2020 Blog 8

I forgot to mention on my birthday post that this was the first year in 12 that I have spent my birthday at home in Texas (not overseas on a Mission Learning Opportunity in The Balkans.)  It was nice to be at home for a small, peaceful, quiet celebration.  Although I miss my brothers and sisters overseas and they have taken care of me on my birthday those 12 years, it was good to be with my bride and just veg on the couch! Relationship Series: American Football   What a blessing the American Football Relationship Series has been to connect with the coaches and players overseas since we were not allowed to travel to them and conduct the summer camps. In May I started interviewing 65 high school, college and former NFL players and coaches from across the country as well as team chaplains, pastors and ministry leaders, who I asked to share a devotional for each interview. The series got so popular with coaches and players here in the states, desiring to be a part of it to share their lives, their love of football and their love for family and God, we had to break up the series into three sections of 8 interviews/devotionals (24 total.) We just finished Series 1 and had a live Coaches Round Table Q&A Webinar that was attended by over 20 overseas participants live.   Below is the link to the Relationship Series: American Football and the line ups for each. If you are interested in watching any of the interviews, go ahead and do the simple registration and it will provide you a password to view each of the sections. Equipment Ministry We have a huge praise in our Equipment Ministry. Requests from all over the world continue to come in, although we are in delay mode currently, we are preparing those requests to send out, once all the restrictions are lifted. We have received requests from a University in Nigeria for American Football gear; American Football gear request from Papua New Guinea and Bulgaria; Soccer request from Malawi; Baseball equipment request from Romania and Kashmir. We are blessed God has collected all the equipment He has to meet most of the needs of those requests and will be praying over all of it as it leaves our hands and travels the distance to be received by those who will be touched by His love through these gifts. We currently have sent over 120,000 pounds to 33 countries and with the addition of these, it will take use close to 40 countries across the world. Also, something we raise our hands up in praise, is that after close to 10 months in transit, the baseball equipment finally arrived in Nigeria to our dear brothers with Double T Baseball and Softball in Iloran. We sent this shipment off back in August and it arrived on the shores of Africa in June. These two boxes of equipment have been around the world and we are just thankful they have made it into the hands of those who are using it for His Glory. The pictures below show those there in Iloran receiving it and then going to the authorities the gifts they received. We plan to ship more there soon and will pray for a quicker delivery time, LOL, but we also know that it all is in His hands and will travel at His pace. Below is a beautiful thank you letter from our brothers in Nigeria. God has blessed us with a beautiful relationship of brotherhood! Remember, Pray, Pray, Pray; without it, all those tasks, reflections, things to do will become worries and distract God’s purpose for your life. Join me in celebrating life with Him and then walk out life with Him, where He leads you to go! Have a wonderful God filled day! HE DID IT! David