Christian surfers hit Devon waves for national conference

|PIC1|More than 140 surfers from across Europe hit the waves in North Devon last weekend for the 14th Christian Surfers UK National Conference.

The three-day gathering was truly European, with a contingent of more than 20 from Holland, eight from Ireland, and others from Jersey and across the UK. Some even came from as far afield as South Africa and Australia.

Key speaker was Andrew Carruthers, who used to run a Christian Surfers local group in his home town near Brisbane, and was formerly Christian Surfers Australia head before taking on the role of Asian Pacific Director.

Four sets of worship musicians had the marquee rocking Top class worship was provided by 4 sets of worship musicians, whilst the stories and testimonies that were shared throughout the weekend were "inspirational" and "very much looking at taking smaller steps for God, in order to make big decisions", says Phil Williams, head of Christian Surfers UK.

"Everyone present were impacted in some way, and took away a real positive attitude to do something different for God when they go back to their home areas," he said.

During the weekend, participants shared their testimonies of how God is using surfers to reach out into their community. The weekend provided the opportunity to meet many surfers who had made commitments as a result of God's working in Christian Surfers over the last year.

"Very exciting," commented Williams. "There are more than 400,000 surfers in the UK and Ireland - a huge mission field!"

Saturday night saw a private premiere of 'Walking on Water', a new surfing faith flick about two kids who embark on the surf trip of a lifetime. The movie features three-time world champion surfer Tom Curren, teen shark attack survivor Bethany Hamilton and pro surfers the Hopgood brothers.

A public premiere of the film will take place on 1 July at the Creation Fest free music and skate festival in North Devon.

Also on Saturday night, the 'Chris Scott memorial trophy' was awarded to Oli Salisbury for 'Outstanding contribution to the work of Christian Surfers over the last year, and the 'Ben and Martyn memorial trophy' was awarded to Christian Surfers East Wales.