After all, why should they pour resources into your ministry when they are not expecting it to last? Unfortunately, there is no quick solution to this problem because the solution is time! In essence, you overcome this worry of the church by proving that this initial concep-tion of your ministry was wrong. If you are still there after one year, two years, etc., and still going strong, churches should start to take notice. This will open doors for you. But time requires commitment. You must be committed to your community for the long haul if you want to see results.

PHASE-4

LEAD

57

3. Weary and Over-stretched Churches:Churches are constantly bombard-ed by other ministries that want all kinds of things from them: money, access to the congregation on Sunday morning, volunteers, use of church facilities, etc. Thus, it is not surprising that churches can be fairly guarded when you show up asking for support. Churches get burned by other ministries from time to time and they do not want to waste their resources on min-istries that are going to burnout or that could be dangerous to the health of the church. An obvious way to avoid this issue is to network through pastors and other connections you have at your local church. These contacts can vouch for your character and the quality of your ministry to other pastors in the community. But what if your own church is skeptical of your ministry aspira-tions with WakeWell or you lack good networking connections? The solution: keep hammering on an important theme of “service”— and lots of it. Remember, people ask for and want things from churches all the time. If you want to turn some heads, show up on a church’s door-step and find out how you (and your WakeWell Chapter) can serve that church. It will speak volumes.

4. Jealous ChurchesOne potential danger of adopting the general strategy we suggested for partnering with the local church is that it can breed “jealous churches.” If you focus too much on partner-ing your ministry to one local church, other churches might start to view your WakeWell Chapter as an extension of that church. Since they view your group as a facet of another church’s ministry, they might be less inclined to partner with you. Although these attitudes are wrong, it is a genuine possibility you could face because we live in a sinful world where even well intentioned Christian make mis-takes. The obvious antidote to this issue is to avoid focusing too much on your local church for too long. If you spend a year or two only work-ing with one church, you’ve increased your risk of having to deal with jealous churches. So even though it’s usually best to build a solid relationship with your own church first, be intentional about branching out as quickly as possible. Another way to reduce the probability of dealing with jealous churches is to have fellow leaders that attend different churches. Since each of you should be working on trying to partner with his or her own church, you nat-urally have more diversity in your church relationships. Finally, be sure to communicate to your local churches that WakeWell’s goal is not to “steal members” or to “start a new church.” WakeWell seeks to partner with and serve the local body of Christ. We are a community project.

58

9.2.4 Accountability with the Local ChurchWakeWell requires all of its groups to have some form of accountability (the specific details may vary). One avenue for accountability is with the local church and, in particular, church leaders. In this section, we want to briefly discuss the purpose of accountability, what accountability with the local church generally looks like, some of its benefits, and how to go about setting it up.

PURPOSE: To help your group stay committed to its specific goals and the broader goals of WakeWell.

ACCOUNTABILITY UNPACKED:• You must have at least

one church leader who is willing to hold your group accountable. We recom-mend, however, that you shoot for two or three.

• You should meet with your accountability lead-ers at least three times a year (beginning, middle, and end of the season). If your accountability team is open to it, feel free to meet more frequently.

• Every year, your leader-ship team should provide your accountability team with a list of specific goals and plans for the new sea-son. You’ll also need to ex-plain how these goals and plans fit within the broad-er vision and mission of WakeWell. Assuming your accountability team signs off on what you present, their job is now to check up on you (during your regular meetings)in order to provide and assess progress, advisement, encouragement, correc-tion, etc.

BENEFITS:• It should impress church

leaders to see that you (and your leadership team) have the foresight to set up and seek accountability. At a minimum, it shows them that you mean business! And this can only help you in your efforts to partner with the local church.

• Mentoring from smarter, wiser individuals.

• Having an accountability team significantly decreases the possibility of your leader-ship team making a poor de-cision (for a real life example, refer back to Josh Stock’s story in section 8.1).

• It can be used to help avoid the “jealous church” road-block (see section 9.2.3) If you pursue accountability team members from differ-ent churches.

HOW TO SET ONE UP:• Pray (and think) about who

you should ask to join your accountability team.

• Approach the church leaders that you feel lead to ask.

• Make sure to clearly outline expectations (time commit-ment, responsibilities, etc.).

• Stress that serving on the accountability team requires a minimal time commitment. Remember, church leaders are generally very busy peo-ple!

• Set your first meeting if they agree to join the accountabil-ity team.

PHASE-4

LEAD

59

9.2.5 Doctrine and the Local ChurchWakeWell seeks to partner with local churches that agree with our statement of faith (see section 2.3.2). We hope the reason for this is obvious: even though the Mormons are nice, we don’t want to plug rideres into the Church of the Latter Day Saints because their beliefs don’t line up with ours!

With that in mind, WakeWell’s statement of faith is designed to “major on the majors and minor on the minors.” That is, we care a lot about the major Christian doctrines (the Trinity, the incarnation, the resurrection of Christ, etc) but not the minor ones (infant baptism, the age of the earth, etc.). By refraining from taking a definitive stance on less substantive issues, we hope to partner with more local churches than we would otherwise be able to. This, in turn, allows us to be more effective min-isters of the gospel, which is the most important thing for us. If you are unsure about which issues are major vs minors, just ask yourself the question “Does this issue effect salvation?” If it does, then consider it a major issue....or you can always con-sult your National Director.

In the event that someone (or some church) wants to know why WakeWell does not take a stand on a certain doctrinal issue, we hope that the reasoning above will satisfy his or her curiosity. In the unlikely event that someone within your WakeWell group (leader, worker, or participant) or a church you are partnered with takes issue with WakeWell’s statement of faith (or general ap-proach to doctrine), get in contact with your local WakeWell director and explain the situation.

9.2.6 Community PrayerIf the history of WakeWell has taught us anything, it’s that community wide worship sessions are often attended poorly (though this isn’t always the case). We suspect that the differences in worships styles and preferences make collective worship sessions for the whole community difficult.

Another option is to try pursuing community prayer events. We believe that you will see greater participation at this type of event. Plus, prayer is powerful and effective; you can never get enough prayer.

This touches on a general idea worth considering: use your ministry with WakeWell to encourage the collaboration of local churches within your com-munity. Sometimes, a town’s church community can be disjointed and segregated by things such as doctrinal commitments. As a result, the church-es don’t work together for the benefit of the local community. Encouraging churches in your com-munity to participate in events like “pray for riders night” is a good way to combat ecclesiastical segregation and encourage a spirit of cooperation.

60

10.1 Leaders and Workers“The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers in his harvest.” – Jesus (Luke 10:2)

Lord willing, your WakeWell Chapter will grow to the point where it is too large for you and your leadership team to do all the work. When this happens, it’s time to get help. If you don’t, you and your fellow leaders will inevitably burnout.

One tempting solution to lessen the workload is to expand your leadership team. This, however, is not the way to go! If you make your leadership team too large, you run the se-rious risk of rendering it ineffective. It’s a lot harder for ten people to agree on a decision than just three or four. Instead, we recommend finding “workers” for your group. Consid-er, again, the leaders and workers chart:

10. The Kitchen Sink This section of the Handbook is concerned with a wide variety of issues relevant to the long-term development of your WakeWell Chapter.

WORKERS• To share in the work of the ministry• To own, implement, and communicate the

vision of the group• Be responsible for personal discipline• Administer and organize life• Be a servant to the individuals in the group• Position of influence• Responsible to give an account to God for

their life• Encourage and motivate individuals to a

given end• Is involved in outreach• Recognize shredding as a tool for building

relationships and sharing the gospel• Befriend/witness-to/disciple riders

LEADERS• Equip believers to do the work of the min-

istry• Discern and communicate vision for the

group• Be responsible for group discipline• Administer and organize the group• Be a servant leader and shepherd the group

as a whole, especially the workers• Position of authority• Responsible to give an account to God for

the group• Encourage and motivate the group to a

given end• Is involved in outreach as well as coaching

workers in outreach• Able to teach others to recognize and use

riding as a tool for building relationships and sharing the gospel

• Disciple workers

PHASE-4

LEAD

61

A worker’s primary role is to share in the work of the ministry. In ad-dition, workers need to understand the heart behind the vision and mission of WakeWell. Since they will have a position of influence over the local riders they’ll interact with, it’s critical that they whole-hearted-ly embrace the vision and mission. Workers also need to recognize that they represent Jesus and WakeWell in everything that they do.

One of your goals as a leader is to find committed Christians to be workers for your group. It is important to pray about this. Ask God to give you discernment about which individuals you should approach. Or, if the pool of potential candidates is lacking, petition God to send workers your way. If you approach someone about becoming a worker, make sure to clearly communicate the responsibilities and expectations. You should, moreover, only ask someone to make a commitment to serve for one sea-son (or the remainder of the current one). If things go well, definitely invite them to serve again next year! Make sure you secure a willing commitment. Finally, when you do get a commitment, be sure to give the worker full own-ership of his or her role. A final point of consideration: Occasionally, you will get a worker who turns out to be a bad egg. We have learned the hard way that hesitating to release such individuals leads to negative consequences. For exam-ple, a bad team member can easily disrupt the unity and collaboration of the team. Thus we encourage you to get the axe out early when it’s obvious that someone is not working out. But always make sure to consult your local WakeWell director and to pray earnestly about the situation before taking this course of action.

62

10.2 S.M.A.R.T. GoalsOne important tool for successful ministry is the setting of goals. Giving you specific things to strive for, goals allow you to use your time and energy more efficiently. Thus it is highly recommended that each WakeWell Chapter set goals every season. But not just any old goals! Seek to make your goals S.M.A.R.T.:

Specific - Could this goal be broken into smaller goals?Measurable - What metric will be used to determine progress?Attainable - How would one know when this goal is accomplished?Realistic - Is this goal reachable with my current resources in the time allotted? Time-oriented - When should this goal be accomplished?

Write them down and keep them in mind throughout the season. When the sea-son is over take some time to review how and why these goals were or were not accomplished.

1.2.3.4.5.

PHASE-4

LEAD

63

10.3 Donor Relations 101Depending on your country’s laws, it may be possible for your WakeWell Chapter to fundraise. This is the case in the USA, for example. Before you attempt anything remotely resembling fundraising, however, you must get in contact with your local WakeWell director. Your director will be able to walk you through all the legal stuff. Failure to comply with this requirement could result in very serious legal ramifications for your WakeWell Chapter.

Now, let’s say that God has blessed you with a number of donors. The question now is: What do you do with them? Here are some absolute essentials.

CONSTANTLY THANK: We cannot emphasize this enough. It is absolutely crucial that you thank your donors on a consistent basis. You need to show them that you really value their support. We recommend having at least three “thank-you” points of contact. This can be via phone, personal letter, email, etc.; whatever it takes for you to get the message effective-ly across. The more personal, the better.

COMMUNICATE: Donors expect to be kept in-the-know in return for their financial support; they want to know what their investment in your ministry is accomplishing. This can be done many differ-ent ways, but we recommend a monthly newsletter via email. (Mail Chimp is a great (free) tool for sending electronic newslet-ters) Regardless of the medium you use to stay in touch, make sure to discuss topics like finan-cial updates, results, future plans, testimonies, etc.

FOCUS ON CASTING VISION: Although there are obviously times to explicitly ask for finan-cial support, we encourage you to place your focus on your vi-sion for your local ministry (and how that fits into the broader vision, mission, and values of WakeWell). If donors buy-in to your vision for your community, they are more likely to continue supporting your ministry. We call this

DONORSHIP = donor ownership of WakeWell’s vision.

BEFRIEND: Donors are real people too! To the extent that you can, seek to befriend your donors (if you are not friends already). There are several reasons for doing this: (1) it demonstrates to your donors that you actually care about them and not just their money; (2) it will help you view your do-nors as real people rather than as cash cows; (3) most of your donors will be older and wiser than you, thus there is the po-tential to learn a lot from them; (4) donors who really know you well— probably because you went out of your way to befriend them— are more likely to sup-port your ministry in the future.

INVITE TO EVENTS: A great way to encourage donor buy-in is to invite them to your events. Let them see firsthand the fruit of your ministry.

64

10.4 “I’m Feeling Over It” (Advice for Discouraged Leaders) There will be times when you’re running a WakeWell Chapter that you’ll say, “This isn’t fun anymore,” or “I don’t feel God working in this,” or “What about ME?” or “No one is helping me, so maybe God is calling me somewhere else where things will be easier.” How should you deal with these thoughts and feelings?

• The first step is to realize that these thoughts and feelings are normal because ministry is HARD. Expect spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical challenges. Since the Bible speaks of the Christian life as a spiritual battle, hardship probably means you are doing something right. But don’t be discouraged; God has aptly equipped us to win!

• Pray that God would send encouragement and support. • Meditate on God’s word: “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105).

Sometimes what we feel is not in line with what God’s Word tells us. So listen to his Word and let it penetrate your heart.

• Ask God to help you learn from this trial. Although it isn’t easy, turn your hardship into a learning experience: “consider it pure joy, my [bros] when you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance” (James1:2-3)

• Seek counsel from close friends and your pastor.• Reach out to your local WakeWell director. He or she would love to support you in any feasible

way.• It is possible that the hardships you are experiencing are the direct result of spiritual warfare. As

the apostle Paul writes: “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12). Satan doesn’t like us getting in his business, so pray specifically for spiritual protection.

• Finally, it is important to keep in mind that it takes time to be effective in any community. And even after much hard work and toil, we don’t always get to see the direct fruit of the work God does through us, especially in a place as transient as the shred culture. But this doesn’t mean God isn’t using you right now, wherever you are.

PHASE-4

LEAD

65

10.5 Transitioning Out of WakeWell (and Dissolving a Chapter)If, for whatever reason, you’ve prayerfully decided to step down from your post as a WakeWell leader, your first step is to see if there is someone you can pass the leadership baton to.

If there is no other leader to immediately take your place, we ask that you petition God to raise someone up. It is our heart to see WakeWell stand out as a stable, committed cornerstone within the often flakey, transient snowriding culture.

If neither of the foregoing options are available and you still feel certain that it is time to transition out of your role as a WakeWell leader, contact your local director! Shutting down a WakeWell Chapter (or any organization or business for that matter) takes a little bit of paperwork. Moreover, specific procedures need to be followed if your WakeWell Chapter has monetary assets that must be redistributed. Your director will know what needs to happen (or will know where to find out) and will be able to walk you through the process and make sure everything goes in accordance with your country’s laws.

66

Appendix A:

WakeWell Brah-verbs

1. Ride not for thine own self, for it is better to ride for others. “Turn down the tunes, tune-in to your fellow passengers.”

2. “Hey dude, was that method whack? It felt whack.” Get a second opinion. Leaders MUST have someone who will mentor them in their faith and leader-ship.

3. If you’re not plugged into a local church or if you’re building relationships without sharing Christ, you’re a bridge to nowhere.

4. “Build up for yourself [coolness] in Heaven, for where your [coolness] is, there your heart shall be also” (Adapted from Matt. 6:20-21).The gospel of “cool” is not the focus. Just being a “good dude who fits in” isn’t the goal. We build relationships with the hope of sharing the gospel of Jesus with our friends.

5. Why do you look at the smudge on your bro’s boat when yours is filled with mud? (Adapted from Matt 7:3)

6. “Always be prepared to give an answer . . . for the hope that lives in you, but do this with gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:5). Creating a non-threatening environment to invite your non-believer friends to isn’t selling out if you’re intentional about sharing your faith.

8. Don’t just make disciples, make disciple-makers (2 Timothy 2:2).

9. Shred ability = credibility. Build credibility by working on your own shred ability (as a means to an end) for God’s glory, thus earning the right to share Christ with others. Be a good steward of what you’ve been given and use the hype of the culture for Jesus’ glory.

10. “Dude, WakeWell for life, bro! But I’m moving to Cali next week...” Have a committed team. Be sure to communicate expectations of commitment.

11. Persevere through dark days. Off-season days have less sunlight, less riding, and less fellowship.The same is often true spiritually. Stick it out, seek God, and let him work miraculously in your darkest times. The light is on its way! “We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endur-ance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope” (Romans 5:3-4).

67

12. Know the culture you are ministering to. Learn the lingo before you share your testimony thing-o. Don’t share your testimony in Ger-man if you’re ministering to Joe Cuba.

13. JESUS is worth talking about.

14. Live a No-Shotgun-Lifestyle. “Shotgun!” “Hey, Jonny, the first shall be last, bro; the first shall be last.” Live selflessly. Put others before yourself. Live the example. People will notice and ask why.

15. “Should I try it?” “I don’t know, you’ve only been back on the water for a week. I wouldn’t.” Make sure you stand on a solid foundation before you try it. Like low lake levels, if our faith is shallow, we run the risk of being banged-up by spiritual rocks and stumps. Pray and study the Word to increase your “spiritual depth.”

16. Check yourself before you wreck yourself. If our motives go un-checked, we can catch edges on the hype or fun-dimensional think-ing. Egdes hurts, so test your motives through prayer and the Word.

17. Selfless actions in a selfish culture stick out like a compound frac-ture. Serving builds scene cred. Serving builds church cred.

18. The water is NOT always smoother on the other side. In our atten-tion-deficit prone culture, there is a strong temptation to mosey on when things get slow, hard, or uncomfortable. But this is not how we are called to live.

19. Jesus’ job is change; ours is love. Love unconditionally. Love with no agenda other than, “This is how Jesus calls me to live.” True, self-less love speaks volumes about our integrity and the truth of Jesus’ life-changing power in our lives. But we aren’t responsible for chang-ing people. We’re just the messengers.

20. Name dropping? More like “lame dropping.” If we are finding our identity in the celebrity status of our friends or in the attention we get from bragging about our abilities, we’ve over-shot the landing, so to speak. Within the wake culture, this is taboo. Avoid it. You’re trying too hard.

68

21. Whether I ride on the calmest lake, at the sickest cable park , or make my bed in the world of despair, You are there. (Adapted from Ps. 139:8)

22. Never forsake the gospel for the sake of the bromance. Don’t shy away from telling your bros about Jesus. If you truly love them, you will share the truth with them.

23. The fool has said in his heart, “Ride now for tomorrow we die.” Life is more than riding, or partying, or fun-having. God has created us to do good works. (Adapted from Eph. 2:10)

24. The Gospel is not a suggestion. The gospel is a DEMAND from man’s Creator for sinners and shredders to be reconciled to Him through Jesus Christ.

25. “Bro, I just started snowboarding yesterday, but I think I’m learnin doubs today.” KISS: Keep It Simple, Son. Master the basics and “progress smartly”!

Appendix A: WakeWell Brah-verbs

69

Appendix B: A Sample Week of a WakeWell Leader

New WakeWell leaders will often ask their regional or national director something to the tune of, “Awesome . . . soooo, what am I actually supposed to do?” As a mission and values based ministry, it’s simple: start putting WakeWell’s values into action!

Here is a sample list of easy, realistic activities that you can do as a WakeWell leader each week. From our experience, a passionate and successful leader invests about 20 hours a week during the winter months. That might sound like a lot, but don’t worry: a lot of this time includes riding.

Note: What follows is just an example to get you thinking about how WakeWell’s values might inspire you to be the light of Jesus in your ride community. Every week and every location will have different needs, so some of this might not apply to your current situation.

Believing: • Attend church and invite others to

join you. [1.5 hours]• Daily/weekly personal devotions,

hanging out with Jesus (John 15:5). [2 hours]

Relationships:• Spend time each week intentionally

meeting new people and building new relationships: riding, hanging out at a shop, etc. (John 1:39). [4 hours]

• Cultivate current relationships (both church and shred relationships), and invest in potential leaders through activities like riding together or grab-bing lunch (John 1:43). [4 hours]

Identity• Meet weekly with fellow WakeWell

leaders to plan events, study the Word, etc. Keep the focus on Jesus and not just on being nice, cool guys and gals (Luke 14:28-33). [1.5 hours]

Doing• Make time to be a servant. Help a buddy

move into a new apartment, volunteer at church, or ride a rail you might not like very much in order to spend some time helping other people learn new tricks (Matthew 25:35-40). [2 hours]

Gospel• Living out the Gospel in word and deed

takes time. Stop and serve someone in their time of need. Also, don’t be afraid to share about Jesus with your mouth when it’s appropriate (Matthew 28:19). [1 hour]

Engage• Engage your wake community by meet-

ing physical and spiritual needs (Mat-thew 14:13-21). Invite shredders to your events or meet them at theirs. [4 hours]

70

AcknowledgementsMark HegerEmily HegerJeromy LeavelleAndrew DyrhoodBrandon DadyBlake HessChris CameronPreston Todd

Jake Christensen Max and Alyssa HibbinDick JacquinAndrew JonesNate JonesYvonne MayBruce NelsonRandy Schroeder Josh StockJess Wang

71

Add. Notes