Hey friends!
Hope all is well with you wherever you are. We're in Singapore right now and its raining - a rare sight for Craig & I to see.
So much has happened since the last time I posted and I'm not quite sure where to start but I will begin by saying a huge thank you to all of you who have been praying for us and helped financially support us allowing us to partner with not only Christian Vet Missions in Mongolia but also with Athletes in Action in Thailand.
Our time working alongside of the local AIA staff Sao (pronounced Sow) was very interesting and encouraging. She has quite the ministry in Chang Mai and countless opportunities to impact her community and local athletes. Craig & I worked together to conduct several basketball clinics at schools where she is busy building relationships and sharing Christ using sports as her in. There were some long days but the schools were so appreciative and it was a fun opportunity for Craig & I to coach basketball together and share a bit of our life stories and how faith has changed our lives with the athletes in attendance.
We spent about 10 days in Chang Mai and then travelled further north to Nong Chai to a Sports Conference where men & women from Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Mynmmar, Singapore, Vietnam & the USA came to learn more about how to use sports as a vehicle to create positive change in their communities and challenge athletes and fans to consider the impact Jesus Christ might have in their every day lives. I was asked to be one of the speakers and lead a session on Discipleship Through Coaching. It was very amazing to see so many gathered from many different countries - passionate about their faith and desiring to spread Jesus' love - even when many of their countries vehemently oppose Christianity or religion of any kind. The gentleman from Mynmmar spent 25 hrs+ travelling to be at this conference - including walking for many kilometers just to get to the closest bus station. It was also very exciting to hear many of the things these people have been doing with limited funds, facilities and staff. Many are running huge soccer leagues and tournaments that include athletes sharing testimonies and weekly Bible studies, others are helping to facilitate KidsGames (an internationalling recognized children's program teaching children spiritual values and friends through sports and games. To-date, over 4 million children in more than 150 countries have participated in KidsGames). Craig & I had the chance to encourage and be inspired these young men and women and had very interesting converstaions throughout the week learning about the politics in their countries and the challenges of being a Christian. I also really enjoyed my time teaching and sharing about the many opportunities a coach has to influence athletes in a positive way and how to integrate sport and faith.
From the conference, we headed even further north to communist Laos to do some outreach work at the Southeast Asia Games. We had a team of 12, Sao, Craig & myself as well as a number of staff from Bangkok's Campus Crusade for Christ came along. We spent 6 days talking with athletes from all over SE Asia and giving them a DVD with famous Christian Olympic Athletes sharing their life story and the role faith has played in their growth as both an athlete and as a person. The whole experience was a lot of fun including watching asians play table tennis! Craig & I also got a chance to take in a sold out soccer game of Laos vs. Malysia (I thought the SK RoughRider fans were crazy but this was maddening - they love their soccer!)
If you could continue to pray for all the athletes we were able to talk with over the course of the month we spent with AIA - that would be awesome - that their hearts would be open and questioning of the bigger questions in life and that there would be local Christians to follow-up.
Its late here now, so I'll sign off for now and catch you up to speed on the rest of our travels through Laos, Southern Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore!
