Team Week

Well, it’s hard to believe the summer is more than half way over.  This past week instead of working camps we had team week- it was a great break at our mid-way point.  Sunday we left for a camping trip. We drove 3 hours to Galena- it reminded me so much of Houghton, it was beautiful.  Except it wasn’t real camping.  We stayed at a place where people use horses to do therapy on kids with special needs. So we pitched tents in a horse barn! Carolynn and I actually ended up staying inside on the pull out couch- people were probably like, “Who do those Houghton girls think they are?” I got my share of the horse barn though- I lost a game so I had to roll in the dirt from end to end.  When I was done someone told me they saw the cat dig a whole and pee in it, and I rolled over the spot! This could explain the hives all over my stomach and back!

Anyways, it was a fun trip.  We worked at the special olympics for a couple days. I made a friend Angel, she said I was her best friend because I’m cute and popular. That made me feel good so I stayed with her the whole time. She was quite funny. I hope they had as much fun with us as we did them!

We had a lot of fun just hanging out with eachother. We played some volleyball and normally I am so bad that no one will let me on their intramural team but today I was on my game so people actually think I’m semi-good here! We did something called the Pursuit. We got in a line and every 5 seconds the next person was to start running.  Our goal was to pursue the person in front of us and flee from the person behind us and not let them pass us. We ran about a mile as fast as we could- I’ve never felt so dead after I ran.  When we got back, we were told to do it again. I didn’t think I had it in me but I somehow finished. “Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” 2 Timothy 2:22 There are so many parallels between running and our spiritual lives.  Training our bodies is of some value, but pursuing God and the things of Him- that’s where the real treasure is.  One of the girls on my team was running behind me during the race and the last couple minutes she did not stop cheering me on, “Come on Kaylin…you can do it!!!” I can still hear that voice in my head. Those words kept me going. While I was running I wasn’t cheering on the person in front of me- I had no energy to speak, but her words kept me going. I think as we run this race of life for God there are times when we feel so tired and worn out and don’t think we can go another step. But we must tune into the voice of God cheering us on, “Come on! You can do it!” and when that same friend lost in a game and had to sleep on 2 bails of hay in the horse stable with no sleeping bag, it was my joy and honor to go out and sleep with her.

Wednesday to Sunday I stayed with my friend Anna who I stayed with last week.  She is from Wheaton so we got to stay at her house, which was great. Her mom is hilarious- she reminds me of my Aunt Kathy. She had us dying laughing with her stories. Friday we went into the city and did the Amazing Race.  We had about 20 different things to accomplish in the city- and had to take pictures and video.  Some examples: take a video of you doing a dance on the stage at milennium park. Find a sox fan and a cubs fan and have them show love to eachother (we went into a store and Jen asked a married couple to put on different gear, “and then you guys need to like, kiss or something!” haha) We ended up running about 8-10 miles, but it was so much fun, and jumping in the lake when we were done made it all worth it. 

Saturday we did a World Relief Cup tournament, where we had a bunch of refugee kids, mostly from Samalia.  It was so amazing for me because I felt like I was back in Ethiopia, but even better because the kids could speak English.  There was this one girl who was 9 and when I saw her I asked her for a high 5.  She wouldn’t give me one because she didn’t know me. So I told her my name and she goes, “bye!” This was so weird to me because the African kids usually love to be with Americans. So I kept going over to her and she told me she didn’t like me because I was annoying. haha I was so offended but it was my mission of the day to change her heart. When I told her I loved her she told me love was nasty and no one tells her they love her. I was hoping they would put her on my team.  They didn’t end up putting her on a team because she was too young to play. I asked Rick if she could be on my team even though she was too young and he was hesitant at first but he finally let me because he saw that I wanted to minister to her. I chose to be the blue team because that was her favorite t-shirt and when I gave it to her she said, I wanna be on the green team. I was thinking, “Girl, I just fought for you to be able to play so you better be happy you’re on my team!” After hanging out with her all day she warmed up to me so much- she was taking my arms and putting them around her, she was opening up to me (so sad to hear her tell me how hungry she was! “When is the bbq?!”) It’s so amazing how a little love changes and softens hearts. You can’t really have a heart for Africans until you go there and live with them.  I want to go back so bad.

Well, that’s about all. Tonight I am going to see the Chicago Fire soccer game, should be fun. Then tomorrow I go to a new host family and we start another week of camp.  It’s hard to believe we only have 3 weeks left here. The biggest thing God was teaching me this week was that he wants to be my everything. And even when some of the most important things/people are stripped away from my life He wants me to be satisfied in Him.  I want him to be my everything and I know in my mind that he is more than enough for me- but I long to know that in my heart. And not just be content and satisfied in Him, because when I think of satisfied I think of ”good.” Like, that meal was satisfying, but I would love dessert. Well I think God wants us to be satisfied, and then some. That’s why he said I have come that they have abundant life.  I have adopted Philippians 3:7-11 as my life verse, and long to truly believe it in my heart, not just know it in my mind. Could God be so great that everything on this earth that was to my profit I now consider rubbish? I wanna know that God more.

This past week was a bit more challenging than the rest.  I was placed at a camp in the inner city of Chicago.  My friend Anna and I stayed with the pastors of the church we were partnering with.  They had a very nice house for the area we were in.  I have lived in 2 places my whole life: Weare, NH and Houghton, NY…that alone explains the reason I had some fear when I heard random gun shots and ambulances driving by every 5 minutes.  We only had 3 kids registered for the camp we were running, so Sunday we spent some time in the park talking to kids about the camp.  We were praying that God would bring more kids that needed to hear the gospel. 

The first day of camp we had 30 kids! I was coaching the girls, ages 4-9.  It was challenging because they were so young and didn’t exactly want to play soccer.  It was hard to go from last weeks camp with so many kids and so much energy.  The weather didn’t help either- it was rainy and cold everyday.  I felt something heavy on my heart this week and I’m not exactly sure what it was other than the fact that there was spiritual warfare going on.  Sometimes it’s hard to recognize the enemy.  I just thought I had a bad attitude and no energy or enthusiasm for no reason.  I didn’t recognize the fact that the enemys plan is to destroy God’s plan so he will try to distract me during my time with God, cause me to have a bad attitude and try to drain my energy.  I was reading in James 4 and it says, “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  Come near to God and he will come near to you.” So simple! The enemy trembles in the name of Jesus, and all we have to do is resist the enemy and he will flee.  The most important thing we can do is to be in tune with the spirit, clothed in the armor of God so we know when the enemy is trying to destroy God’s plan and we are ready to fight it.

Wednesday night I had dinner with my host parents and I asked them what they hated most about the world and what they were doing about it.  One thing that Oscar said that stood out to me was, “I hate it when people say, ‘I won’t live there because it’s a scary place to live.’ So we are living in a so-called scary place to live!” He talked about how how we serve a God who is sovereign and we should not fear man more than we fear God.  If something bad were to happen, God is still God and he’s still in control and he works everything out for the good.  That really hit me because I had been thinking all week about how I was in such a scary place but why fear man more than God?

We got to go into the city 3 nights in a row to walk around down-town, go shopping a bit, go out to eat, listen to music and check out Milennium Park. It was a ton of fun hanging out with the people in my group. 

Today for the 4th of July we had steak cabobs and a ton of other food, played a ton of games and are going to see some fireworks tonight. We watched the parade this morning and we were cheering so loud for every float that went by.  People came over to us afterwards telling us they had so much fun because of us and they want their kids to come to soccer camp. Who would have thought being enthusiastic would draw more kids to camp so they could hear the gospel!

Happy 4th of July…praise God for the freedom we have in America but more importantly the freedom we have in Christ..there’s nothing like it.

Week 1: Moody Soccer Camp

Well, the first week of soccer camp is done! We split up into 3 groups, my group did a camp working with the Moody Church, founded by D.L. Moody. We went to the church service on Sunday and it was cool because I remember learning about D.L. Moody in my sports ministry class- he was an amazing man. I saw in the bulletin there would be a tour of the church after the service and that they would talk about Moody’s life so I went on the tour. They didn’t talk about Moody’s life as much as I would have liked but they gave me a cd on his life that I will listen to when I have time. The sanctuary holds about4,000 people and is very traditional looking- but they put on a huge addition and have tons of children’s classrooms and places to fellowship and eat. Everyday after camp we would come to the church and eat lunch, play games in the youth room and take naps! It was great.

Camp was awesome. We had about 90 kids which is about 20 more kids than previous years. I coached 7-9 year old girls and they were adorable. Everyday we taught them a different soccer skill (passing, dribbling, shooting, etc.) and then we split them up into teams so they could play real matches. We wanted them to improve their soccer skills but even more than that we wanted them to hear the gospel and grow in their faith. Everyday we would do a skit for them that would get our message across clearly. We broke up into our groups and had questions for discussion and would read from the bible, pray with them, etc. Thursday the skill of the day was “change in direction” so we taught them a few soccer moves to turn the other way on the field. We tied this in spiritually as well, changing directions in their life and this was the day we asked them if they wanted to receive Christ. I had everyone in my group close their eyes and if they wanted to receive Christ to raise their hand and repeat after me as we prayed. Many of the girls were already saved but two of my girls prayed to receive Christ! It was so exciting for me because I had grown closer with the girls over the week and that’s what I was praying for.

On Friday I received gifts from my girls and one of them gave me a card that said thank you for making this week so special for me, I will remember it forever! She often told me it was the best week of her life and she wanted to follow me to where I’d be coaching next week. I tried to reach out to the quiet kids. It’s easy to stick with the ones that love you andwant to be with you all the time. But one girl was very quiet and I asked her if she’d pray for me right then and did…afterwards I was so appreciative and it made her feel really special. It was cool to see the quiet kids open up to me towards the end. They were joking with me and throwing water on me and I was so happy to see that. It was sooo hot everyday- the fire truck came by and sprayed all the kids which was probably their favorite part of the week. Children are such a precious gift from God and I think this week I got a small glimpse of how much God loves children. Parents were telling me their kids didn’t stop talking about camp fromthe minute they got home until they went to sleep. I’m so glad we had such an impact on them.

We got to practice on a really nice turf field close by and it was right next to the beach. One day after practice a few of us jumped into the water with our clothes on- it felt so good because like I said it was really hot- in the 90s. We had our first game on Tuesday. We played a really good team and lost 2-0. I rolled my ankle and the next day it swelled up really badly, so if you think of it, that’s something I could use prayer for. But I’m thankful it was only that- at the same game my friend Ali tore her ACL. Ali was my roommate for a week in Brazil so we had many good talks about soccer and her desire to be a light on her team. She was one ofthe first people to exchange testimonies with me and she was in tears sharing with me because she felt like she had lived a good Christian life but is missing out on true intimacy with God. I was excited about forming a friendship with her. On Monday night she was writing in her journal, praying for God to strip her of pride and draw her closer to him andthe last thingshe wrote was “Do whatever it takes.” Tuesday soccer was completely stripped from her. I was heartbroken for her because I know how passionate she was about soccer and if that happened to me I would be devastated. I saw what one of my best friends went through after she tore her ACL- 4 surgeries. So I feel Ali’s pain even if I don’t fully understand. But I shared with her that eventhough it’shard, consider it an honor that God wants her whole heart, and if that’s what it takes, then so be it. She is going to grow so much in this time and is already able to use it to reach out to others. We’re sad that she has to go home though and miss out on the rest of the summer and her fall season.

Wednesday night we got to serve at a homeless shelter. This was a very special mealfor them because normally they just get a sandwich or soup. I wastalking with this one woman for a while and she decided she wanted to eat. So as I was making her a taco it hit me that Jesus said, “If you do this for the least of these, you do it for me.” Right then I said, “Jesus, it’s my honor and privelage to serve you right now.” And handed her the taco. Imagine if I saw Jesus in every person I came in contact with- how differently I would treat people.

This weekend we stayed back in Wheaton at a girl’s house on my team. They live in a gorgeous house and it was so much fun to relax, have cookout with everyone, and have devotional time with the girls. This is one of my favorite things about being here. We talked about taming the tongue- what gossip is, how to stop yourself from speaking it and how to stop others when they start speaking it. Gossip is selfishness really, and it tears apart teams and groups of people. So it’s great to know that gossip is not welcome on our team!

I talked with Rick, the director of the Chicago Eagles and told him that I am interested in doing sports ministry with my life and I didn’t want this summertogo by without me connecting with him. I told him about my desire to study abroad in Australia next spring and he said he knows a couple working with Athletes In Action in New Zealand right now- an amazing couple that are at the heart of sports ministry that I would love. I’m going to connect with them soon and see if that’s an option. Just praying that if God wants me to go there He’ll open the doors and work out all the details.

On Friday the board members of Missionary Athletes International had lunch with us. They had a conference or something so they all came out to Chicago. Rick asked me if I would share my heart about sports ministry. I had no time to prepare but I agreed to it. I started out saying I have felt called into ministry since I was 16 and my ultimate dream has been to be the next Beth Moore- writing books and speaking. But God is teaching me to value serving in secret- not being recognized (ironic that I was saying that while speaking to a large group of people!) but I just shared my heart and afterwards all the board members were coming up to me saying that what I shared was great and one person said, “Don’t rule out your dream to be the next Beth Moore…you have a true talent and gift!” The Charlotte Eagles director wants to connect with me about doing an internship next summer in Charlotte or Los Angeles. For so long I’ve been wondering when God was going to reveal his plans for my life. I feared graduating and not knowing what todo. But God is slowing puttingthings together and I know I’m not headed for an ordinary life…but an exciting life of following Him. I shared with you before about how God is working on pride in my heart and how I haven’t stepped up with sharing because I don’t want to do that to be recognized anymore. But it’s like God chose me to share my heart on that day and when I was done I knew that it wasn’t about me, I felt released to share my heart without it feeding my pride. It was an amazing thing.

I’m so excited about what God is doing and there’s no better feeling than to know you are right where God wants you to be- in the palm of His hands.

Brasil 2009

Hey guys! I just got back from Brazil yesterday and I thought it would be a good idea to start a blog to keep you updated on my life this summer.

I arrived in Chicago on May 31 when I met the rest of the team, girls and guys (about 36 total). We spent Monday through Wednesday doing Sports Ministry training. The theme of this summer is Hebrews 11 and 12:1-3. We are discovering what it means to live by faith. We spent our training in Chicago discovering hinderances and sin that entangles and then throwing it off so we could run with perseverance the race marked out for us. We had different sessions on topics such as finding out your true motivation for playing soccer (is it really to play for the glory of god or is it for your own recognition/glory, etc). We talked about finding security in Christ as opposed to other things we fill our lives with. We talked about the power of sharing testimonies and the reason we even do evangelism. We had a session on Brazil- cultural norms, what to expect, etc. We also had soccer practice everday.

On Thursday June 4 we left for Brazil. It was a 10 hour flight but not too bad since we flew through the night. We arrived in Rio de Janiero on Friday morning and split up into two groups- half the guys and girls went to Goyana and the other half went to Teresopolis. Teresopolis is in the mountains and we weren’t warned how cold it would be! We stayed at a hotel which was beautiful. For any Nacho fans, “It had lush gardens,” a built in pool, sauna, and soccer field in the back where we trained with a professional Brazilian coach.

Saturday we got started with our main mission, working with a ministry called Project Grow. The pastor we were working with, Marlon, had a vision of kids coming to Christ through soccer so he started this ministry where kids get to come and play organized soccer but they have to take classes and also receive biblical teaching (they were going through a fruits of the spirit cirriculum). You have to understand- the people in Brazil thought we, as the Chicago Eagles, were a professional team from the states, so it was huge for us to come and spend time with these kids who have nothing. Our job was to basically draw kids to come check out Project Grow and share the gospel with them and spark excitement in them so they will continue to come to Project Grow. We had a platform to influence them through soccer, and just plainly because we were Americans. So we spent 3 days with kids from an extremely poor section. It reminded me a lot of Ethiopia. We would go and do clinics with them and there would be about 15 kids to start. As soon as we pulled out a soccer ball kids came from everywhere to play. Our bus picked them up and brought them to church services and it was awesome to get to know those precious kids for a few days.

We also did some match ministry. We played outdoor games and foot sol games- foot sol is so much fun (especially playing in a professional foot sol stadium!) We played games against Brazilian teams and then shared a testimony and the gospel with the team. I experienced a little bit what it would be like to be famous. The kids would come to watch our games and wanted our player cards autographed. So a swarm of kids would come and just as I’d be free to walk away more would come out of nowhere. We took about 20 pictures before and after games…being famous got old after a while!

We spent a few nights training church pastors and leaders on what sports ministry is and how they can start doing it. Soccer is life here in Brazil- when a game is on tv Brazil stops to watch the game. So to use it to reach people only makes sense. We showed them practical things they can do to use soccer to minister to people. The church we were working with was going through a rocky period so we were hopefully an encouragement to them to keep pressing on.

The last day in Teresopolis was a special day. We went to a house where a couple takes in kids who have been abused or neglected in some way. If someone notices kids are being mistreated they will turn them into the government and the government will send them to this couple. They take them for 3-4 months and treat them as God would have them be treated, until the kids get adopted or if their family has true transformation in that time they can go back. We saw a video of what some of the kids looked like when they got to the house- skin problems, mal-nourished, deformities, HIV. Then they showed what the kids looked like after receiving love and proper care. They have had 160 kids over the course of 8 years. We got to play with the 8 kids that were there.

I was asking the mom questions and was in tears as I found out the girls I was playing with were sexually abused, burned on their fingers and toes with irons, had marks on their faces from being hit…the kids were right there showing me their marks. The parents talk with them and pray with them to receive emotional healing as well. It’s one thing to hear about children being mistreated but to look them in the eyes knowing what they’ve been through is overwhelming. I commend these people for their ministry and it makes me think about how I don’t want to do anything else in life but stand up for the oppressed as God calls us to do. What’s the point of drowning in riches here on earth when there are so many people in this world suffering…who need us and need hope in Jesus Christ. This earth is so temporary- we’ll be gone before we know it, and God is going to ask us what we did when we were here on earth with what he gave us. I want to be able to say I served Him wholeheartedly everyday of my life. To me nothing else matters!

I can’t write my first blog without mentioning the food- life is all about food. I’m kidding…but the food was amazing! So much fresh fruit and vegetables..I could live on just that. We went to this really nice restaurant on the last night- they had top notch steak and would come by and cut off a piece onto your plate and would just keep coming with all these different kids until you couldn’t eat anymore. They had grilled salmon and sushi…and then grilled pineapple…amazing.

After a week in Teresopolis we traveled to Rio de Janiero for a week.  We worked with another ministry at a very poor and forsaken place, doing clinics just like in Teresopolis, trying to draw kids to come.  Our days were packed full from morning till night, but we did get to go to the beach a few times. We saw the Rio Harbor which is one of the 7 natural wonders of the world. We had a baptism service at the beach for one of the Brazilian girls who gave their lives to Christ last year when the Eagles were in Brazil. It was awesome to have worship, devotionals and just time to relax there. And I fulfilled one of my life goals- drink coconut milk straight from a coconut in a tropical place! It actually wasn’t very good but I can say I did it atleast.  We visited the Christ the Redeemer statue- one of the 7 monumental wonders of the world..that was amazing.

One specific thing God is teaching me personally is to be okay with having a behind the scenes role. I am so used to being a leader and normally I would have spoken in front of people, lead drills, prayed outloud, shared my heart in big groups, etc. But God is dealing with a lot of pride in my heart and I’m so glad He is. Instead of being in the front, speaking to a large amount of people, I would be in the back, sitting with kids, making them feel special and loving on them- things that no one would notice or recognize. God is purifying my heart and motivations and showing me that the greatest leader is the greatest servant and when I go back to school and have to be a leader on my soccer team I want to lead with pure motivations and servanthood, not to be recognized for what I’m doing.

I am so happy to be back in the States. I loved Brazil but just as they are lacking so many material necessities, America is lacking so many spiritual necessities. We have given earthly possessions way too much value.  I think traveling is opening my eyes to the reason that scripture says, “Do not store up riches on this earth.”  What’s the point? Where here on earth for such a short time- it is our destiny to love God and others and tell people about Him.  That’s it- that’s why we were created. So often we lose sight of that fact and we focus in on ourselves and the material things we need…a nicer house, a nicer car, more money…but for what? It’s never enough.  In Hebrews 11 it talks about many people who did heroic things by faith and at the end of the chapter it says, “These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised.”  Maybe those who live by truly stepping out in faith will never receive their reward on this earth, but I believe God has riches stored in heaven for those who truly serve Him…riches that last forever and ever.

Today I’m going right into the heart of Chicago to start our first soccer camp.  I am so excited for this because the emphasis is not soccer.  Soccer is what is drawing the kids in but the mission is Jesus. I have such an excitement and sense of urgency, just realizing how many people need Christ. It is our destiny and responsibility to communicate the message of Jesus Christ to people.  We have the opportunity to influence people to pass from death to life. So I pray that I will keep this sense of zeal and urgency even when I’m tired and worn out- knowing that pouring into these kids will have an eternal impact on them.

Wish I could say every little detail about Brazil and what I’m learning but I just wanted to give you all a little update. God is so good and I’m so thankful for everyone who made it possible for me to come. I’ll put up pictures when I can..we have a photographer with us and I’m not sure how we’ll get ahold of those pictures. I’ll update this again and let you know how my first week of camp went!

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