“Testimony is the biggest tool to experience God for the first time,” Collin comments.
Collin grew up going to church with his parents. He attended youth groups, church camps, and VBS. “I even watched Veggie Tales,” Collin jokes. Though he went through the motions, Collin had no personal connection to Jesus. He thought that church was just the right thing to do, so he followed along with his family. He even got baptized in high school because it seemed like the next thing in line in church life.
In 2018, after graduating, Collin moved out of his parents’ house and stopped going to church shortly after. He didn’t see the need to and had no interest in it. “I was kinda Agnostic,” Collin explains. “I believed there was a God, but I felt like he was putting me through the wringer… a mysterious type of God.”
During Collin’s first few years on his own, he was interested in Jujitsu and loved training in the gym. He spent time observing many professional fighters and recognized that many of them were both disciplined and religious. Collin decided he wanted to search for a religion so he, too, could reflect the lifestyle of a pro-fighter. Collin found a podcast that interviewed ex-Special Ops military personnel who practiced Jujitsu. He said 9 out of 10 of the guys in the podcast mentioned their faith in Jesus. They all struggled with their mental health and talked about the hope they found in him. Collin’s mental health has fluctuated over the past five years, so he resonated with these veterans.
Last Christmas, he was driving home from his parents’ house and listening to an episode. A man named Eddy Penny was being interviewed. Eddy was an ex-Special Ops soldier with a wild testimony. After coming home from the field, Eddy felt purposeless and hopeless. He shared how Jesus saved him from that. Eddy now travels the world, sharing his story and the gospel at conferences. For Collin, Eddy’s story was the final straw. He wanted to follow Jesus, too.
Collin texted his only Christian friend from home and told him the news. He thanked him for being such an influence on his life. During this time, Collin met an SFC staff member named Josh in the back bowls at Copper. As many of you know Josh stands out in a crowd. He wears a yellow helmet, so you can’t miss him on the slopes. Collin had seen Josh out on the hill riding with other guys and passing out PB&J’s in the park. He met up with him one day and shared his testimony. Josh connected Collin to Andrew, a local SFC Leader who hosts men’s Bible Study called Bibles and Brews. Collin was grateful for the information, but three to four months passed without Collin doing much about his newfound faith. Snowboard season had ended, and mud season had begun. Collin felt low and purposeless. He spent much time on his phone and kept coming across Instagram clips about Jesus.
One night, when it was thunderstorming (a rare occurrence in Colorado), Collin went out on his porch and prayed. It was the first time he had prayed in four years. He asked Jesus not only to save him from his sins but also his mental health. He talked to the Lord about everything that had happened over the past four years. He decided it was finally time to reach out to Andrew about Bibels and Brews. Once he started getting plugged in, he didn’t stop. Collin then heard about everything SFC does through the Bible study. He began to understand what SFC was all about and got involved. He decided to attend SFC’s Southwestern Conference. While there, Collin realized SFC was a vast, global organization. Collin is now engaged in SFC and shares about the organization with many people. He even hosts wax nights for the SFC Summit Group in the gear shop he manages after hours.
“In a small town, it can be hard to get in touch with people,” Collin shares, “but it can also be easy. SFC is kind of a middle ground for that.” And that, friends, is precisely the mission of SFC: to be a light of Jesus in the ski/snowboard culture and to be a BRIDGE with the culture to Jesus Christ by partnering with the local church.