It wasn't long until the desire of a student who wanted to be obedient to God's design for him materialized into his friends coming out week after week to skate, hang out, laugh, listen to music, eat pizza and have meaningful conversations with volunteers and fellow students who loved God and people. Hang Time was fulfilling its purpose.

A Volunteer Leader Named Larry

Larry was our behind-the-scenes guy. He loved doing things that enabled those "up front" to share Jesus with the skaters. He did things like set up and tear down skate ramps each week, stirring large coolers of refreshments, ordering and picking up pizza and snacks, and anything else that needed to be done behind the scenes so the skaters not only felt welcome, but also knew their presence was important to us!

Halfway through the evening, we'd take a break and everyone would gather around the "fun box," which was the best ramp we had and the center point of the ramp configuration. At the fun box, I gathered everyone to do the one "spiritual" thing we did at Hang Time - ask God to bless the food (free, because God's love for us is free!).

As the weeks went on, I started asking if any of the skaters had any prayer requests they wanted me to offer on their behalf before I gave thanks. One day, a skater mentioned his friend was in a serious car accident; another mentioned a sick friend. Before long, not only were we thanking God for food, but also bringing requests to Him on behalf of others.

It was cool because it gave me an opportunity to say, "You know, I'm more than happy to talk to God on your behalf, but you know what? You really don't need me to do it. You can do it on your own." The early seeds of God's desire for relationship were being planted in the minds of our skaters.

Once a quarter, we brought in some bands, hold a competition, do demos, or whatever we could think of to take Hang Time to another level. We always promoted the event in advance, billing it as someone who would share his or her life-change story.

At one event, we brought in some Christian pro-skaters who were in our city that week for a show at the civic center. They had heard about Hang Time and asked if they could come and hang out with the kids. That demo was when May 2004 became bitter sweet for me.

The pro-skaters did their tricks and jumps, which were amazing. They definitely had the attention of the Hang Time crowd. Then the leader of the skate troop asked everyone to gather around the fun box and have seat on their boards. I looked around the building; all the skaters were sitting down, listening to this guy who had grabbed their attention with his abilities. He went on to tell his story of faith, how he accepted Jesus' free gift of salvation. It was incredible to watch him be so candid with students who were able to relate to him. At the end of his talk, he said, "So, if any of you would like to know this Jesus I just told you about and invite Him into your life, just get on your board and ride to the middle!"