Group shares Gospel amid ski culture

During this busiest week of the season at Whitefish Mountain Resort, a local Christian outreach ministry is going the distance to deliver the Christmas message — and plates of cookies — to resort workers.

Snowboarders & Skiers for Christ has been part of the ski culture in Whitefish for more than a decade. For the past several years one aspect of its ministry is delivering cookies to everyone who works at the resort, from housekeepers to “lifties.”

Tucked in with the goodies is a note of thanks and the Gospel boiled down to its essence: “Jesus loves you.”

Bringing a message of hope and salvation during the hectic week between Christmas and New Year’s Day is one way Snowboarders & Skiers for Christ engages those within the ski culture through genuine, loving, Christ-centered relationships. Doing selfless acts for others as they share the message of God’s love is part of the mission.

As with all of the group’s outreach projects, the cookie ministry is a partnership with local churches. Volunteers bake hundreds of cookies that are delivered by outreach volunteers. The cookie project began about eight years ago when goodies initially were handed out to the lift operators. It kept expanding until organizers realized “this is a full-on mission,” according to Scott Marksbury, a member of the group’s local leadership team.

“Our mission is being a light in the mountain culture,” Marksbury said.

Snowboarders & Skiers for Christ is an international organization that began in New Zealand. The second chapter was started in the ski town of Fernie, British Columbia. That’s where Jake Christiansen and Yvonne May of Whitefish, Northwest directors for the organization, first got involved with Snowboarders and Skiers for Christ.

The couple felt led by God to move to Whitefish in 2003, and soon after that began the Whitefish chapter of Snowboarders & Skiers for Christ. The group has held a variety of outreach activities through the years, including a dodgeball tournament in 2006 that drew close to 1,000 people.

Another early activity was a snowmobile jump competition in downtown Whitefish with what Marksbury recalls has “an amazing set of ramps.”

The group held a rock, paper, scissors tournament at one point and served Christmas dinner to the Whitefish Mountain Resort staff for a few years.

“All chapters look a little different” in the way they reach out to skiers and snowboarders, Christiansen said, noting the Spokane chapter gives underprivileged city youths rides to ski resorts.

Marksbury added: “They reach out to give them a year-round outlet to be involved in a positive environment,” he added.

Each activity aims to share the Gospel message in a loving environment.

“Skiers and Snowboarders for Christ is a bridge between the church and the community,” Marksbury said.

For several years volunteers have grilled hot dogs and served them to participants and others involved in the annual Nate Chute Classic, a longstanding snowboard event that raises money for a foundation that supports troubled teens.

Marksbury recalled how the crowd at the popular snowboard competition was a bit skeptical at first about Snowboarders & Skiers for Christ, but he has talked to ski patrollers who have observed how the service project has been accepted through the years.

Now, as the resort’s event director announces “there’s Jesus and hot dogs over there,” “it’s a fun thing, not a mocked thing,” he said.

“I’m an actual product of SFC myself,” Marksbury said.

An former atheist with roots in Ohio, he met Jake and Yvonne in 2006 at a low point in his life. He was recently divorced at the time and his sons were ages 7 and 14. He struck up a conversation with the couple and learned the ministry was operating a “Wax Shack” at the Whitefish Church of the Nazarene where skiers and boarders could go and watch ski movies while having their equipment waxed.

“I would say Jake and Yvonne were the first people I had experienced who displayed Christ’s love,” he recalled.

Both Marksbury and his wife, Nicole, are actively involved in the outreach ministry.

“It’s reaching out in whatever way you can,” he said. “There are a lot of misconceptions about the church. There is a lot of bad done in the name of Christ.”

And, he added, “There are a lot of people in love with religion,” but not necessarily in love with Christ.

By cultivating genuine, loving relationships and reaching out with selfless acts of kindness, the ministry aims to fulfill its mission of being “a light on the hill.”

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.