INTRODUCTION
This month, we will highlight the work happening through SFC across Europe!
At the beginning of every season, the European Season Opener takes place. The event typically occurs in one of Austria’s beautiful ski areas. This event allows SFCers from across Europe to gather to encourage each other and prepare for the season. Only some people in Europe live in a ski town or ski area. Many people live in major cities but still identify with ski and snowboard culture and ride often on weekends. Ministry in the context of Europe can look different from the in the U.S. The Season Opener helps gather everyone together from their context for a time of equipping! There is also a Euro Season Ender to celebrate the end of ski season and all God did through SFC.
OUR FEARLESS LEADER
Cedric Leung is our incredible European Director. Cedric and his wife, Maria, live in Vienna, Austria. He helps equip and encourage SFCers, from indoor skiing in London to the slopes in France, the Alps in Austria, and even the Czech Republic! God is working, and the movement is growing! This season, Cedric took a time travel trip to France to help the SFC Group there and flew to the Czech Republic to help our sole Czech Individual, Libor Ousouch, run a Christian ski camp for youth.
LISA’S STORY
God often puts us in the right place at the right time because he knows what we need. Lisa was searching for a community in snow sports and heard about SFC through an announcement at an Unbound Snow camp. At the time, she was living in Canada. Shortly after, she returned home to Innsbruck, Austria, where she got connected to various churches and began seeking out other boarders and skiers. At one church, she met another girl passionate about skiing and outdoor adventure. She had been seeking a Christian community in the outdoors as well. The two started a WhatsApp group chat to gather believers together to shred! The group quickly grew to 70 people! One evening, a few people from the group were hanging out together and caught the eye of three other young adults in the area. The others asked Lisa and her group how they all knew each other. Lisa shared that they met through church, which shocked the onlookers. They commented that they didn’t even know that young people still attended church. This gave Lisa and her community a chance to share the importance of the gospel.
Lisa spent time with the other adventurous believers in the WhatsApp group and invited others from her church to the ski hill to be a light on the mountain for Christ. Between the group chat and her church community, she has vision and has made an effort to BRIDGE the outdoor and Christian cultures. Lisa is now working on forming a partnership with another extreme outdoor adventure Christian ministry in Innsbruck and they are working together to start an official SFC Group in Innsbruck!
STEPHANS STORY
Stephan grew up riding the Swiss Alps. Often, He could be found riding with his older brother, two childhood friends, and a few people from school. They loved to build jumps together and egg each other on as they tried new tricks. Stephan loved this crew’s encouraging and inviting environment on the hill. One day, someone from the group asked him to go to church. Stephan agreed to go, and while at church, he recognized many other guys with whom he had snowboarded.
Soon after, Stephan got involved in an annual SFC snowboard camp. He met a group of about ten guys who are still close friends. When he met these guys, he noticed something was different about them. They had a joy about them he hadn’t experienced before. They always rode together and had this unique way of enjoying the outdoors.
The SFC community drastically shaped Stephan’s thinking and how he lived his life. Even the way he thinks about sports has shifted. He lives with an attitude of “I don’t always know what God is doing. We will just have to see.” Stephan has now been involved in SFC for 20 years.