Team Training
Thursday, June 4
Following four days of preparation, our last morning before departure began with the traditional "Cross Run". At 5:15am, our players (and staff) headed to the Prairie Path to do some running. What the players soon discovered was that they would not only be running 6 miles, but they would also be carrying three wooden crosses for most of the way.
To some, it may sound a bit crazy. However, to those who’ve participated, it is a powerful time of remembering what the cross is all about. Periodically, we would stop, and reflect on the message of the cross - and the hope and freedom we have as we follow Jesus, the one who paid the ultimate sacrifice for us.
Friday, June 5
After arriving in Rio, we took some time to meet with our main contact, before dividing into two groups. Half of each team (men’s and women’s) boarded our bus, and traveled up the mountain to Teresopolis. The rest of us relaxed and waited for our next flight - to Goiania. For those in that second group, it would turn out to be a much longer day, as we had a connecting flight in Brasilia, and another layover.
Following the 2-hour bus ride, "team Teresopolis" enjoyed a light training session, led by a professional coach from Rio. Their next few days would be filled with games, school visits, visiting an orphanage, and plenty of opportunities to share their faith.
For "team Goiania", there would be much of the same. However, since I am sitting in Goiania as I write this, it’s a bit easier to fill in with a few more details.
Saturday, June 6
Team Goiania - work awoke bright and early, ready to work with the boys and girls at Project Grow. Running a soccer clinic with Brazilian boys and girls can be quite an adventure - especially when directions get lost in the translation. Along with that, you will often have kids with some amazing skills. But we have learned that there’s always room for growth.
After working with about 70 kids, we spent time just hanging out, and sharing. It was a great start to an incredibly beautiful day (did I forget to mention that the weather was spectacular - blue sky and 75 degrees!
That evening, we planned to see a professional game, but a match for the Brazilian national team in Uruguay delayed the pro game for one day. They say you never want to schedule anything when the national team is playing - even another soccer game!
Sunday, June 7
After attending church in the morning, our teams were able to participate in some small-sided games with a local club. One of the main reasons we divided each of our teams in half was to provide opportunities for both men and women to connect with players in each location.
Our guys came up just short, falling 3-2, while the women definitely held their own with a 7-0 win.
Following the game, we had several chances to share testimonies, and encourage the players from each team. One of the very special moments came when one of our players, a Brazilian, was able to also share her faith. She had trusted Christ last summer when she joined us as a guest player. How exciting to see the transformation that had taken place over this past year!
Tuesday, June 9
After lunch, we all piled into the team bus and headed to a soccer park on the outskirts of Goiania for a ladies game against one of the better local clubs. Every time we arrive anywhere the attention is immediately drawn to the “Americanos.” While the girls got warmed up and ready to play, the guys ran out on the field to play with middle school aged rising Brazilian superstars. No words needed to be translated at this point, the soccer ball did all the talking. The opportunity to just cross balls into them, play keep away and 5 v. 2 with these kids felt like the most effective way we could show them genuine Christ-like love.
As game time neared, we scurried off the field and gathered at the corner flag for a team picture while jumping up and down and chanting “Campeau,” like we had just won the world cup. Mark led kids in a chant at the top of our lungs screaming “Chi – ca – go! Chi – ca – go!
Most of the guys headed over to the stands to continue to cheer on our ladies against Alianca, but I decided it would be fun to climb up on top of the little rooftop constructed over the Eagles bench for a front row seat vantage point. Before I knew it one of the feistiest little Futbol players was trying to climb up and join me. After helping him up I discovered his name was none other than, Ronaldo. He was a cocky little guy with a strong independent attitude. It wasn’t long ‘till the other kids shouting at us from on the fence soon made their way over and climbed up to join us.
I had to pause for a moment and let everything sink in. The rolling landscape was beautiful and the sun was setting. I was making small talk through one of the older kids who spoke broken English in between our screaming cheers when the ladies had a chance at a goal. After we managed to get through the “Where are you from? Are you a professional? How old are you? What position do you play?” questions they saw my tattoo and asked what “AGAPE” meant. Stumbling for words they’d understand I said, “God...love... Ama para Deos.” They got it. I continued to explain the verses on my cross where my testimony. They asked, “Christian? Evangelical?”
“Yes!” I responded with a smile.
The conversation drifted quickly back to which girl they thought was the best Futbol player. The mischievous comedian of the bunch asked if I could give him some money. I turned my pockets inside out to show him I didn’t have a penny, but this did give me an opportunity to hand each one of the guys a player card with my picture on the front and testimony on the back in Portuguese. They all read the cards right away and seemed to appreciate what it had to say. One of the boys stared right into my eyes with a look of peace that I’ve only seen when someone has Christ in their heart. He turned to our voluntary translator and had him tell me, “I love your story…it’s beautiful. I also love God.”
The night ended in a lot more Futbol, broken conversations with excited teenagers, watching a Futsol game and playing an actual game on a dirt field under the lights with a rough group. We even had some incredible opportunities to pray, but I had found what I had come for. I had seen the spark of life that only Christ can light and ignite in the eyes of one of His children. Different languages didn’t prevent it. Age difference wasn’t an issue. Appearance didn’t matter. The common love for a game had discovered a common love for God. I had found a friend for a moment in time, but a brother for eternity.
By: Josh Kimball
Wednesday, June 10
Project Children of the Heart
Psalm 149:4 -“For the Lord takes pleasure in His people; He adorns the humble with salvation.”
There are children who are beaten, abused and broken. The ones who should care the most for them are the authors of this mistreatment, their families. In Psalm 27:10 it reads; “For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the Lord will take me in.”
In Teresopolis, Brazil, the Lord has created a safe haven for some of these abused children at "Project Children of the Heart." Medical attention, nourishment and most importantly love is poured into these children to heal the broken body and spirit. An atmosphere of peace and complete love envelopes the entire house.
When we arrived to the orphanage we watched a video that showed the children from the beginning of their journey to when they were adopted. The photos were so impacting. It was amazing to see how God can heal the broken completely and restore their joy. After we watched the video the men and women were split up to begin our work. The men went outside to begin working on the house and help with simple maintenance and repair. They painted and stained the railings, and wall of graffiti and wood work. The women stayed inside to play and share their love with the children. We heard the story of three young girls, all sisters, who were brought to this place and how God worked in their lives. It was so beautiful to hear their story and know that God was taking care of His beloved daughters. After having spent the entire afternoon with them and sharing a meal it was time to part ways, but before left we prayed over Francisco and his family and they prayed over us.
The expression of joy on the children’s faces brought me to tears. The Lord is doing a mighty work through Francisco and his family for these children. They are truly held in the hand and heart of God.
By: Carolynn Tomlinson/Angela Kelly
Friday, June 12
We had the opportunity to share God’s word to so many people with the help of many translators, and they continue to be on our hearts even though we are no longer with them. The opportunities presented themselves as God opened the doors for us to share, beginning with a very wet and rainy game on Friday morning, June 12th. The rain began just as the game started at Campo Grande, and we knew it was going to be a long and cold morning. The women played a very tough game and were able to tie the game 1-1. As the women were playing the men cheered them on, but they also found time for fellowship with our translators. Once the women were done playing they walked to the side of the field and Bre shared her testimony. The women’s team then found shelter and spent time in fellowship with their opponents and cheering on the men’s team. During this time Heather B. and Davina were speaking with one of the spectators and started asking her what her favorite Bible verse was. She did not have one, so they began talking with her and sharing about Christ and how much He loved her, the blood He shed and that her sins would be forgiven if she accepted Him as her Savior...although this girl did not make the decision that day to accept Jesus the seed was planted. After the men finished their game Mark opened up to the men’s team and shared his testimony to them, encouraging them to make God the center of their lives and their purpose of living.
Later that evening we ventured off to one of the malls in Rio De Janeiro for a little bit of free time. When we stepped off of the bus the women’s team stepped aside and decided that since it was Valentine’s Day in Brazil, we wanted to show our appreciation to the men in our group for all of their hard work by spending 5 Reals (close to $10) on them. While we were trying to shop for them, the men had something up their sleeves as well. Before we got back onto the bus we congregated outside of the mall on the walkway. Similar to a 7th grade school dance, the men on one side and women on the other, we each presented the small gifts to one another and explained why. The little gifts varied from candies, coffee and balloons to fake flowers, silly photos and soccer balls. It was a great time of fellowship and to show God’s love to one another, as well as our appreciation towards each other.
By: Angela Kelly
Saturday, June 13
Returning to Vila de Conquista yesterday was such a gift from God. It was great to see a difference from the previous year in the conditions surrounding the area as well as the amount of children that attend the Saturday gathering. God had his plan yesterday and as we went to serve, but God also gave back to us. Before we stepped off the bus our prayer was, “Lord, use us in any way if you desire. Know that we are available to you and we desire to love on your children.” God was faithful and answered that prayer.
As soon as I got off the bus, the first woman I encountered had two young sons with her. I tried to talk with her, but discovered that she could not speak. This young boy of the woman who could not speak was very shy. I continued to try to speak with him and get near to him. I quickly sensed that he was filled with fear and didn’t want to be near anyone. I continued to ask the Lord to give him peace and allow him to be comfortable around others; I later found out that he could not speak either. God’s love flowed onto him and he was eventually able to leave his mom’s side where I walked him over to play some soccer. I was quickly shut down by the others when I tried to get him to play; they didn’t want him because he could not speak. I left him to kick around with Aaron and some other kids and headed to play with a young girl.
When it began to pour everyone came rushing under the tent where we were playing. As I sat on the ground I felt a small cold hand touch my shoulder. I turned around and saw it was that same little boy! I held his hand and walked with him. As we walked he stared at the ground. I really wanted to pray for him so I began to pray and let him know how much God loved him. While I was praying, I glanced down and saw him staring right into my eyes. I could feel the compassion of Christ looking through my eyes onto him. I thought, “God is so good, how special!”
I reached into my jacket pocket to give him my player card and realized I was wearing someone else’s jacket, it was Rick’s so I gave him his card instead. His face lit up. He kept pointing at it, signaling that he wanted to meet him. I led him towards Rick and as he spoke the boy stared at the ground. We laid hands on him and Rick started praying. Again, the little boy stared deep into Rick’s eyes. It was such a special moment to feel Christ’s love being poured out onto this child. Suddenly he attached to me like a child that has never been held before, not wanting to let go. Moments later we found out that this boy was not only unable to speak, but he also could not hear… yet he knew when we prayed! Thank you Father!
As I got onto the bus to leave, eyes filled with tears, I was reminded of Matthew 25:45 - "I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these, you did for me also.”
By: Mandy Lewandowski
Saturday, June 13
As I walked off the bus at Conquista, I was so amazed at how content these people were with their current conditions. Our hearts melted for these children who ran around the muddy ground, feet covered in dirt, with smiles on their faces. It was so incredible to see how each Eagle connected with a specific child. We didn’t know the language, but sheer joy was written on the faces of these children as we spend quality time investing in relationships with these children. There was little structure to the day, we just played soccer and enjoyed time with these children. We prayed for sunshine before we arrived on site; He answered our prayers and the sun shone bright on the field at the top of the mountain. We must be careful what we pray for though, during our time of sharing testimonies, rain began to pour from the sunny sky. We were forced to retreat to a tent until the rain ceased. This ended up as a blessing in disguise though because we were able to further connect with these people in the time of poor weather. The Lord is truly working in the hearts of these people and I am so glad that we were able to plant seeds that we believe will one day grow and be harvested.
Later that evening, we experienced the thrill of a professional soccer game in the heart of Rio. We watched Botafogo play Santos F.C. in a game that was full of excitement. The members of our team were shocked by the incredible fan support for the home side, Botafogo. There seemed to be a different cheer going for the entire 90 minutes of the game. Everyone in the stadium was in a jersey, flags were waving, whistles were blowing and there were more drums in the stands than an average collegiate marching band. We stood out a bit, to say the least, 18 relatively silent Americans in a sea of avid soccer supporters. It took nearly 80 minutes to see the first goal, yet this was quite an exciting match. It was an amazing experience that truly captivated the heart of this Brazilian culture. Go ’FOGO!
By: Mark Cabrera
Sunday, June 14
Our journey in Brazil would not have been complete without a few roadblocks from Satan, but he did not stop us nor slow us down. After spending the morning in Sunday school classrooms, we left for a scheduled game, at Campo Grande, against the same women’s team that we played against in the rain. It would be another great time for fellowship and to continue to show what sports ministry is on the field. Due to a misunderstanding, we were unable to play on the field that we were supposed to. For almost an hour we waited at the entrance and prayed that God would take control of the situation and it would be in His hands. As the women from both teams gathered to share testimonies while we waited, the men’s team continued to pray. The security guards watched the teams closely, and were probably very surprised that we were not rioting but instead praying peacefully. Thays translated as one of the girls from the other team shared her testimony, then Anna was able to share her testimony with everyone. The men’s team then began to share with the fans and church members, a few of them even spoke with and prayed for the security guards. After praying for a while we were told that we had to leave the field, and they were trying to find another location. God came through and provided a place for us to play, it was all in His plans. We were able to show the crowd gathering outside of the first field that we were different. We also had more time to bond with the Brazilian team and show them the love of Christ.
The women’s game was very challenging in the second half, because the Brazilian’s put their A-team in, but the Eagles overcame and won 1-0. At the end of the game Davina shared her testimony with both of the teams and as the men’s game began we all prayed together. The men played a high energy game and had a 2-0 victory. As the sky became dark, the men finished their game and gathered together to share about God. Two of the Eagles, Paul and Josh K., lead the group talk that night and three Brazilian soccer players accepted Christ without hesitation. Although we were tired and rushed to leave the field to make it back in time for Sunday’s evening service God made sure there was enough time for us to share at the end of both games. As we made our way into the church service we saw a few of the young boys from Conquista at the service, this was so great knowing they were there instead of running the streets. During the service the Eagles were called to the front of the sanctuary to lead in two praise and worship songs, and Cody shared about our experience earlier that day...
"It’s really comforting to know that we don’t need to take God with us, because He’s already there. He is always God, everywhere. So all we have to do is go, and show the people there that God is God. We love the game of soccer and play almost every day. When I was little I never thought that God would use soccer for his work, but today God proved that. We were waiting to play a game this afternoon, but we weren’t allowed onto the field. We all got together in prayer, and we said ’God you’re the God of this city, and we don’t know what you have in store but we want to do what You want us to do. It worked out that we could go to another field and play these teams. We had to wait a little bit, but that gave us time to play with the other players and then we were able to play a regular match. Afterwards we all circled up, both of the teams and two of our players shared about their lives and how Jesus has come and changed their lives. We asked if any of them would like to have Jesus change their lives as well and without hesitation three teenage boys stepped into the middle of the circle. That’s because God is the God of this city, and we’re trying to listen as best we can to Him. Right before Jesus left He looked at his people and gave them three places they needed to go. They needed to go to their city, the city closest to them and then to the rest of the world...that’s what this team is all about. We’re just trying to follow what Jesus is telling us to do, and as long as we keep listening and following Him, God will continue to be God and continue to work." -Cody Snouffer
Rick was asked to speak to the congregation about the Chicago Eagles, what we were doing in Brazil and what sports ministry is all about. After Rick spoke, a pastor gave the sermon. Although he was speaking in Portuguese, and we couldn’t really understand him, he was speaking the word of the Lord and the congregation was becoming really excited. At the end of his sermon the few boys from Conquista walked to the front at the alter and received Christ...God was certainly working that Sunday.
By: Angela Kelly
Monday, June 15
The Eagles were split in two for the day, while half of the men’s and women’s teams trained at the beach the other half went to a school in the City of God, one of Rio’s toughest neighborhoods. At the school they shared Juggling for Jesus. Since there was a bit of confusion as to where the school was located when the group arrived they only had 15 minutes to get right into sharing about God. The children received this well and enjoyed the short amount of time spent with the Eagles.
Later in the afternoon the groups had a chance to switch, those who trained at the beach were able to spend time at the same school with a new group of children...and this experience was amazing. When we arrived they started to bring the children out, and they were so excited to spend time with us. Some of the Eagles stayed back at the school with the younger children and the rest took the older ones to the field close by. This field was filled with neighborhood kids when we got there, but the love of the game brought us all together. We asked them to join us and started to divide them into teams. We spent a great amount of time just playing the game with them, but before we left we had a chance to talk with them about Christ. Again, using Juggling for Jesus as an icebreaker to talk about God, Ally then asked if any of the children wanted to accept Christ as their Savior. It was a beautiful moment and angels certainly rejoiced that day, because 3 boys between the ages of 8 and 10 accepted Him. Praise God that we went to the park, because those boys that accepted Him were not from the school, but from the neighborhood. This was a huge step and life changing decision that those young boys made that day, instead of being timid because of what others might think of them they were bold in their faith and stepped out to make that commitment to Christ. We pray that they can continue to walk in their faith, even though it will be a tough journey for them due to circumstances of gangs and drugs running the neighborhood. Even for those kids who did not accept Christ that day, we know a seed was planted and by faith (Pela Fe) we trust that God will finish the rest.
In the evening the team split into groups again, one group discussed and debriefed about what occurred over the past few days and the other group met with members of the church to teach them more about sports ministry. We found out that the women’s team struggled with some soccer skills. There was one girl that they have been trying to reach out to who was a spectator. She was interested in knowing more about Christ, but was still unsure. The women’s team also talked about how they were praying for a coach and how God provided them with a coach. The church members and soccer players were open to our advice and interested in what we had to say about our own struggles and perseverance. It was a great time to pour into them and give them encouragement to continue with their sports ministry in the face of adversity.
By: Angela Kelly
Tuesday, June 16
It was another early morning in Brazil when we stepped off the bus and walked into the park of Curicica. Many kids were either coming from or going to school, and the park was certainly the hangout spot for them. We wasted no time in jumping right in with conversations, a game of basketball, soccer (of course!) and playing on the fitness equipment. While most of us stayed at the park, some of the team went into the school nearby and shared about Christ’s love there. It was an awesome time of showing and sharing God’s love with these children. The side conversations that were occurring were remarkable, and after the ice was broken we started to dig deep. We asked the children if they knew of Jesus, and if they were saved. Some of them replied with, "my parents go to church, but I do not" or "I used to go to church, but I don’t go anymore...it’s too hard" and others said that they heard of him but did not know who he was. It was a great time to encourage those who knew Christ to really put their trust in Him and even though it might be difficult at times to never give up. A few of the children that day became new believers...they listened to one person share their testimony and then were seen praying with another person a few minutes later..those prayers were of salvation. What a beautiful morning God had in store for us.
We had a little bit of free time in the early evening and spent it at Copacabana Beach. At the beach we were able to walk around to the local shops and swim in the ocean. While at the beach a few of the girls were able to talk to a local girl and share the gospel with her. Before we left they also asked to pray with her, she said yes. It’s amazing to see where God takes us and has us share His word!
The church planned a soccer game to play against us for fun and as many of the Eagles said themselves, "this game was the most fun we’ve played in Brazil!" Everyone out on the field was laughing, smiling and enjoying the game. The joy carried into the stands as we watched how well everyone interacted with one another, even though there was a language barrier, we did not let that stop us! Once the women’s game was over we all gathered together to share God’s word and then spent time praying over one another and the ministry being built with soccer as a tool. The men were able to play two games, one against the younger guys from the church and the other against the older, more experienced men.
By: Angela Kelly
Wednesday, June 17
Our last morning spent in Brazil was great..we had breakfast together and then it was off to the beach for worship, and a beautiful baptism. Thays, one of the girls who played with the Eagles last year in Goiana and came to know Christ through her experience in 2008, was with us in our stay at Rio de Janeiro. Her trip to Rio was her first time leaving Goiana and earlier in the week it was her first time ever seeing the ocean! Thais had not been baptized before so our last day was the perfect chance to do that. After praise and worship, Mitch shared about the importance of being baptized then Rick and Thays entered into the water of the Atlantic ocean. The rest of the team waded into the water as well to witness her baptism, and when she came back up from the water the cheers were so loud that the other beach goers might have thought we were a crowd of fans at the Botafogo game! The smiles on both Rick and Thays’ faces were so bright and huge, the joy just shone from them! After the spending time at the ocean we headed back to the church to pack our belongings and say goodbye. Being with the church and helping spread the vision of sports ministry was an amazing experience. Everyone in the church was so helpful, caring, willing, fun loving and had hearts of servants. I can’t express enough how wonderful they all truly are and how much the Eagles appreciated what they did for us. We miss them a lot!
We headed over to Copacabana to see Christ the Redeemer and look out over the city that we just spent time working in. Since we had a few delays, we ended up seeing Christ the Redeemer at night, which made for an interesting experience. We climbed into the cable car and rode up to the top of the mountain, the air getting cooler as we went up higher. When we reached the end of the cable car ride we then had to walk up several steps to stand in awe in front of the Christ the Redeemer statue. The view was breath taking, to see all of the city lights with the clouds rolling right past us. The clouds would come and go, and very few times we could see the statue in it’s complete form. I thought of how this is true in life, even though we can’t see Christ we know that He is always there.
After riding the cable car down to the bottom, we loaded onto the bus for our last ride with Augusto (the bus driver). As we were riding along on the highway to the airport, the bus began to shut down on us. Augusto managed to pull the bus off of the road a little bit. After many attempts of trying to start it back up again, we realized that the bus wasn’t going to turn over. We all stepped off the bus and quickly began unloading our luggage, to re-load it onto another bus. Finally the bus was loaded and we piled back in to get to the airport. Saying goodbye to Augusto was difficult, because he was with us every step (or ride) of the trip. He did such a remarkable job driving and always greeted us with a smile and high-five. A few of our translators from the church came to see us off and wish us farewell.
Getting on the plane was tough...so many of us fell in love with Brazil and didn’t want to leave. We saw God’s work being done there and we hungered to do more. God has big plans for Rio de Janeiro, Teresopolis and Goiana. He is alive in those cities, we saw Him moving and He will continue to move without us there because He is God. There is a good chance that most of us will never see the people we met and shared about Christ with again, but by faith we know that God will do the rest. It is all in His hands. He is God of those cities.
By: Angela Kelly
Thursday, June 18 - Saturday, June 20
We arrived safely back in the states (Atlanta) on Thursday at 8 a.m. and flew into Chicago. The rest of the afternoon was spent catching up on rest and washing laundry. Many of us have become comfortable again while back in Chicago, warm showers and beds to sleep on. We’re back in our comfort zones with our cellphones, internet, the English language and food that we are used to eating. Hopefully the comfort of familiarity will not change the dynamic of the group. It was easy for us to share about God to those in Brazil, even if there was a language barrier, because we couldn’t directly hear them mock us if they did. Our trip to Brazil was a great practice run and training session for the rest of the summer.
On Friday morning we gathered together to use this time for reflection and debriefing about what we had experienced in those two weeks. Everyone had such unique and different perspectives of the trip, so it was nice to share and hear about them. The men played, and won, their first scrimmage since we came back from Brazil, against the club team One 7. After the game they had a great time of fellowship and joined us for dinner at the office.
We enjoyed a family style picnic together on Saturday after a few hours of training. It was nice for all of us to be back together, playing soccer tennis and ladder golf, enjoying each other in fellowship. We also were split into our first group for camps that week. The energy was so awesome, everyone was cheering and so excited for camps to begin. We were ready to get back into spreading God’s word through soccer in the Chicago areas of Moody, Oak Lawn and also at North Side.
By: Angela Kelly
Oak Lawn Camp
Sunday, June 21
We arrived at our church for the morning service and immediately we were introduced to the church, they were so welcoming. After church we had lunch together as our Oak Lawn team, the fellowship was nice and it was a great time to get to know our group even better. After lunch we went to the field and did a prayer walk. We prayed for the up coming week: the hearts of the children, the safety of everyone, the right words to say and the high energy to get through the week. That night we stayed at the church and had a great time. We took the time to prepare for our campers, writing out Bible verses and practicing the skit. It was really neat to see people taking the time to prepare because many of us had not done camps before. We wanted to do the best we could for our campers. The Church was so nice to us, and went above and beyond in every way. They gave us so much from giving up their time to providing food. The volunteers, wow, there were so many and they were there just to help us and to serve in any way they could! We made great use of them and everyone pitched in, they were so unselfish!
By: BreAnne Laypool
Monday, June 22
First day of camp! We arrived extra early to set up all of the goals, tents, obstacle course, and water jugs. We just wanted to make sure everything was set! Some of us were nervous, while others were anxious! Pastor Steve, who is the Chaplain for the Chicago Fire, arrived to give us our devotion for the morning, it was good! We had our quiet time by ourselves to spend with God. It was so great to have that time! After everything was set up we just waited for our first camper to arrive! I was standing by my bin waiting for my first camper when I heard Garrett shout, "Coach Somebody this is Dylan your first camper!" I remember giving a big cheer as he ran over and we gave each other a high five! I was so excited, because this was my first camper! Even though I’ve done camps before I’ve never been a coach at a camp, so it was so exciting to see him run over and give me a high five! I will admit the first day was a little tough and I became a little discouraged, because I had a ton of energy, but my kids didnt seem to want to get into it. But by the end of the day I had them going and it was such a relief! We did dribbling and the group wasn’t do to bad. They started off slow, but eventually they got it. We played "Knock Out" and "Storm the Castle." During our Bible time the kids seemed to really enjoy it, and for being 7 or 8 year olds they did really well paying attention! We learned about Peter healing the lame man. For my first day of camp it couldnt have gone better! The kids seemed to like me so that was a relief. When camp was over we pack up all the gear (this would become part of the routine for the week) and headed back to the church for lunch that they provided! Finally it was time to meet our home stay families. I was placed with four other girls (Jen, Laura B., Mandy, and Angie) and our host parents were George and Debbie Burns. They were so nice and definitely had experience hosting college age kids! Their house was so pretty, and felt like home for us. We ate dinner with Mom Deb that night, because Dad George was caring for a family friend. It was enjoyable to just sit and talk with her, getting to know about her and her family. It was nice to just sit, relax and enjoy each others company before we turned in for that night.
By: BreAnne Laypool
Tuesday, June 23
Tuesday at the Oak Lawn camp was a great day. There were about 35 to 40 kids on Monday and when Tuesday came around we jumped up to almost 50 kids at the camp. It was a huge blessing and a gift from God. I had age eleven and older for the week. We worked on passing for most of the day and it was very difficult for my group. Most of my group had never played soccer before and those that had stood out among the rest. There was one particular kid that stood out because he was the only kid to play soccer, the rest had never played or played other sports. So when we started working on passing I had to spend a lot of individual time with some of the campers so that they could really get the most out of playing. We played a few games during this learning time to make the time more enjoyable for the kids. We then transitioned into our halftime skit and devotion time. Tuesday was a day of learning our memory verse and talking about Peter denying Christ. My group was very distracted and uninterested in the story and what I had to say. The kids were more concerned about getting out on the field and playing. Once our devotion time was finished we divided up and went with our country teams for our continuation of our tournament. I was the coach for team USA and even though we had a very rough time winning games on Tuesday we still had a lot of fun. After being demolished on Monday we picked up two new players and they helped us compete a little bit better with the teams we played against. After the second game the entire camp took a break and we talked about the Eagle All-Star Attitude for that day, honesty. We told the campers to work on being honest in their game and in their lives. After the Eagle All-Star Attitude we took the field one last time for the day and tried to pick up a win for the first time of the week. We lost but the campers still had a really fun time. The day ended at about 11:55 and I sent the kids home reminding them to memorize their memory verse, Hebrews 12:1-2, and to come ready to have fun.
By: Jonathan Smith
Wednesday, June 24
Wednesday started out like Tuesday with a few new kids showing up to camp. That day we worked purely on shooting. All of my kids were so eager to start the day and work on shooting. Most of the campers had been asking me when we could work on shooting and were really intent on listening and learning how to shoot. We played a penalty shootout to begin the day and moved into more complex games that concentrated on form and accuracy. The kids really loved it and seemed to pay more attention to me and be more open to hearing things. It was a great morning and so I was hoping for an even better halftime and a great afternoon. After our games in the morning we moved into our halftime skits and our devotion time. I was really hoping my group would pay attention to me more today then they had in the last 2 days. The skit was really a great way to lead into what we talked about for our devotion time. In our devotion time we talked about God reinstating Peter and God giving us a second chance at eternal life by sending His Son to die for us. My group really paid attention during this time. I believe that getting a second chance at life was a new concept for them and the campers were really interested in learning more about it. I had a bunch of kids that went to a Catholic school and they had a lot of questions regarding Christ and what He did on earth. It was a great time and I felt that it was causing the campers to really think about their lives and if they need Jesus or not. My group really paid attention and listened very well. We finally got into the late morning and it was time to play another few games of our tournament. After playing one or maybe two games we stopped to talk about our attitudes when we win and when we lose. That was our Eagle All-Star Attitude for the day; what are our attitudes like when we win or when we lose? We finished the day with one last game and then I dismissed my kids for the day really looking forward to Thursday, decision day.
By: Jonathan Smith
Thursday, June 25: Decision Day of our first camp!!
Today was ‘Make a decision/Change of direction’ day. This is when we teach the campers how to change direction in the game of soccer but more importantly, change directions in their life. The past couple of days during our time with the kids we talked about God’s love for us and how He gives each of us second chances. Today we continued to tell them about God’s love and we also gave each one of them to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior. One little boy in my group, Jeffrey, made the decision to accept Christ and it was such an amazing thing. Mark and I both got to pray for him and encourage him in the decision he had just made. We finished up that day of camp and headed to team training. Today was a really fun day of training. We worked hard during the fitness but we also got to play games like ultimate Frisbee and shooters vs. keepers. After practice my camp, Oaklawn, rushed back to the church because the church was having an ice cream social. This was an opportunity for families to come and meet the coaches but also for the kids to have loads and loads of ice cream. We got to talk about who we were and what God had done through us during the past two weeks. It was really great to meet the parents of the kids that we had been with for the last week.
By: Lauren Bowling
Friday, June 26
It’s Friday also known as the craziest day of camp! Today at camp it was just one big fun day. The kids played a couple of different scrimmages against each other in the morning. Later on in the day the fire truck came and soaked each one of us as we played a big game of coaches verses campers, of course we won. Then we gave each of the campers a ball and took time to sign each one of them and say our goodbyes. I got the opportunity to talk to Jeffrey’s mother who was very excited to talk to me. She told me that when Jeffrey came home from camp yesterday he told every person he saw that he had accepted Christ. It was awesome to see someone as young as Jeffrey getting so excited about the gift that he had just received. When camp was done we drove to Lake Michigan where we would be training for the day. The girls team trained on the “beach” as they call it here. We played soccer in the sand and then went for a very long team run. We stayed together the entire time encouraging one another. The most amazing thing about the run was the last mile. During the last mile some of us just broke out in prayer. We praised God for anything and everything. I was amazed that in that last mile, when I wanted to just quit, God gave me the strength to push on. This also made me realize how thankful I am that I have strong Christian women as my teammates to help me focus on the Lord instead of relying on myself. Training ended and we made our way to the house we are staying at for the weekend, the Morrow’s. We have been truly blessed with the families and houses that God has provided us with meeting. Each family is so incredible and is willing to give up so much for each one of us. God truly is the God that provides.
By: Lauren Bowling
North Side Camp
Sunday, June 21
Today was such an adventurous and laidback day. We didn’t need to be to the church service until 5 PM, so we were able to explore a little bit of downtown Chicago. During the day, we visited the Lincoln Park Zoo, walked around the Moody Bible area, saw the Lamborghini store and had a fabulous lunch at Alan’s favorite Thai restaurant. It was a lot of fun and a great opportunity for our group to bond before the beginning of our first camp week.The church service went really well. The pastor, Tom Barrett, spoke about “fanning our faith into flames” from 2nd Timothy. The church itself is a new branch of Holy Trinity and the congregation is slowly growing. There was an overall feeling of reverence and peace among the church culture. The church seemed very excited to begin the camp week and hoped that this opportunity would connect them to the surrounding community. After enjoying some fellowship after the service, we all went to our host families to get acquainted and enjoy some dinner together. The three staff girls, including myself, stayed with the pastor and his family. The first night we enjoyed a big pasta dinner and shared our stories with each other.
By: Jozi Ozurumba
Monday, June 22
The first day of camp was a lot of fun, even though we had only ten campers. We started off the session with an OOOC (Official Olympic Obstacle Course)!! The kids got really into this and we challenged them by recording the time it took for all of them to get through. Then we gave them the opportunity to break that time. To make it more exciting, the coaches decided to compete against them and see if we could beat their time. We did end up beating them and they really looked forward to a rematch on the following day. We also started off the day with sharing our coaches names: FreeWilly, Stretch, SpiritFingers, Zumba, Simba, Curly, Ridiculous, and Chopsticks. Can you guess who Coach Ridiculous was? No other than our friend Josh Neidermeyer! The kids really got a huge kick out of him and he really got into his character. Coach Simba (Alan Walker) asked the kids to make a loud lion’s roar each time his name was said. Speaking of lions, our theme of the day was going on an “African Safari.” We tied this theme in with our dribbling drills and games. For an example, we played the game “Alligators and Hippos”, which is very similar to sharks and minnows. Also we had the campers pretend that they were going to visit different types of animals, on a safari, while they were dribbling. Due to the hot and humid weather, it took the campers a little while to get into camp and they struggled with staying focused on the activities. We did Bible time together as one big group, which seemed to work out really well. All in all, I felt that the first day of camp was very successful. We are excited to see what God has in store for the rest of the week. We are all hopeful that more campers will join on the next day.
By: Jozi Ozurumba
Tuesday, June 23
Tuesday began with another creative obstacle course to help the kids warm up. We had gained a couple of campers, but we still had small numbers. After a couple of rounds, the coaches challenged the kids’ time. Unlike Monday, however, the coaches lost. The soccer skill we taught the kids was passing. Since Monday’s safari theme had worked so well, we decided to make Tuesday’s theme a journey to outer space – we tried to get the kids to imagine passing as shooting down alien space ships. Then, in one passing game, there was an alien team against a space commander team, and each was supposed to pass the ball to knock down cones to defeat the other team. In another game, all of the campers had to pass the ball into a goal, or else they were taken captive by the aliens. Since the day was very hot, we had skit time down in the basement of our partner church, which was across the street. The skit involved the super hero class going to visit a planetarium where Captain Muscles was expelled from the school because he broke Robin’s egg (made of whipped cream). Then, in groups of boys and girls we discussed how Captain Muscles’s disobedience of the school rules, which resulted in separation from his class and his teacher, was similar to the way in which Peter’s denial of Jesus separated him from Jesus. We talked about how we have all disobeyed God’s law and are separated from Him, and we all need a hero to save us. Finally, we had the Olympic games of the day, in which the three teams competed against each other. The kids really enjoyed this part of the day. After camp was over, we ate lunch together and debriefed the day in the church basement. Then, after spending an hour and a half on the beach of Lake Michigan, mostly in solitude or conversation with each other, we drove to Wheaton, where both the guys and the girls teams had a game. The guys tied 3-3 against Inter FC, and the girls lost. After the game, we drove back into the city for a night with our host families.
By: Samuel Trihus
Wednesday, June 24
Wednesday, known as “Whacky Wednesday” at all Eagles camps, is the day where both kids and coaches are supposed to dress wacky. Our theme was “under the sea,” and we were dressed accordingly. In Wednesday’s obstacle course, the kids again triumphed. They were beginning to catch on well to many of the course’s tricks. Coach Simba, the creative genius of the group, was able to incorporate our ocean theme into his soccer teaching time, which was about shooting. We played a couple of shooting games, including knockout shootout, which is similar to “knockout” or “bump” in basketball, and shooters vs. goalies. The campers were especially excited about the latter game, which was kicked off by a demonstration game of male coaches vs. female coaches. During skit time, Professor Awesome found Captain Muscles and let him back into superhero school, despite having said the day before that Muscles would be kicked out forever, and nothing he did would get him back in. We compared this to Jesus reinstating Peter, and talked about how much God loves us, and how he forgives us and calls us back to follow Him even when we disobey. Since some of the kids from the high school adjacent to our field had expressed interest earlier in the week in playing with us (their summer school classes finished at the same time as our camp), we had planned to play with them for a while. When they did not show, we went down to the church basement for debriefing, and then we went to Evanston, where Mitch ‘s (the MAI staff member at our camp) Aunt and Uncle lived. Their son (and Mitch’s cousin) Wes was one of our campers. In Evanston, we watched the US national team beat Spain, we hung out together at a park on Lake Michigan, and we went to Mitch’s Aunt and Uncle’s house for pizza.
By: Samuel Trihus
Thursday, June 25
On Thursday everyone dressed up for Jersey Day as they learned the theme for the day: how to change direction with the ball. One game that was played was
called Storytime. This is played within a square. Each side of the square is given a different word in which the coach is to make a story out of those words. When the kids hear one of those words, they must change direction quickly and get to that side before they have to change direction again. Here kids had to focus on looking up and listening as well as changing direction at various speeds. Campers not only learned how to change direction with the ball but with their lives as well. During halftime the coaches performed a skit about how being a hero does not consist of the big things, but the little things that we do for people. We don’t have to be strong and mighty to be a hero. Once we brpke into our small groups, the coaches talked about the need for a Savior, Jesus Christ, in our lives, and that He is our one true hero. He is the only one that can save us from our sin. We also emphasized God’s agape, or unconditional, love for us in that He died for us, and that the only way to get to Heaven is through Jesus Christ himself. It’s not through acts, but by faith through Him alone. During this Bible time, we offered the campers a chance to give their lives over to God. After that, we prayed together and then we were off to the Olympic games! Kids were split into 3 teams: England, Spain, and Sweden. Each team plays each other once every day. The kids enjoyed this part of the camp because they could finally use what they had learned all week. This was their chance to go crazy and have fun. It was their chance to represent something and be oart of a team. It was fun to see how the campers grew throughout the week and how much they had improved. It was amazing to see how God worked in such a small camp!
By: Alyssa Morrow
Friday, June 26
Friday’s theme was camp t-shirt day. In the beginning, we took a couple group pictures: one with all thre campers and staff smiling and the other with us acting goofy. After that, we had an obstacle course for the kids to do. Every day, the campers would un through an obstacle course a couple times, improving their time each time they went through it. Every day, the coaches would compete with the campers to see who could complete it in the least amount of time. By Friday, we were tied 2-2, so this was the determining match. This obstacle course dealt with making an ice-cream cone, and they campers had a blast with this. They started out jumping through hula hoops until they got to their orange ice-cream cone. Then they had to fill it with vanilla ice-cream, aka, their soccer ball. Throughout the course they would add sprinkles to it and whip-cream (squirted with water), and end the race by kicking their soccer ball, or their ice-cream, into the goal. To the coaches disappointment, we lost. We did not let this affect us for too long because we knew that there was to be a re-match ofanother game later that day: the coaches vs/ campers olympic soccer game! We had played the campers earlier in the week and tied at 2-2. This was our turn to get them back! It turned out that the coaches won that game 2-1, so both teams had something to brag about that day. Friday was a special day because kids displayed how much fun they truely had at camp from how they prayed and thanked God for the fun time at camp and how they did not want it to end, to campers bringing us ice cream and cookies to show their appreication. I believe this week of camp was a life-changing experience not only for the campers but for the coaches as well. It was the end of an amazing first week of camp, and the start to many more!
By: Alyssa Morrow
Moody Camp
Sunday, June 21- Tuesday, June 23
“Are you guys ready to have some fun?”
“Yeah”
“No no no. I said ARE YOU GUYS READY TO HAVE SOME FUN?!”
“YYYYYYEEEEAAAAAHHHHH!!!!”
This was the dialogue between Director Barbershop, AKA Matt Barber, and the rest of the 80+ campers at the Moody Church Chicago Eagles soccer camp on Monday morning. I had never run an entire soccer camp before but the enthusiasm oozing from the 4 to 14 year olds was palpable and I was ready for a week of fun filled games and excitement. The night before the camp began the group of about 20 of us gathered together in the largest dorm building at Moody College to figure out the age groups we were working with, but perhaps more importantly, our super cool coaching names. After a bit of debate everyone got their age group and I was going to be running around with the Mighty Mighty Micros with Coach Wolfman and Coach Rice and Beans (Josh and Leandro) there for the ride as well. Oh, and my coach name? Simple. Coach Dr. Booya! If you knew me this would make much more sense but I guess we’ll say that it fits nicely with my personality. Anyways the Mighty Mighty Micros consist of 4-6 year olds and I quickly realized that they require quite a bit of energy to keep under control and out of micro-sized debacles. My prayer for the week was that God would simply provide me and the rest of the staff with the energy we needed. Well, prayer works. We made it through the week with flying colors. During the camp halftime each day, where we talk about the life of Peter and the role of Jesus, our ultimate Hero (our camp theme this year is Heroes), we presented the gospel through unique kid-oriented skits. All of our heroes, Springy, Lacey, Blockhead, Super Spud, Kung Fu Kimball and Professor Booya (myself), did a great job at conveying messages revolving around the themes of honesty, a second chance, saving a life, and loving others. It’s incredible what a little wit, a bunch of energy, crazy character names, and flailing bodies can do to get kids to understand the life saving message that is Jesus. All in all, it was a magnificent first week of camp with a lot of soccer, fun, and fire trucks (we had one come Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday to cool the kids off via hose). But most importantly, we had kids make eternal decisions for Jesus, and as much as we love soccer, we stand grounded in knowing that Jesus, unlike soccer, is everlasting.
By: Mike "Dr. Booya!" McGinnis
Wednesday, June 24 - Friday, June 26
All of the coaches were dressed up in their funky Whacky Wednesday outfits. Some of the costumes included a pumpkin outfit, karate uniform and even bath towels as capes. The energy was high and even the kids echoed with their whacky clothes. My personal favorite was Noah, age 5, who had the courage to wear his underwear on his head...needless to say, he was the whackiest camper. Today’s skit was on second chances. At the end of the skit are hero left the stage and my age group (4,5,6) were really worried what would happen to our super hero. It left a great chance to minister to them and to share the story of Jesus rebuking Peter. We were working on shooting today and we were going to play our first shooting game. The first shooting game that we were doing was "Get That Trash Out Of Our Yard!" The kids were slow to start, but then it went crazy. The kids were yelling and screaming, "get that trash outta my yard!" At a distance it may have looked like chaos, but the joy and excitement of the kids was incredible. By the end of the week that game was a favorite of the kids.
Today was a very cool day, because most of the kids that participated in Whacky Wednesday really dressed up and went all out for their favorite superhero. When my kids started to arrive I usually have time to play a small sideline game, but today was different. The kids instead really wanted to show me their favorite costume. Hudson, one of my campers, was King David, which looked like a Roman commander. Brandon was Batman and Noah was Spiderman. Hudson’s costume turned out to be homemade, which was almost unbelievable. Eventually all of the campers arrived and we began teaching them how to change direction/make a decision. This was a little bit of a challenge for my age group, but in the end they did have a lot of laughs and smiles while playing the games like Story Time and Lumberjacks and Giants. Eventually it had reached snack and skit time. Before this week started we, as a group of coaches, prayed for this day to leave an impact in the hopes for eternal life for these children. We were able to share the story of Peter and sinking in the water. By the end of the story I was able to explain how important the cross is for me and that faith in Jesus is the only thing that can save you. Of the group of kids, only a few had not accepted Jesus into their hearts. When we were making our transition to Olympic games one of our kids, Samuel, went up to coach Booya and wanted to accept Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. This is a life changing moment for Sam, but a memory that I will never forget!
Friday, what a day! We started out with playing a tournament with our Olympic teams. We played five games all together and in the end it was a penalty kick shoot out for the World Class League, Italy won! Our skit for the day just talked about how we can be a hero to others by doing simple things like working hard and even praying. Then it was time for the Eagle All-Star Attitude Awards, followed by a coaches game. At the end of the day, the fire trucks came by and hosed us down. The children absolutely loved this part of the day. To wrap up camp we passed out t-shirts and soccer balls to the kids, each coaching signing them and writing verses for them. We said our final goodbyes and Noah left the camp in tears, being upset that it was the last day of camp and that the week was over. It was another encouraging moment to us coaches, to see that we had such a huge impact in that little guys life.
By: Josh Woltmann
