How God Turned Pain into Purpose for This Skateboarder
By Movieguide® Contributor
Skateboarder Kyle Brush explained how while he was living a life of pain and addiction, he encountered God and transformed his passion into a ministry for the gospel.
“I was drawn deep into this stereotypical skate culture which focuses on throwing yourself around on a skateboard, partying, you know, seeing girls,” Brush recalled. “And so, the good character that my parents had instilled in me was kind of stripped away by the people that I started surrounding myself with.”
During his senior year of high school, his girlfriend of only three months became pregnant, causing him to delve deeper into his destructive habits, like alcoholism. As Brush’s life deteriorated around him, his father helped restore his faith.
“Being the strong Christian man that he is, [my dad] pulled me aside and we sat on a piece of concrete and we just prayed that God would provide,” Brush said. “That was a moment where I saw a glimpse of, you know, God working behind the scenes and how He still cared for me.”
As Brush began to open his heart up to the Lord, his budding revival did not come up void, and he felt the Lord calling him to start a ministry centered around skateboarding.
“I felt the Lord trying to tell me something and over and over again. I heard, ‘Use the tools I’ve given you to further the kingdom,'” Brush said. “And as I prayed about it, as I thought about, like, what does that mean, as I continued to seek that as a baby believer, it became very clear to me that the Lord was trying to tell me to use skateboarding and use your ramp building abilities to tell people about me.”
Brush’s skateboarding ministry started in the parking lot of a church where he was given permission to set up temporary ramps. The ministry, however, grew incredibly fast, and by the winter, he had the support to pursue renting an indoor space. He found a 1,500-square-foot warehouse he was able to transform into a skatepark, but that quickly became too small. Soon after, Brush moved into a 7,500-square-foot warehouse, where his skateboarding ministry resides today.
“I have peace, I have joy, I have purpose. He’s definitely given me opportunities and things to do and to share the good news and share my story and testimony and share the Gospel,” Brush said. “The most important thing over the last 11 years is just messing around on this thing we call the skateboard and using it as a platform to share Jesus with people all over the world.”
He proudly declares he’s “Using skateboarding to share the Gospel and make Disciples all over the 🌎” in his Instagram bio, and his ministry recently opened a new skatepark.
“The South Haven Skatepark is officially open! I have dreamed about a complete rebuild of this park for years. Thank you to my hometown for entrusting me with the contract and thank you to my team for all the hard work to get it done. Go check it out!” Brush wrote.
Movieguide® previously reported on faith in the skateboarding world:
Teenage Canadian Olympic skateboarder Cordano Russell, shouted “Jesus is King!” on live TV before the Olympic Men’s Street Skateboarding competition July 29.
The enthusiastic athlete gives glory to God in all competitions, even when he fails.
“I find that getting back up from failure, getting back up in school, especially school, and then it’s just evident in every area of my life,” he said. “I definitely thank the Lord for skateboarding because it’s truly amazing.”
Russell believes that when he falls, it helps build perseverance.
“Paul Rodriguez put it this way: he said, you’re going to fall way more than you will land a trick. And that’s literal in skateboarding. You’re going to fall on that ground so much,” the 6’4″ skater said.
“But honestly, it creates in yourself this determination, this grittiness, this ability to withstand failure while still trying to go through and accomplish your goal,” he said.
Russell’s strong identity in Christ gives him confidence.
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