Professional Skateboarder for over 20 years
Numerous Skating Awards and Titles, such as TransWorld Legend Award (11th, 2009), 2nd in Pro-tec Pool Party-Master’s division
Has his own line of skateboards
Endorsements have included Dogtown Skateboards, Sims Skateboards, Converse, Swatch, and Jimmy’z
Associate Pastor, The Sanctuary Huntington Beach
Tours with The Uprising where skateboarders, speakers and bands share the Gospel in a fresh, new way
TV: Documentary on Showtime about his life Rising Son: The Legend of Skateboarder Christian Hosoi and Reality Show The Uprising on INSP’s Steelroots
Married, four sons
GUEST
Christian Hosoi: Leading an Uprising
CBN.com
– THE SKATEBOARDING LEGEND
Christian Hosoi is an international skate boarding legend. He’s been called “the Michael Jordan of Skate Boarding” and came to be known as a skate boarding rock star. He helped revolutionize the sport in the 1980s with his “Vert” style skate boarding, along with other professional skate boarders, like Tony Hawk, Steve Caballero, and Lance Mountain.
Christian’s fluid style and his “airs,” (which looked like he could fly on his skateboard) are what made him famous. Two of his trademark airs are the “Christ Air” (because he looked like Christ on the cross) and “Rocket Air.”
He started skateboarding when he was about seven-years-old, and he was a natural. By 12, Christian was the best amateur skate boarder. Two years later at age 14, Christian became an instant icon. Fans nicknamed him “Christ”, because they thought he and his abilities were godlike. As his career grew he won numerous awards and had many endorsement deals.
Early on he started taking drugs like hallucinogenic mushrooms, marijuana, and LSD. By the age of 17 he owned his own company and had travelled the world several times over. Despite his success, he found that money, fame, women, etc., couldn’t fill the void he had inside.
In the early ‘90s, his style of skate boarding took a nosedive. The street-style of skateboarding became more popular, and Vert skate boarding became passé. Many factors were at work in his life. Christian’s drug use was more frequent, and he lost his interest in skateboarding. Now his drug of choice was crystal meth, and he was more interested in the party lifestyle.
By 2000, Christian was totally dependent on crystal meth. He agreed to traffic over 1lb. of crystal meth from California to Hawaii for a share of the drugs. At Honolulu International Airport, Christian was arrested for possession with intent to distribute. He was convicted and sentenced to ten years in a San Bernadino prison.
MEETING THE TRUE CHRIST
After he went to prison, the first person Christian called was his girlfriend, Jennifer (who is now his wife). Christian was despondent and didn’t think he could make it through his 10-year sentence. Jennifer reassured him and told him they would make it through this. She also told him to trust in God and to get a Bible. Christian was kind of shocked that Jennifer mentioned God during this time. He thought that God was something far off and for the afterlife, not something for the here and now.
Then, Jennifer called her uncle who was a minister. Jennifer’s uncle called Christian, shared the Gospel with him, and encouraged him to read the Bible. Christian came to know Jesus and began to read the Bible. He found that he couldn’t stop – this is what his heart hungered for. Christian decided that his time in prison would be used to continue learning who God is.
His relationship with Jesus helped sustain him during his time in prison and still keeps him to this day. During his sentence, Christian married Jennifer and earned his high school diploma. Christian earned the trust of a federal judge and was granted parole in June 2004 after he served four and a half years of prison time.
Christian’s life and priorities changed. His life wasn’t about him anymore, but about who God is. Christian became an ordained minister in July 2005 and is now an Associate Pastor at The Sanctuary Huntington Beach. He uses his celebrity status to reach people for Jesus Christ.
He along with several other professional skate boarders and speakers (Lance Mountain, Richard Mulder, Brian Sumner, and Ray Barbee), bands, and a DJ travel around the country ministering to youth on the Uprising is Here Tour. This tour is designed to be a cutting edge experience to share the Gospel with a “Meet and Greet” with the skate boarders, speakers and musicians.
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