Raising A Soul Surfer

by Cheri Hamilton

  Finally, we reached our destination and took care of business. The shaper gave Bethany her new surfboard with Palm Fronds sprayed green on the surfboard. I looked at the design and was not impressed until I listened to the CD that was given to us, which we played on the two-hour drive back. Palm fronds were used to worship God, waving them up and down to glorify the King of kings and Lord of lords. They were used on the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem as He declared that He was King. I was overwhelmed at the meaning because this explained what Bethany was called to do. Worship and honor God with her surfing!

  When Bethany was invited to throw the opening pitch at a Yankees game in New York City, I didn’t go, but Tom was there. Bethany had played a lot of sports, but never baseball, so it fell on Tom to take her to Central Park to work on throwing a baseball 60 feet with some degree of accuracy. He even borrowed a baseball from the nearby Mickey Mantle Restaurant and, using recall from Little League games, worked with Bethany all morning until she could put a ball in the pocket.

  Later, at the game, New York Yankees pitcher and fellow believer Randy Johnson told Bethany that his kids had read her book. “Maybe the first time they’ve read a book from cover to cover,” he said with a laugh.

  Bethany threw the opening pitch fast and straight, right in the strike zone. The catcher even said it had a little heat on it. All the while, Tom stood in the dugout grinning like the Cheshire Cat and flashing back to the time in his childhood when he stood on that same field with his father as a Little League all star.

  My personal favorite was when Bethany threw the opening pitch for the Oakland A’s in California. The jumbotrons lit up with video of her surfing to the Beach Boys song “Surfer Girl,” and in came Bethany, riding in the back of a red convertible while the U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels Squadron streaked overhead with the whole thing finishing with fireworks. Wow!

  But it wasn’t the events that meant the most to us; it was the people we met who connected to us, who connected with Bethany’s story in a meaningful way.

  While we were in New York, a guy named Jeff Denholm sought us out. He took the train from his home in Maine in order to be an encouragement to Bethany and us. Jeff had lost most of his arm in an accident on an Alaskan fishing trawler, but he was blessed with a good mind for engineering and the same kind of tenacious spirit as Bethany. Jeff refused to give up surfing, skiing, mountain biking and the other extreme sports he loved. So he had designed a number of ingenious prosthetic attachments for the remnant of his severed arm, ultimately becoming a surfing ambassador for Patagonia Sports. Like Bethany, nothing was going to stop him from living an active lifestyle!

  One trip the family took, part business and part pleasure, was unforgettable.

  We arrived at Heathrow, in London, a massively huge airport! You could live in this multi-terminal compound and get lost forever! Our family arrived in the United Kingdom with the normal basic jet lag, even though we had seats in which we could lie down and sleep, which saved us. We took a cab to our hotel. This is never an easy feat when traveling with surfboards!

  The four of us—Tom, Bethany, Tim and I—were booked into an old classic hotel. Immediately after setting down our luggage in our one room, we all looked for the bathroom. No bathroom! No beds! A nice view, but this wouldn’t work out. We called the front desk, and they had us in a side office suite or something. I was happy, because we were moved to an upgrade, which had an amazing view of an old church bell tower that was just begging for my camera.

  It was Sunday, so I went down to the concierge to ask if there were any evening church services around that we could go to. He gave me the name of “The American Church” for the “tourists.” I said I wanted to go to a church with “locals.” He was clueless, so I did my own search in the phone book and found a Calvary Chapel with a six o’clock service.

  We took a cab, which was great fun. The English cabs are those old black classic vehicles that smell leathery and look as if they are from the 1940s. I gave the driver the address, and we were dropped off in front of Harry Potter’s old school, or a look-alike! It was a quaint old brick school building complete with wrought iron gates. Since we had an hour before the service started, I said, “Let’s go take some family pictures at that beautiful old church across the street.”

  There was a huge courtyard with a few tourists meandering around, but it looked like a service was in progress. We walked over to the entrance of the old church and past some anxious-looking film crew on the opposite courtyard corner. They were so busy looking for their target that we walked right past them with ease. We all laughed because the press was so hungry for Bethany news, and here she was, but they were too focused to not see her walk right past them.

  We walked quietly inside to take a peek and maybe get a few photos, since it was one of the most beautiful churches I had ever seen. It was an ancient building filled with smoke from lit candles; and those from years past had given the ceiling a blackened hue. The architectural design caused you to lift your head and look up toward heaven. There you saw the stained-glass windows telling the gospel stories from God’s Word.

  The interior design of the building had created one of the best sound features ever. A woman’s beautiful voice was singing a cappella, and it cut through the core of my being, making it hard not to cry. I said, “Let’s find a seat and listen for a while.” The place was packed, but we squeezed into some seats in the back. It turns out we were at a service for the Pope, who had just died on Friday. Tony Blair was there, along with Camilla Parker Bowles, which we read about in the paper the next day. It is nice to do something special without the stress of trying to make it happen. God’s timing as our tour guide was impeccable!

  When it was almost six o’ clock, we made our exit and crossed the street to Harry’s school. I had not read the books, as I am not into the occult, but I enjoyed the special effects that this school/movie set had to offer. We gathered in an auditorium with a multicultural crowd that looked like they were from every tribe and nation upon the earth. I relaxed and enjoyed singing with the talented worship team’s presentation and lineup of worship songs. Then I broke, and the flood of tears came because they closed the worship with “Blessed Be Your Name,” the song that contains the lines from the Old Testament story of Job confessing in worship that God “gives and takes away, blessed be the name of the LORD.” God had been ministering to us with that song since day one, our ground zero.

  God likes to open up our hard hearts to get His Word inside of our hearts. Sometimes we get so beat up by life that scar tissue hardens and closes us off to His love and ministry. Worship helps to begin healing the damage incurred so that God can bind up our wounds with His love.

  The message came next, and I was pleased to listen to the pastor’s eloquent English accent. I felt guilty because the sermon was so personal, as if God had prepared a meal just for us. I hope the other people were fed just as much. It is so peaceful to be halfway across the world, and not know anyone except God and experience His love, care and guidance. God could not have planned our day better. Tomorrow we could surf in Cornwall, England!

  One other aside: The longest-running kid’s show in England is Blue Peter. Bethany had been invited to the show to teach the hosts how to surf. The venue for the surf lessons was Fistral Beach on the north coast of Cornwall, where the surf history of England first began. Surf culture is alive and well in Great Britain, contributing to the economy with tourism, fashion and health.

  Everyone had decided that the most exciting thing to do with Bethany was learn to surf! They didn’t request lessons; they just chose to let you know they were getting lessons! She didn’t have it on her résumé, but even so, she is a most excellent teacher. She had more fun watching than anyone, helping everyone wipe out and eat humble pie. The hosts had no problem learning, but they did have the look of natural athletes. Everyone dressed in his finest black wet suit, as it was freezing cold!

  I chose to hang out inside the warm beach restau
rant with a front-row view and order something hot to drink. On the walls were photos of hot, sunny beach days taken in the warm months of summer, on location with premier-looking waves ridden by surfers in trunks, not wet suits. It does get warm in Cornwall, but only in the late summer months, along with the best swells of the year. So if you’re planning any surf expeditions, do your research!

  The show aired on European TV, and Bethany was presented with a Blue Peter Badge for courage. The badge provides the wearer with free entry to many British attractions, particularly museums and exhibitions that are featured on the show.

  Often, it seems as if Bethany’s brothers are just tagging along on her adventures, but I believe that God is directing their lives and using them and preparing them for their futures as He cares for each and every one of us.

  Bethany’s brother Tim, who was with us on that trip, was filming a video for our family, and he remembered that he had a body-boarding friend who lived in Cornwall. He gave him a call and a visit ensued. Tim’s English body-boarding friend and his buddy were planning a trip to Iceland. They invited Tim along and made arrangements with him to hook up for travel after he finished his Bethany tour.

  Tim had an amazing, once-in-a-lifetime adventure in Iceland, jumping off icebergs and waterfalls into uncrowded surf! The best part was traveling with adventurous, fun, always laughing guys who make life happen.

  Several years after the shark attack, and Bethany’s dramatic return to professional surfing, the initial torrent of media attention subsided into a manageable river we had learned to navigate pretty well. There were still some frictions, but overall, we’d only grown stronger and closer together—as well as closer to God.

  As Bethany’s teen years drew to a close, she got more confident and easy under public scrutiny. Noah and Becky took on the role of managing the business side of things (as well as official photography, video and other artistic elements) so that Bethany could focus on what she does best—surfing.

  Our son Tim, mellow and unassuming, spends most of his time filming and editing surf movies. One of his underground films gained quite a cult following among the body board crew.

  Sarah Hill has become an integral part of our lives. Bethany, like many teenagers do, had found a mentor to trust in addition to her family.

  Bethany had to come to terms with the fact that by being a witness for Christ, there would be plenty of people who would use any excuse to take her down a peg. These were the ones who wouldn’t show grace for the fact that she was a normal, fun-loving teenager; or for the fact that our Hawaii-style beach culture didn’t always resemble how they thought a good Christian should act or dress. And because she called herself a Christian, people certainly wouldn’t let her be anything less than perfect—an unrealistic expectation for anyone.

  One thing that deeply impacted Bethany for the good was the time she was able to join the youth group on a mission trip to Tijuana, Mexico. Her brothers had gone a few times in prior years, but Bethany had not yet been able to go. She’d been to Thailand with World Vision in 2005 (our family supports a couple of kids through that organization). There was something special about going as a normal kid on a mission trip with her friends, to help out as best they could.

  After hearing some of the crazy stories the boys told of their trips to Mexico, we were a bit concerned about Bethany’s safety. But Timmy decided he’d go along as videographer for the entire youth group, and we were relieved.

  The youth leaders, including Sarah Hill, took vans full of Kauai kids into the hidden folds of Tijuana, under the watchful eye of Spectrum Ministries based in San Diego (in fact, based out of the same church, Emmanuel, where I’d first attended Vacation Bible School so many years ago!).

  There, in the most impoverished of slums, Bethany and her friends washed the lice out of children’s hair, distributed blankets and food, set up a mini carnival full of games and prizes, and ran the portable bathhouse, which was the only chance for many of the kids to receive a shower.

  For American teenagers, immersion into a world so far removed from their privileged materialism, yet so close—right across the border—was an eye-opening experience. Our kids saw firsthand the power of having a hands-on ministry with the poor and even came back with a story of how Pastor Von, the longtime head of Spectrum Ministries, had his valuables stolen from his car while working the bathhouse only to have them returned the next day by one of Tijuana’s feared drug lords, with apologies that the thief was not aware of who he was stealing from. Apparently, the drug lord had been the recipient of the kindness of this ministry in his poverty-stricken childhood, and he never forgot it.

  The Mexican kids were very curious about Bethany. Scarcely a single one had heard of her, but naturally they asked her over and over about her missing arm. Bethany quickly figured out the word “shark” in Spanish—tiburon. As soon as they heard it, and she pointed to her shoulder, their eyes nearly fell out of their heads. Bethany had their rapt attention as she told her story through a translator.

  While there, the group was introduced to a new orphanage that Spectrum had just discovered. The place was in terrible shape, filthy and run-down even for a Mexican orphanage. Many of the kids were sick with a variety of illnesses, and the mothers of several of the children had abandoned them on the streets because they had Down syndrome.

  The place had no medicine and little food.

  Sarah, Bethany and the kids had already exhausted the cash given to them by the church on other projects. But faced with the dire need of these children, they knew they had to do something. Sarah asked the lady in charge to write a list of absolute needs for the kids. The list was two pages long, and that covered only the bare essentials for the 100 children.

  Later that night, Sarah had to admit that there was no practical way to stretch their funds to meet those needs. So she shared the situation with everyone and showed the group the list. And, of course, Bethany grabbed a box and put it on the table. “What about pitching in some of our personal spending money?” she said. Everyone had a few bucks squirreled away for buying something at the Southern California shopping malls they couldn’t get in Hawaii (at least without paying through the nose for shipping).

  “No one’s obligated to put anything in; it’ll be totally private. Put in what you want.” Bethany pointed to the list, “If you can spare enough for just one of these items, that’ll at least be something, right?”

  Then they left the box on the table; no one managed it or waited to see who would put in what. When Sarah counted the money the next morning, there was more than $1,500. The group went to Costco in Mexico and filled nine carts full of food, medicine, diapers, soap and cleaning supplies. When they arrived at the orphanage and started unloading everything, the director came out and simply collapsed into Sarah’s arms.

  Tom and I know that these experiences build something within a person that could never be taught just sitting in church. “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world” (Jas. 1:27, NIV).

  You don’t have to have a story like Bethany’s to be extraordinary; you just have to be willing for God to have your whole life. God does not guarantee you an easy path—in fact, the road is often difficult. I never would have chosen to have my daughter lose her arm; but when you surrender to God, He sometimes takes away before He gives back.

  Bethany has become a symbol of hope and encouragement for many people. That role is not without personal sacrifice.

  But there was one more thing that had occasionally cropped up since the attack. For years it had bubbled up on the horizon without really taking shape. It was a dream of Roy Hofstetter’s, one he kept on the backburner for a while. As it came closer to becoming reality, it almost became a nightmare. I’m talking about the dream of someday making a major Hollywood feature film about Bethany’s ordeal and heroic return. It would be called Soul Surfer, and it was about to ta
ke us on another wild adventure.

  CHAPTER

  13

  Keeping It Real

  “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares

  the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you,

  plans to give you a hope and a future.”

  JEREMIAH 29:11

  “Based on a true story.”

  We see these words in front of countless movies, but the reality is, there isn’t always as much truth as there is Hollywood. When real-life events undergo transformation into a feature-length movie, truth has a strange tendency to become elastic. Early in the process, we came perilously close to being just another illustration of truth being discarded in favor of entertainment. As a family, we stood our ground, though it wasn’t easy.

  Making the movie Soul Surfer was a seven-year journey for our family. Many a movie gets shelved because no one can find the right combination of ingredients—producers, directors, actors, studios, distributors and all the rest. Roy Hofstetter, Bethany’s manager, should get special credit for his persistent effort and hard work to put Bethany’s story on the silver screen. He was the person who was really excited and dedicated about the whole idea of making a movie from the very beginning. The rest of us were too busy chasing waves and packing for surf competition trips. Dealing with all the other demands and changes in our lives took up a huge amount of time and energy, and we had little left over for movie-making drama!

  Besides, we already had a short documentary about Bethany’s story, called The Heart of a Soul Surfer, H.O.S.S., as we call it, which was produced and directed by Noah’s wife, Becky, and documented with early surfing footage that Tom and I took while the kids were young. This work of love has been a powerful outreach tool in many different languages.