Faceplant Ministries

A brief history of the Ministry

When I was 10yrs old my Step-dad who raised my older brother and I passed away which totally threw our family into a tailspin. 6 months later my biological father passed away while we were visiting him in up state New York. My mother pretty much went into survival mode at that point and did everything she could to provide our basic needs but naturally could only do so much. After my much pleading she mustered up enough money and bought me a skateboard. From that point I found a new life. I found a culture that I related to and a physical outlet to express myself and my own creativity.    

   During my years in highschool there was a local skateboard ministry through the Medford Campus Life called "Campus Life Underground." They started with a few small ramps in their parking lot then moved and built more ramps in a donated warehouse for a short time. They required that everyone that skated had to sit through a Bible study and short sermon. That  ministry was personally very impactful to me and after a few years had passed, when I was 20, I was finally ready to give my life to Lord. I immediately started serving with the kids at Ashland Christian Fellowship and have been involved with youth ministry in some capacity for the last 25 years, ranging from Sunday school leader, to AWANA leader, to Junior high and eventually high school youth pastor and church elder. I have also become good friends with the leaders of multiple skateboard ministries and have been invited to come and teach during their sessions.

  Why start a skateboard ministry? Truthfully it started when I drove by the Domino's pizza on Crater Lake Avenue one day at the beginning of the school year during the lunch hour and noticed a large crowd of skateboarders hanging out in front. I prayed and wondered if there is any ministries focused on these kids today. I couldn't find any. 

 Not many days later I was sitting out in front of my house in the morning when I noticed a couple of high school kids that were walking to school throwing gravel at my trailer that was parked in my driveway. They ran off before I realized what they were doing. A few weeks later I was sitting out in front of my house again drinking coffee and reading the Bible in the morning when the same two kids came walking by. One of them looked both ways then proceeded to back hand the front headlight of my truck that was backed up into my driveway and started running off. Without thinking I jumped up and caught up with one of the kids, his buddy eventually looked back and saw that I had caught his friend. I motioned to the young man to come back and talk to me but he was hesitant. I finally told him "Man up, come back, and talk to me."

  With shoulders shrugged he came back. It was at that point that I felt an overwhelming feeling that I needed to "Bless these guys."

 I wasn't sure what I was going to say and all that came out was,"Do you guys like lattes?"

 They didnt know how to respond and were confused. They didn't even know what a latte was. So I explained what it was and asked if they drink coffee. They said they did. So I made a deal with them. If I made them both a latte to go, they would leave my stuff alone. They agreed and came back and waited  in my front yard and wrestled my dog while I made them the drinks. Once they had the drinks in their hands they let down their guards and opened up a bit about their lives. One of the boys actually walks all the way across town every morning just so he can go to North high. He usually stays at his cousins’ house and doesn’t really live with his parents because home life is pretty rough. After we talked for a bit they continued on to school. My heart broke for these guys and all the other kids in a similar situation that live around here.  

 So I called up Ken Pritchet (the guy who ran Campus Life Underground) and asked him what he’d do to reach these guys. He suggested getting a barn, a small warehouse, or even a garage and putting some ramps in it. I put his idea to prayer and figured I’d wait to see what the Lord wants to do. The next day I met my wife for lunch and on the way back I noticed the dilapidated gas station next to Black Bear Diner on East Barnett road. I found the owner and eventually worked out a deal with him to purchase it so I could start a skateboard ministry…As part of the deal, I agreed to lay the tile in his kitchen at his house. (We call that a ‘country’ deal)

The reason the gas station has been abandoned for so long is that ODOT land locked the property and won’t allow parking on the property. ODOT purchased the front part of the lot in 2005 to expand the Barnett overpass..

 We’ve had to jump through a bunch of hoops with the county and the city, but are able to use this property because of the nature in which we are planning to use it. When it comes down to it, the kids can just walk up or skate to the property if needed..

We’ll have sessions according to age and ability and like Campus Life and the other skateboard ministries I’m involved in, will be teaching the Bible and other discipleship and mentoring programs..

 We’ve already had multiple people and businesses donate time and money helping clean up all the garbage and refuse inside and out. The property has been pretty hammered over the years by the homeless and addicts. We’ve had to clean up a lot of drug paraphernalia as well as other unsightly objects.

All in all the project is coming together relatively quickly. We have stamped, engineered plans to raise the ceiling to fit some ramps inside, and permits are in process. The next step is getting the survey completed and erecting a rod iron fence around the property.

Eventually we plan on building a covering for the front lot and expanding the skatepark out front. Oh, and serve lattes too….

Adam Pearson (Founder)