Livin' It Ministry Opens Evangelism through Entertainment
Stephen Baldwin helps the Livin’ It Ministry take a teenager pastime and turns it into the future of street evangelism.
When Christians gather, they can usually expect to experience two things: a biblically centered message and worshipful music. But to reach out to the teenage audience, one ministry is making skateboard and BMX bike stunt performances almost a staple to Christian events.
With the help of actor-turned-youth-evangelist Stephen Baldwin, the Livin’ It Ministry takes a teenager pastime and turns it into the future of street evangelism.
"Skateboarding and BMX is great entertainment that gets kids in to hear our message," said Livin' It skateboarder Elijah Moore, 25, according to Newsday.com. "That's how we lure them in. God gave us the talent so we could preach the gospel."
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Currently, Moore is on board with the 2005 Livin' It tour, which has recently been showcased at several notable Christian gatherings this month including Kingdom Bound in Buffalo and TD Jakes’ Megafest in Atlanta. The events had audiences totaling 63,000 and 100,000 respectively.
The tour is based on the "Livin' It" DVD featuring skateboarders and BMX bikers using their talents to send a Gospel message. With already 100,000 copies sold, the DVD is a product of a partnership between Baldwin's 20 years of film making experience and Executive Producer Kevin Palau of PalauFest Productions, a ministry of the Oregon-based Luis Palau Evangelistic Association.
"We're changing the way kids think about their faith," Baldwin shared to the Christian Broadcasting Network. "We're saying you can be a person of faith and still be edgy and still be hardcore. All the Lord wants us to do is stop sinning, bro, that's it."
Several evangelistic and corporate partners including Teen Mania, Compassion and Youth for Christ have joined the "Livin' It" distribution.
Baldwin is currently completing the production of the second "Livin' It" DVD and working on bringing Livin' It Christians skaters' clothing line to the retail market.
