“God’s Grace: Ephesians 2:8-9 reminds us of another important truth: that salvation is God’s gift. I had sort of figured out that God did his part to bring me to the front of the door, but I thought from there it was up to me and my efforts to go on from there by being ‘good enough’. However, my efforts never seemed good enough. I was continually in a cycle of trying to measure up, falling short somehow, then feeling condemned and discouraged, As a result I saw God as hard to please. As I looked closer at what Jesus did on the cross, however, I saw that my relationship with God was based entirely on Christ. God is a loving Father who wants me to be with him.”

–Britt Merrick (This is an excerpt from the Surfers Bible.)

In 2002 we released the film The Outsiders and as we set out to premiere the film all over the world we did not realize the many places it would go and the people it would impact. Eric Zbaren from Switzerland was one of them. As Eric sat down to watch The Outsiders he was overwhelmed by the message and was encouraged to step out in faith and reach out to the fellow athletes in his community. It has now been six years and Eric is working for Athletes In Action, which is an organization that uses sports to share the Gospel Message of Jesus Christ throughout the world.

Through Athletes In Action and with Eric’s love for surfing, the Switzerland team is able to evangelize and fellowship with people in Switzerland who are fascinated with the sport of surfing. Each year Eric and their team host a surf camp near Hossegor, France. The 50 attendees drive over 14 hours to get there. But the Swiss do surf in Switzerland. They have a standing wave on a river and are very dedicated to the sport. We are encouraged and blessed to see God use Eric and Athletes In Action to bring people into the kingdom through sports and that we are able to take part in that!

We have received invitations from people all over the world who want us to come and show the Walking On Water surf movie. So we were not surprised when Eric and Steffi Zbären from Athletes In Action in Switzerland invited us to come screen the Walking On Water movie. As Bryan and Korin Jennings flew into Zurich, Switzerland they saw the beautiful Alps and were reminded of the ski and snowboard community there. Eric and Steffi and their local church did a great job praying for and promoting the Walking On Water outreach. The venue was packed out with over four hundred people in Bazel, Switzerland. Eric's team worked hard on a last minute translation of Walking On Water into German. Bryan Jennings shared the Gospel with Eric as his translator.

Surfers and non-surfers alike enjoyed the film and were very receptive and attentive. Afterwards many people came up to Bryan and Korin thanking them for coming and saying how much they loved the movie. One fourteen year old boy made sure to tell Bryan that it was his favorite movie ever. It was the first of hopefully many future international screenings of Walking On Water on the continued world tour. We want to say a huge "Thank You!" to Eric and Steffi and their team for being such wonderful hosts and we look forward to working with them again in the future!

This year marked our 5th trip to Japan and it turned out to be another amazing one! Each year God proves His love for the people of this unique and awesome country in different ways. Year after year the intentions of the trip remain the same, to come alongside Christian Surfers Japan (CSJ) and assist and encourage them in their full-time ministry. Our expectations were met and CSJ is stronger than when we first arrived because of God’s work through us.

There were so many new friendships made as we set out to get to know the surfers on the island. We were able to give out approximately 850 Outsiders DVD’s to Japanese people from all over Okinawa. We held a surf clinic where we taught 51 people from the ages of 3 to 65 how to surf. Our team also had the opportunity to show Heart of a Soul Surfer, a Walking On Water production based on the documentary of teen shark attack survivor Bethany Hamilton. In the four years we have held movie premieres in Japan this was our largest event outcome with nearly 200 Japanese in attendance! Last but not least we were able to set up a hospitality tent at the local surf contest where there were hundreds of people under the HOT Okinawa sun. At our tent competitors, staff, and spectators were able to cool down with ice water, and pick up a free Outsiders movie. Everyone was really grateful that we came there just to serve, and Christ's love was tangibly demonstrated.

On September 26-27, Walking On Water had the privilege of partnering with two Southern California churches to do evangelistic premieres of “Walking On Water”. On Friday, September 26th Gracepoint Church in Del Mar, CA hosted a premiere with live music by Three Time World Champion Tom Curren and his band the Noah’s. It was a great night and a number of people prayed to receive Christ after Walking On Water’s Director of Outreach Mike Doyle shared the gospel. The next evening on September 27th, Walking On Water did another premiere at Calvary Chapel Rancho Cucamonga. The event, which was sponsored by local surf shop Red E Surf, was a huge success with over 1,000 people coming out and dozens praying to receive Christ. Once again Tom and the Noah’s did an amazing job bringing down the house with their funk infused surf rock. We would like to extend a special thank you to all the people at Gracepoint Church, Red E Surf, and Calvary Chapel Rancho Cucamonga for working so hard on these awesome premieres.