The rider is in the water, and he swings from the boat tower and lands in the driver’s seat and yells, “ready?” Alf Evans is not your typical minister or youth pastor.
His beard is a bit scruffy, and he’s wearing Anarchy sunglasses and a t-shirt that reads, “in case of zombies.”
Evans began to learn to waterski from his Father at an early age. At the age of 13, he began to slalom ski behind a 13ft tri-hull with a 50 horsepower outboard motor.
Evans’ love of water sports began to grow as one of his closest friends, Jamie Phillips, bought one of the first wakeboards, an O’brien Shredder. It wasn’t long before Evans began to ride in competitions, until he suffered from a severe knee injury that kept him off the water for a few years.
Shortly after receiving a B.A. in religious education from Missouri Baptist University, Evans served as a youth pastor and a worship minister in St. Louis for six years. Eventually, God led him to uproot his family and make a significant move to Texas, not knowing the next adventure in store for them would be Wakeboard Church.
Wakeboard Church was formed by a posting on one of the local wakeboarding forums; encouraging people to come out and learn to wakeboard while participating in a devotional on the water afterwards.
Evans said, “I felt that God was leading me to form Wakeboard Church in order to be able to help others.” Wakeboard Church became a way for Evans to learn how to put others into consideration first, something he admits he sometimes has a hard time doing.
Evans never dreamed that it would catch on so quickly. Soon people were donating time and money to the organization, and within the past five years, it has become Evan’s full-time job. “God made me for this job, he is working on me personally,” Evans said while talking about how Wakeboard Church came to be.
“I felt that God was leading me to form Wakeboard Church in order to be able to help others.”
Wakeboard Church is not just during the summer months when the lake is an enjoyable place to be, it’s all year long. During the off-season, Evans hosts Wakeboard Church at his home in Grapevine, Texas. There are currently chapters at lake Austin, Grapevine, Lavon, Lewisville and Nebraska. Each chapter has a chapter leader. Evans is the current chapter leader for lake Lewisville. Depending on the weather and wind, you can find the lake Lewisville chapter out each Thursday afternoon until the sunsets.
Evans hopes to continue growing Wakeboard Church, nationally, and possibly internationally. Evans and his family are currently fundraising in hopes of being able to move to Cambodia by early next year to grow Wakeboard Church and fight sex trafficking. “I want to do whatever it is that God wants for me to do,” Evans says about picking up and moving to Cambodia for at least two years.
“I want Jesus to show up, and people to go, oh, ok wow,” Evans said as he was explaining his role in Wakeboard Church and trying to help people find God if they choose to. Life is constantly changing for him as he tries to go where God leads him. Evans remains passionately diligent to the ministry along with the continual support from his wife Kelly, his son Trey and his daughter Shafer.