Chosen Part 2

Praise the Lord, Carmin and I finally met Matthew and his grandparents. We have been on the phone with Matthew’s grandmother (Pastor Trudy) for weeks trying to set up a time and place to be able to meet Matthew. We have been praying for Matthew with his grandmother (Pastor Trudy) and hoping we can get together and meet Matthew.

Matthew is a 17 yr old Skater who knows the Lord but has been hurt like many of us, by people in the church and from a ministry that gave him high hopes and then didn’t even contact him before or after they left to go back to their home headquarters, and Matthew never heard from them again.

Myself, Carmin, Matthew, Pastor Trudy and her husband George all met at Carmin’s cousin’s Pizzeria to eat some dinner and talk. We had some good conversation and ate some great food.

Carmin and I shared how we came to the Lord and some things we had been through in our personal walks with the Lord. We shared about what happened with a “ministry” that hurt us and controlled us, I shared about my homelessness, how another churched treated me because I was homeless, how Pastors knew I was homeless and they would look at watch and say “hey, I gotta go, I will keep you in prayer” and a few other things.

The point we were making to Matthew and the reason we shared what we shared with Matthew, was that there will always be a man, woman, church, ministry that will hurt you or let you down in some way or another …..  ”man” will always let you down. And that you cannot let that hinder or stop your walk and service to the Lord. We also reminded Matthew that Jesus LOVES him and Jesus will NEVER let him down or hurt him.

I then asked Matthew to take a walk outside to our car and I opened my trunk and took out my skateboard and let him ride it. He had work shoes on and did some tricks. He was laughing because he was having trouble because of his dress shoes. We talked about my board and then we went back inside, it was chilly and we wanted to head back into the Pizzeria. So we went back in, I had a cup of coffee and then we ended the night. We walked them to their car, gave them hugs and I gave Matthew my ministry card and our church card and invited him to our church. I also told Matthew that he is always welcome to stop at our house and if he was gonna hit the skate park down the road from us, to call me so we can hang.

Matthew seemed like he was listening and we hope & pray that what we said made sense to him and touched his heart to fully return to our (and his) Lord. We know it was all the words that the Lord gave us to share. And to think about it  now, the Lord allowed us to go through trials for just a time as this, to comfort those who are hurting, with the comfort the Lord has given us - 2 Corinthians 1:4

Please pray that Matthew will re-dedicate his life to the Lord. Also continue to keep Matthew and us in prayer, that this is the beginning of a close relationship with Matthew and his grandparents, that Matthew will be calling me and that we will get together a lot and skate together, and that I will be able to mentor (Disciple) him with the things of the Lord.

Joey & Carmin Basta

I Have Been Chosen!

A few days ago I was called by Toni of Christian Skaters International. This was a BIG surprise. I have never gotten a call like this before.

Toni started telling me about how a Pastor had gotten in touch with her regarding her grandson. Her grandsons name is Matthew and he is a 17 yr old skater.

It seems that Matthew is a Christian who is backsliden. Matthew was hurt which caused him to fall back to the things of this world. I believe most of us know what that’s like. I know I do!

Toni asked me to give the Pastor a call so I can set up a time where I could meet Matthew and love on him and for us to get to know each other.

I called the Pastor a few days ago and today she finally had a chance to call me back. We spoke for about a good 45 mins about whats going on with Matthew.

The Pastor said to me that she knows that I am the answer to her prayers. She has been praying for her grandson for a while now and she believes that God is gonna use me to mentor him and steer him back to the Lord.

This is so humbling to me, that the Lord, Toni and the Pastor would consider me … WOW! I am truly humbled.

I have never been asked to become a mentor. This is something new to me. I believe that the Lord has a plan to stretch me and grow me at such a time as this! (I have to be honest, I am nervous)

I am supposed to meet with the Pastor and Matthew at our local skate park down the road from our home, this Saturday (Nov, 6th 2010) to begin what the Lord has set up.

Please pray for me, that the Lord will give me the words to say, the wisdom to back off when needed and the knowledge to be able to mentor him. Pray that Matthew will be willing and have an open heart.

(I will be posting further reports of what is happening so you can continue to pray for us. I don’t write these post to boast of myself but to boast of the things of the Lord and what HE is doing!)

2 Skaters Enter the Kingdom!

A few weeks ago Carmin and I went to the Port Orange Family Days event here in Florida. We were involved with our Church to be a part of setting up at tent and talking to people about Jesus.

From time to time Carmin and I would take a break and walk around the area of the event. We handed out our Street Knights business cards to a bunch of skaters as we walked around.

The next day we headed back to our Church tent at the event. We were there for about 30 to 40 minutes. I had my skateboard leaning on the table and 2 skaters came right up to me and asked what we were doing and asked about my board. Carmin and I started to talk to them about the Lord and what HE has done for them.

It was amazing, they were so receptive and open to what we had to share with them. After our sharing, I asked them if they wanted to ask for forgiveness of their sins and accept the Lord ….. they said YES!

Carmin and I prayed with them and led them to the Lord. It was such an awesome feeling to be used by the Lord to bring these 2 young skaters to Jesus. Their names are Ky and Kyle, both 14 yrs old.

Since then Carmin gave them a call to see how they are doing and invited them and their families to Church.

Kyle unfortunately hurt his ankle skating and can’t skate for a while. We are praying for a quick recovery and healing so he can begin to skate again. And Ky’s mom says they are in the process of moving and that she doesn’t want him making any new friends.

Keep Kyle & Ky (Who are best friends) in your prayers. We know the enemy hates when someone gives their lives over to Jesus.

We will continue to reach out to Kyle and to continue to pray for him. We hope we see him come to Church one day.

(Please continue to partner with us in prayer, that we are able to continue to reach out to skaters. Visit our Help SKSM page to see how we need your partnership)

Evangelism Drive Thru

Acts of kindness and love was a way that Jesus connected with those He wanted to bring His message to.

Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance?- Romans 2:4 (NIV)

In this generation there seems to be a lot more self concerned people and to show this kind of love (Jesus Love) to someone you don’t know is a way that we ALL should learn how to live.

There are all kinds of ways to share Jesus, be creative. But when you do share Jesus, get out of the way and let the Holy spirit do the work on that person your sharing with. And remember, its the Holy Spirit that saves people, not YOU!

Here is a great way to spread the Love and the message of repentance of Jesus Christ.

His name is John

( NOTE: This blog is for my skate board outreach ministry. My heart is for skateboarders/youth, BUT I will NEVER deny the opportunity to talk to anyone about the Lord. This post is a non skater encounter. I will post on this blog ALL witnessing stories that happen on my journey.)

(This picture is of my prayer spot. To the left of the tree are benches where the men were sitting)

I woke up around 7:55am, got the crust out of my eyes and headed over to my prayer spot for a special day of a new outlook on Praising the Lord. No asking Him for anything, no requests, just 100% Praises to Him.

I parked my car and walked across the road to head towards my prayer spot. As I was walking I seen two guys drinking beer while sitting on a bench. One was an older white man around 50 yrs old or so, the other was a Jamaican man around 34 or so.

As I walked passed them I felt drawn to the the Jamaican man. When I walked by, him and I caught eyes and I felt some hurting spirit from the Jamaican man. I continued walking passed them to go to my prayer spot about 75 feet from them.

I got to my spot and started Praising our awesome, wonderful Lord. I tend to walk around a lot as I pray, or in this case Praise. I noticed that the Jamaican man kept looking towards me. He looked my way a few times while I was worshiping the Lord.

I  was praising the Lord for around 30 minutes when I received this overwhelming feeling to start praying for the Jamaican man. I stretched my hands towards him (he couldn’t see me, I was behind a tree blocking his view) and starting praying. As I was praying I once again received this overwhelming feeling that he was hurting and that a women left him. (Keep in mind that I never met this man or ever spoke to him)

I continued to pray for him and the Lord placed in my heart to go and speak to him. When I felt this feeling to go over to him I wasn’t ready for that. I was a little nervous to go over to him. I’m not some super evangelist and I still get nervous when I feel led to speak to someone.

Being a Christian who wants to be obedient to our Lord, I started walking towards him. As I walked I prayed, Lord…use me as a vessel and speak the words you want him to hear, through me.

As I was walking, I noticed the other man had left. The Lord had already set up our appointment to talk, just him (the Jamaican) and I. How amazing is our Lord.

As I walked up to him, he was listening to music on headphones, so I pointed to my ears and lipped ..“what are you listening to?” He took his headphones off and replied – I’m just listenin ta some tunes. My response was with a question – Oh, so your just chillin and relaxin and enjoying the day? That started our conversation. I asked if I could have a seat and he said sure.

He asked me if I wanted a beer. Of course my response was no. I asked him his name, and he said – JOHN, His name is JOHN. I told him my name is Joey and its my pleasure to me you. And I proceeded to tell John how I stopped getting drunk 12 yrs ago (I have been saved for 12 yrs now) and how the Lord took all that away from me. I continued to tell John how the Lord help me stop smoking weed, snorting cocaine and doing Ecstasy. So we went on and talked about how he wants to stop and that he tried but keeps going back. And then he told me how his wife left him … BAM! There it is … remember how I said earlier how the Lord put it on my heart that a woman left him. WOW!! …. Lord you are so awesome. He used to live in Florida and his wife still lives there. They are separated.

As John told me that, I felt that it was time to talk about Jesus. I asked John – have you ever heard of a man named Jesus? He said Yes. I then asked him – Don’t you call him Jah in Jamaican? He smiled and said yes. He told me some other names that they call Jesus that I can’t remember. I then talked about the Gospel message of repentance from sins and reconciliation to God and about faith. The words just flowed out of my mouth Thanks to our Lord speaking through me. I get NO credit!

We spoke for about 1 hour. I could see it on John’s face that he was feeling what the Lord was saying through me. He kept saying – I feel what your saying and he kept saying – Yes, Yes and nodding his head yes. I then I told him how the Lord told me to come over to him and speak to him, how I get nothing in the physical from talking to him. I told him – I’m not looking to take money from you, I’m not homosexual trying to hook up with you, I don’t have a Church that I want you to come to, so I am not talking to you to get something. After I said that his eyes opened and he said – yes, I see that, yes, yes. He could see that my heart was genuine and not out for anything.

When we were speaking The Lord once again put it on my heart to tell John that he needs to go back home as a NEW changed man and reconcile with his wife and share what Jesus has done for you. It was felt strong to tell John that. His face looked so concerned when I told him that. You can see that he missed his wife. I believe that his drinking and smoking weed was because of the emptiness he felt and the feelings of missing his wife.

I ended the conversation with asking John – would you like to repent of your sins and ask the Lord for forgiveness? I then said – we could do it now, together, or you can do it in a private time with just you and the Lord. John responded … I would rather just do it alone because I don’t want to say it then go back on my word, I want to think about what you have been saying. My response was – John, we aren’t guaranteed one second let alone another day. That he shouldn’t take a long time to think about it because there is an urgency. Then I asked if I could pray for him, he said yes.

I prayed for John and then told him how much Jesus Loves him and then shook his hand and gave him a card I have with my name and number on it and said if you want to talk more about what we spoke about or you need anything, please call me. And I left.

I am so humbled that the Lord would use me to be a vessel to do His work. Thank you Lord and Praise You Lord!

Please pray. Pray that he and I meet again, pray that he calls me, but most of all …. Pray that he makes that decision to repent, follow Christ and be saved.

His Name Is JOHN !!!

Another Encounter

Grace & Peace Skate Family …

Last night here on Long Island NY, I went for a walk in my area. As soon as I started walking I seen 2 skaters doing some tricks in an empty parking lot. Right away I went over to them and started a conversation with them. I introduced myself and told them I was a Christian. I never hide that I am a Christian. This is important so they don’t get mad and say I did a bait and switch kinda thing on them. So I am upfront and straight with anyone I meet. Their names are Pat (22 yrs old) and Chris (19 Yrs Old).

As we were talking I told them a little about myself and about how much I love skating. I told them that i’m not good because I just started playing around on a board. I can’t even do an Ollie yet, LOL. Anyway, we starting talking about how much I love skating and how much they love skating. We also discussed how many people don’t like skaters. I had to reassure them that what they do (Skate) is OK and there is nothing wrong about skating.

We continued the conversation with how I, Christian Skaters International, and other Christian skaters LOVE what they do. And how much we understand them and their love and passion for skating. Then I asked if they knew Christian Hosoi and Brian Sumner …. LOL they said … Ohhhh yaaaa, they rock !!! Gooooo Uprising !!

As we were talking, I invited them to the Greg Laurie Long Island Harvest 2009 event here at Jones Beach this Saturday and Sunday. I told them how it was FREE (Free admission, Free parking, Free BBQ, Free music) and they said wow Free, they want to go. Its my hope and prayer that they tell others and attend this event that Long Island has been waiting and praying for, and that we NEED here.

We also talked about how there is no place for them to skate here on Long Island. They said they wished we had a skate park here. My heart breaks every time I hear a skater tell me that. I feel as if I myself are letting them down. I want to start an indoor skate park out here So Bad, In The Worst Way !!! But I just don’t have the money to do it. Please pray for me i am a one man team reaching out to skaters in my area. My ministry is just me. Pray that the Lord will open doors for me to get the funds and find a place to open a skate park for these guys. Every state has at least 2 skate parks …. NOT here !! I know, that I know, that I know, if we had a park here …. hundreds of skaters would come and get to hear the Gospel message of Jesus Christ. (Sorry for going on, this is my passion)

After that, they said they had to get going and before they left I handed them a “Can You Do a 180?” Tract from SkateChurch. Those tracts are Great to reach out to skaters. I asked them – “read it with an open heart and let it speak to you”. They thanked me for it and said they sure will read it.

Its my hope and prayer that Pat, Chris and I will meet again soon and get a chance to talk about that tract and what it says in there. I hope and pray that I can walk them to Jesus to meet with Him to repent and be saved, Amen?

A Knight to the KING of Kings,
Sir Joey Basta
Street Knights Skate Ministry

The Uprising

Watch what these great guys of God are doing to reach Skaters all over the world. Dont forget to watch season 2 in October.

Follow Pastor Jay Haizlip, Christian Hosoi and Brian Sumner Born Again Pro Skaters as they comb skate parks, backyard pools, and other hangouts in an effort to spread the Gospel.

Committed to affecting the world around them, the trio shares their faith and hope with friends, drug addicts, even police. Misconceptions of Christianity will be shattered as their unconventional approach to modern day evangelism reaches across cultural boundaries.

Experience a journey of boldness and faith as lives are restored, people accept Christ, and fellowship abounds.

The UPRISING 2009
(Watch the season 2 sneak peak episode below and past episodes )

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1857649038?bclid=1815816515&bctid=19884469001

Is this an open door?

If I may, I want to be transparent with you. Recently I had some unfortunate happenings change my living arrangements.

I was forced to migrate from Long Island NY to Williamsburg Brooklyn NY. And this is where my question comes in. Is this part of our Lords plan for me, is this an open door?

I have been praying for direction from our Lord, to show me if He wants me to stay here in NY or move to Florida. As I have been here in Brooklyn, I have been asking our Lord … “Why am I here in Brooklyn.”

Just the other day, I went to the local post office to mail out a small claims court form to get my security back from my ex landlord who doesn’t want to give it back from me. At the P.O. I ran into a man named Dave on the line. We started to talk and his son and my nephew David were there and they both had their boards. Dave’s son Glen asked if my nephew David could go with him to this skate area called “Washington Park.” Of course I said YES!! When we got there there were only a few skaters. In a matter of 25 minutes, there were about 20 skaters there. I asked Dave’s son Glen … on a good day, how many skaters come here, he said about 60+.

Dave and I gave each other our phone numbers so we can stay in touch. Dave also gave me the number to his Pastor friend who has a Church near by. His name is Pastor Raymond. He said I should give Pastor Raymond a call. Just one day later, I received a call from … Yep, Pastor Raymond. He told me on the phone that he don’t know whats going on, but the Lord told him to call me and he thinks something is happening here but he don’t know what. He said he will be calling me this week to meet with me. I wonder where this is going !!

I will be going back to this skate area (its not a park with ramps,etc.) and bringing my Gospels of John with the skater on front (Found) along with some skater tracks (Can You Do a 180?) and with prayer asking for our Lord to give me favor with these skaters and become friends with them and earn trust with them so I can bring the message of repentance & hope to these skaters.

There is also a local skate shop named KCDC that has a mini ramp inside the shop. Its a cool place to hang and watch skaters ride the ramp and another place to bring the Gospel.

If am in need of Bibles to handout to any skater who accepts Christ. If you can donate some “Skater Bibles” to me that would be awesome. If you can help me with these Bibles, contact me @ (631) 220-2312  anytime so I can give you my mailing address.

Please keep me in prayer:

• That the Lord give me favor and the words to speak to these skaters.
• The starting of my skate ministry named – Street Knights Skateboard Ministry.
• I am studying for my Insurance license, pray that I pass so I can get business and fund my ministry.

Have a GODday Brothers & Sisters in Christ!!!

Manhattan Skaters

I had to go into Manhattan to visit my nephew Jayden in Beth Israel hospital. He had swallowed 2 pills for epilepsy. I am happy to say that he is fine and back to his bad self. Praise the Lord !!

I had slept over at the hospital to be by my nephews side and to keep my sister company.

The next day I had to move the car in the morning for about 1/2 hour so they can clean that side of the street. I had moved my car around the corner and I was sitting in my car to wait for 10 minutes to go by so I can put money in the meter at 8:30am.

While I was waiting I noticed 3 skaters riding there boards and doing tricks in a park that I had parked in front of (Talk about a divine appointment). I sat there a little while watching them attempt some tricks. And then a took a few pictures with my cell phone camera.

It was only about 10 minutes they were skating. They were skating before they headed off to school. As they were about to leave I asked to take a book of John with a skater on the cover that I had received from Pocket Testament league and asked them if they knew of a man named Jesus. All 3 said yes, but one said yes and then said he is a Muslim.

I asked them to read the book of John that I gave them and that it would tell them more about Jesus. It was a very short encounter but an awesome one and a chance to share with them the book of John and that is a chance for them to know the Jesus I asked them about.

Please pray for these 3 kids. I don’t know their names but that’s OK,  Jesus knows their names, Amen?

I LOVE to be used by our Lord, even if it was just for a few minutes. I am so humbled !!

P.S. I got so excited to go talk to those skaters, that I forgot to put money in the meter …. LOL, but the Lord gave me favor and I didn’t get a ticket before I got a chance to put money in the meter. Thank you Lord!

Have a GODday,
Joey Basta