Focus: Athletes in Action February 2010

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1 Focus: Athletes in Action February 2010 WHAT IS AIA? Athletes in Action is a global pioneer, innovator and servant leader in sport ministry. Our mission: One World to Reach, One Language of Sport, One Message of Victory. WHAT IS AIA S GOAL? Giving 100 million people annually the opportunity to hear the gospel. Building a global movement of 15,000 spiritually mature athletic influencers. HEADQUARTERS LOCATION: Xenia, Ohio WORKFORCE: 373 U.S. staff members WHERE DOES AIA WORK? On nearly 100 U.S. college campuses With 35 U.S. professional sports teams In 85 countries LEADER S PERSPECTIVE: Sport continues to be one of the unspoken languages in the world today through which the gospel can speak the clearest and loudest. - Mark Householder, Athletes in Action president FOR MORE INFO: Tom Mills Worldwide Challenge The Great Commission Global Prayer Movement See each monthly issue at

2 Ted Wilcox Worldwide Challenge Questions! We have been getting a lot of them lately. The two common ones are easy to answer, but challenging to apply. Since taking on this new assignment for AIA in the last six months, there have been two frequently asked questions of Marianne and me. So, how can I pray for you? Over the last few years we have been convinced that our greatest need is to be humbly dependent upon God. This is the desire of our hearts. Throughout the Scriptures, God places great value on a person s heart condition (evidenced in 1 Samuel 16:7 when David was selected as King of Israel). And the heart condition that finds favor with God is humility. The Scriptures make it clear that God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble (1 Peter 5:5). God desires people who are full of faith, believing and trusting in Him and displaying dependence upon Him (John 15:5). That s the kind of people we desire AIA s staff members, disciples, associates and volunteers to be! So, what is your biggest challenge? The answer to this question might surprise some, but the biggest challenge is myself! My tendency is to get in the way of what God wants to do, and I have been pretty good over the years at messing up God s work. But effective self leadership means, among other things, that I am making sure that my heart is humbly dependent upon God and His resources. And yes, that is the answer to frequently asked question #1! The fulfillment of our mission building spiritual movements everywhere through the platform of sports is dependent upon God multiplying our leaders (whose effective self leadership places their hearts in a humbly dependent position) so that every sport team in every nation has a committed follower of Jesus Christ. That s a tall order, but with effective movements of humbly dependent prayer, anything can happen! Mark Householder President, AIA USA Monday, February 1 2 Corinthians 4:1-3 February 6 - Super Bowl Breakfast: Pray for sold-out seating and a clear gospel presentation. Tuesday, February 2 2 Corinthians 4:4-6 Undergird with prayer all follow-up initiatives from decisions made at the Super Bowl Breakfast. Wednesday, February 3 2 Corinthians 4:7-9 Pray for Olympic Village Chaplaincy and outreach of Winter Games begin Feb. 12. Thursday, February 4 2 Corinthians 4:10-12 Pray for production and distribution of World Cup evangelistic DVD The Prize Chasing the Dream and Real People Real Faith booklets. 2

3 A good place to get a small but flavorful taste of God s work, deserving fully alert prayer Athletes in Action continues to produce a variety of media tools to take advantage of heavily followed global sports events. One of these special opportunities to communicate the gospel is this month s Winter Olympics. Then in June soccer s 2010 World Cup will present AIA with another vast international audience for Christ s message. Consider this recent indicator of media s ministry effectiveness: During and before the BCS college football championship game last year, AIA had more than 79,000 visits to our evangelistic Web site, BeyondtheUltimate.org (BTU). A combined total of 27.1 million impressions were counted through the BTU Web site, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, banner ads, etc. Join the staff, volunteers and athletes of AIA in praying for effective utilization of these media tools and supernaturally receptive viewers and audiences: Especially throughout this month, pray for a BTU outreach, featuring Winter Olympic athletes. Pray for athletes to compete well and those who follow Christ to use their platform to share their faith. Specifically pray about continued expansion of the Olympic section of the BTU site, which will lead to other athletes, sports and countries participating further. Pray for an evangelistic DVD being produced and to be distributed at the World Cup this summer. AIA has a need to find translators and complete the faith stories of some athletes. Ask God to cause continued ministry effectiveness through Facebook, using AIA fan pages. Ask God for viral promotion of the BTU site - people telling others through Facebook, blogs and Twitter. Pray for funding to be able to effectively market the BTU site through advertising. Also pray for creativity in capitalizing on the popularity of various media on the Internet and other new media resources, to effectively impact the world for Christ via sports. May many people commit their lives to Jesus and indicate so on the BTU site. Also lift up in prayer the chaplains who will seek to minister directly to athletes at the Olympic Games and World Cup related activities. Friday, February 5 2 Corinthians 4:13-15 Pray for recruiting of athletes and coaches to travel on mission teams this summer and their effective outreach. Saturday, February 6 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 Ask God for volunteer leaders and alumni to help lead teams around the world, work on campus and host events. 3

4 EVERY ATHLETE By the time you read these words, a new type of Athletes in Action Web site already will be rushing for huge gains. In mid- January 2010, www. EveryAthlete.com went live. The site is a joint project of AIA s IT Department and the US Campus Ministry s Campus Partnerships. The purpose is to highlight life stories of athletes from around the nation. During 2009 the project design team interviewed more than 70 athletes from all over the U.S. Each is involved with AIA. Most of the stories are not about famous Beyond the Ultimate athletes (see BeyondTheUltimate.org), but all have a story to tell. And not all of them are typical testimonies. Expect stories of tragedy, eating disorders, and a variety of challenges faced by real athletes following Jesus. EveryAthlete.com was conceived in prayer and will reach its potential for building spiritual movements everywhere, with ongoing prayer backing: 1. Praise God for enabling launch of this new Internet tool and opportunities to collect so many stories. AIA Canada and the Mountain West TV Network have been a tremendous encouragement! 2. Pray that we would be able to market the Web site well via Facebook, etc. 3. Pray for the athletes who are stepping up to tell their stories. Pray for their protection from the enemy, who would love to interrupt the transforming impact they can have. These interviews are with athletes at all stages of their walks with God. 4. Most of the featured athletes are not household names. But pray that individuals interested in the sports the athletes compete in--or topics they talk about--will thoughtfully watch the videos. Pray that God will be glorified and that people will come to know Him through EveryAthlete.com! Sunday, February 7 2 Corinthians 5:1-5 Hold up in prayer AIA s spiritual development of students to take leadership on their campuses. Monday, February 8 2 Corinthians 5:6-10 Pray for athletes attending winter retreats, needing a spiritual jump start in their walk with God and commitment to the ministry. 4

5 AIA currently serves in 83 countries outside the U.S. and Canada AIA is building spiritual movements to and through the platform of sport: Pray for God s protection, wisdom, health and favor to be upon AIA staff and volunteers in Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America. Pray for AIA leadership to grow as men and women of faith, transformed into the likeness of Christ. Also pray for capacity to be built in each country to develop and support spiritual movements. Hold up the Global Leadership Council in prayer as this group seeks to lead AIA ministries outside the U.S. Global AIA bigger picture: Pray for great wisdom surrounding the World Cup outreach, which holds awesome potential to reach far beyond the actual June competition in South Africa. Lift up this summer s AIA camp in South Asia, leading into October s Commonwealth Games outreach. Ask the Lord to use sports to glorify Himself everywhere in richly resourced movements of nationals. Intercede for those taking great steps of faith and wisdom to lead sport ministry in sensitive or restricted locations. Guy Gerrard Worldwide Challenge Tuesday, February 9 2 Corinthians 5:11-13 Uphold EveryAthlete.com in touching people s physical and emotional needs, showing that only Christ can heal them. Wednesday, February 10 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 Legends of the Hardwood Breakfast during the Final Four: Pray that speaker and awardees communicate with clarity and power. Thursday, February 11 2 Corinthians 5:16-17 Pray for Athletic Training Students Leadership Camp in Ohio, July 25-27, to make a long-term impact on students and the sports profession. Friday, February 12 2 Corinthians 5:18-19 Pray for U.S.-Guatemalan medical professionals video conferences, a follow-up to sports medicine and strength & conditioning clinical tours. Saturday, February 13 2 Corinthians 5:20-21 Praise God for the movement in the basketball community in West and East Africa, through efforts of the local staff and our coaching clinics. Sunday, February 14 2 Corinthians 6:1-2 May AIA clinics result in multiplication of spiritual leaders and local staff finding favor among basketball federations throughout Africa. 5

6 Our purpose is to wrestle for the glory of God. Cam McElhany, who led a mission trip to Guatemala with Athletes in Action. Ted Wilcox Worldwide Challenge Monday, February 15 2 Corinthians 6:3-10 Ask God to give men and women professional basketball players across Europe, Russia and the 10/40 Window desire to partner with our staff. Tuesday, February 16 2 Corinthians 6:11-13 May these pro players (above) use their status and influence to start spiritual movements on their teams and in countries where they play. Wednesday, February 17 2 Corinthians 7:1-4 Pray the Holy Spirit would empower the AIA Basketball department to help train and resource these players (above) to be spiritual multipliers. Thursday, February 18 2 Corinthians 9:6 Pray for wisdom as AIA Basketball explores starting professional teams in Eastern Europe and nations in the 10/40 window. Friday, February 19 2 Corinthians 9:9-11 Pray about AIA ministry involvement at the Men s and Women s World Basketball Championships in Turkey and Czech Republic this September. Saturday, February 20 2 Corinthians 9:12-15 Ask God to go before us and provide divine appointments as we minister to the world s top basketball players and committed fans (above). 6

7 My Prayer Life Notes... My prayer requests... People I m praying for... Answers to prayer... Sunday, February 21 1 Corinthians 9:23-25 Pray for the AIA Track and Field ministry to raise up 100 athletes and coaches to go on a project or tour during Monday, February 22 2 Corinthians 10:15-18 Pray for mobilization of elite athletes and coaches to build spiritual movements in Cameroon, Puerto Rico, Fiji, Kenya and Guatemala. Tuesday, February 23 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 May our Volleyball staff grow by two over the next two years and have a greater impact on the global volleyball community. Wednesday, February 24 2 Corinthians 13:1-4 May Christ s gospel capture college and pro tennis players hearts around the world and draw faithful servants into tennis ministry. 7

8 As long as I am able to take individuals who are drawn toward the NFL and redirect them and allow them to gaze on the face of Christ, then I am fully excited. Brian Clark, Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Read about his ministry with college students in January/February 2010 issue of Worldwide Challenge magazine. Thursday, February 25 1 Corinthians 15:58 Pray about our Tennis Academy in South Asia as well as the finances and planning details for all AIA summer trips. Friday, February 26 Hebrews 12:1-3 Pray for preparations for and powerful results of an AIA Wrestling trip heading to minister in Mongolia in May Saturday, February 27 1 Corinthians 1:26-29 Intercede for our new site. Pray for its real-life stories to glorify Jesus and develop a following. Sunday, February 28 1 Corinthians 9:24 May the Lord watch over and provide for the staffing, financial and health needs of all who make up the global AIA family. Let s talk about ways you can see Global Prayer cultivating prayer in your movement! On the Web at: Global.Prayer@ccci.org (407) Woerner Great Commission Prayer Center Campus Crusade for Christ 100 Lake Hart Drive 2100, Orlando, FL 32832, USA PRAYING FOR YOU Our network interceding from the Prayer Center and around the world. PRAYING WITH YOUR TEAM Mobilizing a new 24/7 Prayer Movement. Helping provide on-site prayer for conferences and ministry events. TRAINING YOUR MINISTRY TEAM Prayer Leadership Seminars (downloadable) recently upgraded with revised manuals and visuals. EQUIPPING YOUR TEAM FOR PRAYER Monthly Movements Prayer Journal highlights one geographic area or Campus Crusade global strategy. Now downloadable in English and Korean! us to subscribe to e-reminder service. Providing a selection of ministry requests online for use movement-wide. Send us yours! 31-Day Global Prayer Initiative: Daily prayer topics focusing on some of the most challenging situations in today s world. Download in English or Spanish! Were these prayer requests helpful to you? Each monthly issue of Movements Prayer Journal offers current prayer needs from another part of the Campus Crusade for Christ worldwide movement. Get an reminder when the next issue is ready. Sound good? Just send your name and preferred e-address to: global. prayer@ccci.org, subject line: Subscribe. View some of the latest prayer requests and praise items from Campus Crusade for Christ ministries around the world and sign up for a one-hour slot in around-the-clock prayer for top ministry needs by visiting: Be certain to register, then click the 24x7 Calendar button Campus Crusade for Christ