Who knew that after another 10 hour day of working on the complete draft of my PhD I would be led right into the center of bodyboarding history. Well, that's exactly what happened. Let me explain. After 3 years of working on the same PhD project and nearing the end, I basically locked myself away for a few months to finish the draft of about 350 pages of research (80,000 words). Getting tired of editing and refining day after day, I had enough and so after a grueling 10 hour day, I impulsively said to myself that I needed to get out of here as soon as possible.
I quickly looked up Ryan air flights to see what was the cheapest and I noticed Gran Canary Island was a cheap flight. Island = sun and beach, so I booked the ticket without looking at my calendar to see if I had any other prior engagements. I desperately needed a break!
After booking my 3 days in Gran Canary where I was going to be stoked just to leave the cold England behind for a bit a sunshine, my brother told me that there were waves there. Bonus, although I had just brought back all my bodyboarding gear to Cali my last trip home. Usually I at least leave a pair of fins and rashguard in the UK but this time I did not. I researched and found a place there where I could rent stuff as well as looked up the local surf spots and checked when the swell was going to hit them. Upon arrival, I immediately surfed Confital since that was near my hotel. The next day, I headed out to surf El Fronton.
After driving around the city and asking nice people to point me in the right direction, I came upon this little point break with only 3 guys out. As I watched what I believed to be El Fronton, another bodyboarder walked by me and carried on past the rocks. My curiosity caused me to follow him and I am SO glad I did. Once I made it to the top of the rocks, in the distance I saw glassy waves, air reverses, and backflips spotting the water.
I quickly jumped in my car and drove straight there only to see a black van in the parking lot with Mike Stewart as the driver! What was he doing here? I was just on holiday, taking a much needed mental break from my studies so that I could be refreshed to finish my thesis and there in front of me was Mike Stewart. Even more, when I paddled out to the waves, I saw GT and lots of other bodyboarders that looked familiar to me (although I have literally been out of the bb scene for over 10 years now so I only recognized a few of the old schoolers). When asked how to come in from my session at Fronton I was encouraged to just take a wave over the reef. I must admit, that was a little sketchy for me as I grew up only on beach breaks in Newport Beach.
Once I came in I heard someone in the distance yelling my name and its Manny Vargas! I did his IB Summer Slams back in the day and I hadn't seen him for probably over 10+ years. Long story short, I ended up extending my plane ticket twice to stay in paradise, had a super fun session with only one other out and Manny doing water photography, played in this swimming pool type thing adjacent to the ocean, took photos of the El Fronton Invitational and got to hang out with the best bodyboarders in the world, who by the way, are all pretty cool guys.
Crazy how everything worked out. I can only say that I am thankful that Christmas came early to me and that not only did I get sunshine and beach, but I got to paddle out with some of the best bodyboarders in the world all in a desperate plea to take a mental break from my thesis. SO thankful to God and so blessed for this intersection in paradise. I hope everyone has a happy Christmas! See more pics of the El Fronton event and of Gran Canary Island on my facebook page
These are small pieces of the journey that have led me to where I am at today….
I grew up a surfer girl in Southern California. I actually considered pursuing a professional bodyboarding career rather than go to university. See me in Baywatch here. Luckily, I decided to stick to the books but I do love hitting the surf at every opportunity. Growing up in Anaheim, California at the Vineyard church there, I was very blessed to learn all about healing through John Wimber. When I was 17 years old, I started a small woman’s Bible study at our public highschool that met every Wednesday until I graduated and then one year after, a friend took it over. Deciding to stay near home and strategically picking a school near the beach, I graduated from Vanguard University in 2000 with a B.A. in religion with the emphasis in youth leadership studies and pastoral care.
Less than a month after graduating, in May of 2000, I jumped on a plane headed for Mozambique, Africa to be a part of Heidi Baker’s ministry to the poor there. I had the opportunity of helping to plant a church (Camp 2000) in a refuge camp there where we saw bread multiply one time as well as work with some of the teenage prostitutes on the streets, feed the poor, preach, lead outreaches, and spend time with the children at the orphanage there. That was a significant part of my life for sure.
Upon returning home, that next year I worked as a youth ministry developer at my church and designed and implemented an intensive 5 week discipleship program with about 15 youth there called The DIG (Disciples In Groove). That was a very special time for me and I know for several of the others. It’s such a privilege to see where some of those young people are today. As a side note, from around 2001 on, I have been blessed to have Bob Fulton in my life. He is one of the early founders of the Vineyard Movement along with his wonderful wife Penny, and he has acted as a spiritual father to me. His encouragement has helped me tremendously as I have attempted to maneuver through this exciting adventure we call life in the kingdom of God. Realizing that I was not cut out for church work as a job but much more prefer volunteering there instead, I transitioned into Starbucks by 2002.
It started out as a part time job but then I realized more and more how much I liked the vision and values of the company and I kept getting promoted the longer I stayed there. I ended up managing my own store, becoming a classroom facilitator, designed and implemented various trainings, and got to do some great events like live music and live hip hop dancing one night in one of my stores. I met some really great people who were customers as well as fellow employees through the company. After 5 years at Starbucks I had this stirring inside of me that, while I loved the company and the job, I was meant to do something else with my life beyond that. I had always thought that teaching at a University level was something I would love but the only problem was that it would require further education.
The main thing holding me back from pursing more education was that I did not want to get into debt again. I began to realize if I didn’t pursue higher education soon, I would never do it. So finally, in 2007, I quit my job at Starbucks, sold my car, took out a loan, and packed up my things and moved to England to go back to University. It was pretty amazing how everything came together right away for me over here. While I admit the first year was tough dealing with culture shock and giving up the sunshine and surfing, leaving my family and friends behind, eventually I found my niche. Some of the opportunities I have had over here would have never happened if I had not stepped out to pursue my dream.
I initially came to England because I have always wanted to study revivals and there is such rich church history here. I didn’t necessarily set out to study revivals so that I could figure out how to start them, but I wanted to study them so that I could develop a theology of living effectively through revivals long term. I have seen too many people get all excited in the midst of a revival but then not too long after they burn out and/or compromise their character and integrity. Through my general reading on revivals I came acrossCarrie Judd Montgomery. She was the most influential woman involved in the Divine Healing Movement in America in the late 1800s and had been overlooked. Immediately, I knew that she was meant to the topic of my PhD here at the University of Birmingham. Click on her picture to learn more.
While in England, I had the opportunity to be a project coordinator in charge of leading a team of 50 international students to welcome over 1,000 international students during Welcome Week International. I also had the opportunity to head up Healing on the Streets right in the city center of Birmingham outside of a beautiful Cathedral where we have seen many people touched and healed through the love of Jesus. After "HOTS," we started a Bible study at a Starbucks with some of the youth that hang out near the Cathedral. While in the UK I also released 2 books (Silver to Gold and Spirit Flood).
Click picture to see more photos of the night
I graduated from the University of Birmingham, UK with my PhD in revival history July of 2011 and have recently relocated to Redding, CA where I got ordained with Iris Ministries by Heidi Baker New Years 2011 at her home. Such a blessing and a night I will never forget!
I am also releasing 2 new books in 2012. Water to Wine is the first one about my own spiritual journey and experiences and the other is based on my thesis and is called Life on Wings: The Forgotten Life and Theology of Carrie Judd Montgomery. I am investing all my time into the Silver to Gold, Carrie Judd Montgomery, and other Projects as well as doing Destiny/Catalyst coaching, healing and revival retreats at Carrie Judd Montgomery's healing home in Oakland (the Home of Peace), and helping people to write and publish their first book. JenMiskov.com is the best place to get an overview of what I am currently working on.
So from California to England and now back to California, that has been a few pieces of my journey thus far. The reason I mention specific people above is they have influenced me in one way or another and because of God working in and through them, I am who I am today. Without the special people God brings into my life at different times, I wouldn’t be the same. Enjoying beautiful friends from around the world is a true blessing and something which I am very grateful for. I hope that provided you with a little context of where I come from :) See some of the topics I enjoy speaking on here or feel free to connect with me at JenMiskov@silvertogold.com.
