From South Dakota to Guatemala!

Good morning, everyone! 

Nola and I have just gotten back from Colome, South Dakota, where we had the privilege of being the missionaries for the week at Calvary Chapel’s annual Vacation Bible School. Tomorrow I head for Guatemala for another school project in Amberes, Guatemala. More on that in a minute.

The South Dakota VBS Experience

This was the first project with Nola since she retired, and it was great having her available to do the whole VBS experience. Since children’s work has been a big part of Nola’s ministry through the years, she felt right at home working with our good friends from many years, Keith and Judy Moody. Keith has pastored at Calvary Chapel for many years, and we have been invited multiple times to partner with the church in mission endeavors. So it always feels great to reconnect with the Moodys and quite a few from the church.

On the last day of VBS, Keith Moody and his wife Judy posed for a picture with Nola and me (with our VBS t-shirts!).

The Lord is My Shepherd…

The theme for the week centered around the life of David as a shepherd and Psalm 23. In our missions moments with the kids, we highlighted stories we’ve had with cowboys, the Kekchi Indians in the jungle, soccer evangelism, school projects, and women’s ministry. The kids were very attentive and learned how to “ride bulls” of commitment and initiate spiritual conversations with a couple of key questions we ask in our groups. Here are a few pics from last week.

This boy rang the church bell to signal to all the kids that it was time to line up and start the day together.

Here the kids lined up to head into the church building to start the first day of VBS.

Besides being an expert horse trainer, Keith sheared sheep for many years and had some dogs who knew how to round up sheep by responding to his voice. Here, he shows a video to illustrate how sheep reacted to his dog moving to his command.

These two friends prayed for each other in response to one of our mission stories of kids praying for each other in Guatemala.

Nola divides a group for an activity before doing a missions story.

Craft time is a huge part of VBS at Calvary Chapel as they have a tradition of making nativity figures each year. If a child hits three or four years in a row, they will have made all the figurines for a nativity set.

Here is a presentation of the nativity set that the kids worked on for the week.

On the last day, the kids sang for their parents and shared what they learned during the week.

Nola and I stayed out at the ranch of Randy and Jen Shippy. Randy (pictured praying on the right) raises professional rodeo bulls, and two of his sons are now professional bull riders. So one night we got to see them practice in their arena!

Riggin Shippy rides a bull and gets encouragement from his dad and his brother (Riley) and a couple of other bull rider friends.

Prayer Requests for Our Team in Guatemala

As you read this update, I am likely traveling to Guatemala. I will be joining youth and adults from Iglesia Damasco (Damascus Church) of Rinconcito, Guatemala, to minister to children in four schools in the Santa Rosa region. Originally I had planned to have a team from Kansas City go with me, but because of unforeseen calendar challenges, none were able to go this week.

While all of us were a little disappointed, we realized that God is likely raising up some leaders to follow up on the open doors we have in the schools in Guatemala. Currently, we have permission to go to 75 schools in the department of Santa Rosa and would be hard pressed to take North American teams to even a third of those in a year. So we believe God is raising up young people with a passion to take this ministry on.

Please pray for us this week. We sense God is up to something good. And I hope to share how it goes when I get back home.

Thank you for your continued prayers and support!

Love y'all!

Steve

PS…If you would like to invest in this ministry, you can give through the link below or send checks to:

Daybreak International, 11628 Oakmont St., Overland Park, KS 66210

On the last day, I thanked the church for inviting us and for supporting us. I shared how they could partner with us and continue to pray for us in the coming days.

Update From Guatemala!

Good morning, everyone! 

As I write this, I am still in Guatemala! I have a couple of days left before flying home, so I thought I´d write you a quick update of what we have been doing the last couple of weeks. Then I will tell you about a project that is coming up soon!

Reed Family Update and Guatemala Scout Trip

Good morning everyone! 

Much has been happening behind the scenes in the past couple of months in our lives and in ministry. Perhaps the biggest changes have been taking place in the Reed family! So here’s a quick update and a request for your prayers as I leave this coming Friday, April 10th, on a two-week trip to Guatemala.

On Nola’s last official day of work, her department at the National Association of Insurance Commissioners threw a big send-off party for her and a co-worker who also retired in March.

Nola Has Retired!

As of March 2nd, Nola has retired from her job of 33 years! I was grateful that her co-workers invited me to come to a big retirement party they threw for her. For several hours I heard person after person share how much Nola made a difference in the company and how much they will miss her. What a privilege it was for me to hear those testimonies first hand!

Now Nola is trying to figure out how this next chapter of life will unfold. She looks forward to having more time for investing in the grandkids and for shared ministry both locally and in being able to go on more mission trips with me to other places.

One of the first things we did after Nola’s retirement was to take a trip with our Omaha family to Washington DC. Here we are on the balcony of the Capitol building at night. Seeing many of the historical sights was great, but it was even better doing it with part of our family. As you might recall, Kolanya (pictured with the smiley face) is our newest granddaughter, who arrived from Thailand on Christmas day! She is adapting well to our family, learning English quickly, and we are enjoying getting to know and love her. According to the adoption protocol, once the six month mark arrives, we can reveal her face. Pictured here from left to right are Josh, Kolanya, Kristin, Landon, Brayden, Nola and me.

Scouting Trip Planned with Cesar and Eduardo in Guatemala

Eduardo Mejia and I shared a moment last year when he was at Lenexa Baptist to connect with many of us who have gone to Nicaragua on projects related to Project Hope in Nicaragua.

On the ministry front, a couple of my trips scheduled for January and for the spring had to be rescheduled, so during the past couple of months, Cesar Gonzalez has been continuing to follow up with our groups and leaders in various parts of Guatemala. I am thankful that this weekend I will be meeting Eduardo Mejia (our great friend from Nicaragua) in Guatemala to make the rounds with Cesar to prepare for several of our upcoming projects. One of those projects is prepping for another big soccer tournament in Guatemala. You might recall that Eduardo leads a ministry in Nicaragua that has organized evangelistic soccer tournaments. Two years ago, we did one in Guatemala that was a huge success. So we hope to be ready to do another one this year.

Beyond the soccer ministry, we plan to touch base with some of our cowboy friends and leaders in several public schools, then take a few days to go to the jungle and personally visit some of our Kekchi friends who are starting churches in several remote locations. When I go on a trip like this, Cesar likes to use the time for us to encourage and prepare for the future teams that we plan to bring. If things go as planned, the rest of the year will be very busy as we have a June public school project, a potential group leader training project in July, and a church to church project in September.

Thank you for your continued prayers and support! We couldn’t do it without you!

Love y'all!

Steve

PS…I have really enjoyed the “MAPS” process that Bill Burrows created for 2026. I’ve especially liked the way the online version works, allowing me to do my daily scripture commitment with ease. If you are interested in trying it, click here.

PSS…If you would like to invest in this ministry, you can give through the link below or send checks to:

Daybreak International, 11628 Oakmont St., Overland Park, KS 66210

2025 Giving/Thank You Statements

Good morning everyone! 

As we get into the new year, I want to send a quick note about a change in our procedures in sending out what I call our annual “Thank You” statements. They are more commonly called “Giving Statements.” But we want you to know that with every giving statement comes a huge “Thank You” from all of us at Daybreak International and Play.Story.Eat. Ministries.

As of this year, we are sending out our giving statements by email. For a few of our supporters, we don’t have an email address in our bookkeeping, so we will send those statements through the mail.

If you are expecting a 2025 Giving Statement, check your email(s) to see if you received something from us on Tuesday, January 27th, from playstoryeat@gmail.com. (You may need to check your spam folder, too.)

If you didn’t get one, let us know and we will gladly send it to a different email or by regular mail.

Thank you again for your generosity in 2025! You made a big difference, and we are grateful.

Love y'all!

Steve

PS…Stay tuned for upcoming updates on a couple of spring mission trips and other happenings!

PSS…If you would like to invest in this ministry, you can give through the link below or send checks to:

Daybreak International, 11628 Oakmont St., Overland Park, KS 66210

Reed Adoption News! and 2025 Play.Story.Eat. Recap

Good morning everyone! 

I hope you had a very Merry Christmas! We sure did. The biggest Christmas news in our Reed extended family is that on Christmas day, our son Josh and his wife Kristin, (along with grandsons Brayden and Landon) came home from Thailand with our newly adopted eight and a half year old granddaughter! In keeping with the rules for this adoption, we can’t post her name or any pictures of her face yet, but here is a family picture they took last week in Thailand together.

From left to right is Kristin, Landon, our new granddaughter, Brayden, and Josh

On the ministry side of things, we have so much to be grateful for as well. After we sent out our November letter to our donors, we realized that we hadn’t shared some of these highlights from 2025 on this update. So here is a short recap of the year with a few pictures.

January/February Scout Trips in Guatemala

In January and February, several of us made a couple of exploratory trips to Guatemala to set up future ministry. The most notable is in a partnership with the James Project Children's Home in Monjas, Guatemala. Expect to hear more in 2026!

I got to join into a group pic the kids at the James Project Children’s home in Monjas, Guatemala on a day we did cowboy activities with the kids.

April 2025 Rio Blanco, Nicaragua

In April a team of nine of us from Lenexa Baptist Church teamed up with about 25 Nicaraguan friends associated with Project Hope in Nicaragua to do a soccer tournament in Rio Blanco. Over those few days there, 336 people prayed to receive Christ! Stay tuned for more info about another soccer evangelism trip in 2026!

On the first day of our soccer tournament in Rio Blanco, Nicaragua, this is one of the first games played after an evangelistic introduction to the day invited hundreds of players and coaches into praying to receive Christ and stepping forward to let our team know of their decision!

September 2025 Amberes, Guatemala

In September, a team of four from LifeQuest Church in Belton, Missouri joined us in a school evangelism project near Amberes, Guatemala. Going class to class in several schools, we saw 349 children and adults accept Christ! Cesar Gonzalez is working on the follow up to this amazing response.

Here, our team poses for a picture with a teacher and her class in a small rural school near Amberes, Guatemala.

Church to Church Partnerships

New partnerships are in the works between U.S. and Guatemalan churches for evangelism and discipleship. The first one for the year will connect Samaria Church of Rinconcito, Guatemala with LifeQuest Church of Belton, Missouri. In September of 2026 a celebration is being planned for these churches in Guatemala!

Here, pastor Eddie Gonzalez, of Samaria Church In Rinconcito, Guatemala, speaks with his uncle, Cesar Gonzalez about the desire for their church to receive evangelism training from Cesar in 2026, and then to have a mission team come to culminate their year of evangelism with a a church from the United States. Those on the left in the picture are the team from Lifequest Church in Belton, Missouri. Stay tuned for more info!

Rural Church Partnerships

We plan to continue several partnerships with rural midwest churches in "Be-the-Church" and Disciple Multiplication Movement training.

Joel Wentworth, pastor of Burwell Baptist Church in Burwell, Nebraska, opens up the meeting of a Rural Church Leadership meeting in October.

Year-round Mentoring of Leaders

We will continue to work behind the scenes in serving local churches through conferences, coaching, leadership development, and the PSE prayer team. And note that in Guatemala, Cesar Gonzalez will continue to travel the country to mentor and encourage leaders among soccer players, bull riders, ranchers, and Kekchi pastors.

Here, Cesar speaks to an agriculture class studying the best practices in coffee production. This particular day Cesar spoke on Romans 12:1 and having your mind transformed by God.

Continuation of Scripture M.A.P.S. in 2026!

Bill Burrows gave us a complete year of scripture “MAPS” in 2025 and is proving one based on the Habits of Replicating Disciple Makers for the new year! 2026 Scripture MAPS - Daily direction from God for Replicating Disciple Makers.

This is the menu board at the “MAPS” coffee shop in Lenexa, Kansas! No relation to us at all! But a great place to drink coffee and look at maps from all over the world!

Please know that without your prayer and financial support this past year, much of this would not have happened. Thank you! God has been incredibly gracious to us and a big part of that comes in having such great friends like you walking alongside us.

Let us know what God is doing in your world these days. As always, we love hearing from you, so keep those cards and letters coming!

Love y'all!

Steve

PS…If you are wanting to get a final end of year gift to us, remember that anything postmarked by December 31st counts towards 2025 giving.

You can give through the link below, or checks can be sent to:

Daybreak International, 11628 Oakmont St., Overland Park, KS 66210

Guatemala School Evangelism Update

Cesar Gonzalez and I share a mountain view near a village called Buena Vista (Good View) with our LifeQuest mission team. From left to right are Cesar, me, Tim Goulet, Mari Edmonds, Jimmy Mitchell, and Jolene Mitchell.

Good morning everyone! 

I just got back from a mission trip with a team from LifeQuest Church in Belton, Missouri. And what a trip! For me, it almost didn’t happen because of a “trip” I took down the stairs a few days before flying to Guatemala that left my knee wrenched and me trying to figure out which end was up!

But by God’s grace I was able to go and hobble along. And during our time together, we ministered to five schools in seven days, and saw 349 children and adults pray to receive Christ!

While we had prepared to do more discipleship talks and follow-up on the relationships with kids and teachers in the schools we were in a year ago, due to some logistical issues, Cesar decided to schedule us to go to several smaller schools near Amberes, Guatemala, that we had not been to with a group. So, we adapted our plans and shared the gospel with the kids, parents, and teachers of each school. And their response blew us away!

Are These Numbers for Real?

If you are like me, it’s hard to believe that so many would respond with a “yes” to the gospel in such a short time. Maybe you are asking, “How can this be so easy? Are we just making converts and not helping them become disciples?” These are good questions.

While I don’t want to pretend that we are experts or that we have all the answers to how to do this, I will say that I have been involved in projects like this for over 25 years now, and I can say that Jesus’ words recorded in John 4:35 ring truer now than ever. When the disciples asked Jesus about food after he had had an amazing spiritual conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well, Jesus said,

“Open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest!”

God is Doing a New Thing…

Guatemalans have been very receptive through the years, but to me it seems like their receptivity has gone to an even higher level in recent days. And as so many are responding, we know that the only thing holding the harvest back is the laborers to bring it in and to help new believers grow in their new faith. Jesus also said,

“the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Pray that the Lord of the harvest will send forth laborers into His harvest fields” Luke 10:2.

Trusting God as We Play.Story.Eat.

Our strategy was very simple. In every school we visited, we played, we told stories, and we ate with the kids, parents, and teachers. Typically we would start in the classrooms at about 8am each weekday. Cesar would take two of our team members, and I’d take the other two, and we’d each spend at least an hour and a half with a particular class.

Testimony Times Really Connected…

While we usually did something fun to break the ice, when we got to the testimony times, because of the kids’ attentiveness, we spent most of the classroom time sharing our stories and talking about how we can each receive God’s gift of salvation through faith and trust in Jesus. We talked about sin. We talked about how we all deserve hell because of our sins. And we talked about how Jesus forgives and offers eternal life to all, not forcing anyone to receive His gift, but giving us a choice to receive it or not.

Child-like Responsiveness…

And in simple, child-like faith, they prayed to receive Jesus’ gift of salvation. Typically after the prayer time, we’d switch classes and repeat the process. Then around noon, when the kids would be leaving to go home, Cesar had arranged for us to eat together. In most cases, the teachers and a couple of parents would cook for everybody, and they’d invite us to help pat out some tortillas! Usually, by the time we got to eating, we’d connected so well that many were inclined to tell us their stories or want to keep talking about what we just experienced together.

The Blessings of a Rainy Season Pace…

Because it typically rains almost every afternoon at this time of year in Guatemala, Cesar didn’t schedule for us to go to any schools in the afternoons like we did last year with a Lenexa Baptist team in August 2024. This extra breathing room in the schedule allowed us to not have to leave a school in a hurry and to be able to have lingering conversations with the teachers and directors of the schools. I will highlight a few of those stories below.

Before I unload the pictures on you, let me mention a couple of upcoming events.

Upcoming Events…

This week, Bill Burrows and I will be traveling to Burwell, Nebraska, for the annual Rural Church Leaders Conference October 11th at Burwell Baptist Church. We will lead breakout sessions on The Habits of Replicating Disciple Makers.

Closer to home, Bill Burrows is practicing those disciple making habits in Avondale, MO, a town he moved to last year. It’s surrounded by Kansas City and has about 350 people. God has given him a team of people that prayer walk several times a week asking God to draw people to himself and to send more laborers to Avondale. If you would like to get better at making disciples, let us know or join us in Burwell.

10:02 PRAYER

(Pray Luke 10:2 each day at 10:02 am or pm that the Lord of the harvest will send out laborers into His harvest fields!)

Please pray for Cesar Gonzalez and the teachers and believers who will be continuing to impact and lead the children and adults in their new-found faith in Jesus.

Pray for our plans to return to follow up with another team from LifeQuest Church, Lenexa Baptist, and maybe even your church! If you are interested in participating in some aspect of this kind of a missions trip, or helping us schedule a new trip, now is the time to let me know!

Ask God to send workers to Avondale, MO, and to glorify himself there.

Love y'all!

Steve

PS…As always, thanks for your faithful support! We couldn’t do this without you.

You can give through the link below, or checks can be sent to:

Daybreak International, 11628 Oakmont St., Overland Park, KS 66210

Our Mission Trip in Pictures…We Played!

Our first day in the school in Buena Vista, Jimmy took on a whole class on the teeter totter!

Songs were always a hit.

The team was adept at shaping balloons for the kids.

Often, before shaping the balloons, Tim would have a competition to see who could actually blow up a balloon!

This game had a boy and a girl put their “face” on while blindfolded. Their partner had to coach them along the way!

This girl carefully pulls out a wooden piece in the game “Jenga” in this school near Santa Cruz Narranjo.

Tim makes a balloon dog for a little boy.

In the larger schools like this one in Santa Cruz Narranjo, making balloons at the end of the day was quite a production.

These four boys keep an eye on the three chairs in the last couple of rounds of a game of musical chairs.

We “Storied”… Sharing Testimonies…

Cesar talks to the kids about one of Jimmy’s stories while he was in the Navy before coming to know Jesus.

Cesar introduces Jimmy and Jolene before sharing their testimonies to this class in a school near Amberes.

Jimmy and Jolene’s faith story was a very rocky one. Just three years ago they were at the point of divorce. Because of a friend’s recommendation, they went to LifeQuest Church and not only found help to save their marriage, Jimmy found Jesus and friends to help him grow in his newfound faith. They now lead a small group in their home and are happily serving others in ministries through LifeQuest.

Here, Mari is patting out a tortilla. Mari’s story includes the pain of abuse and trauma that fueled a drug and alcohol addiction. Six years ago, she and her husband Matt came to LifeQuest for a Christmas program and within a month found Jesus. She has been sober since and grateful that she and Matt are both seeking to follow Jesus together and finding places to serve in the church.

Eddie Gonzalez, pastor of Samaria Church near Rinconcito, Guatemala, introduces Tim before he sings a song in both English and Spanish with their Sunday worship team. Tim is the youth and worship pastor at LifeQuest, and on this trip he had several opportunities to speak and lead in music.

Here I’m talking about how a gift is not automatically ours just by believing all the correct things about the gift. It only becomes ours when we receive it and open it and enjoy it.

Here I’m leading the children in a prayer of salvation.

Cesar liked having me reenact my fall and share my verse of scripture that I memorized from Ecclesiastes 4:9-10, that “two are better than one…because if one falls, the other can pick him up.” Here the kids are helping pick me up off the floor after “falling.”

After my example, Cesar called for volunteers to fall and then have others pick them up!

I winced thinking about how these boys were “helping” pick up one of their friends by the legs and arms!

We Ate! … A lot!

At the school in Buena Vista, the team gets their first taste of “Chuchitos” (meaning “little dogs”) a Guatemalan version of a tamale that was made especially for us.

At Cesar and Elba’s place in Amberes, Elba fed us like kings.

Linda, one of the school teachers at La Linea, a school near Amberes, was adept at grilling one of the most delicious meals we had all week.

Jolene makes her first tortilla!

Tim got the prize for the best gringo-made tortilla!

Here, the entire school ate together with the parents.

Jimmy and Jolene scoop out the beans and the noodle salad for our last school of the week.

We Made Some Great Friends!

At the end of each day, the kids were quick to share a hug with the team.

Kendi (bottom left), the teacher of this classroom, and the acting director of this small school, was one of our favorites. Her love and dedication for the children went above and beyond her job.

Tim and Mari pose for a group picture with one of their classes in Buena Vista.

Marisela (center), the principal of the school in Buena Vista, wanted us to see the view from this spot near the cabin that she and her husband built. A couple of days later we met her husband and daughter there to see the sunrise.

Awaiting the sunrise on the porch of Marisela’s cabin. In the middle is her husband Danilo and Briana, their daughter. They offered us the use of the cabin anytime we wanted for meetings or retreats. Danilo said that they want their cabin to be used as a place for people to find God.

The clouds did give way for Danilo to snap this brief glimpse of the sunrise.

Thanks for reading this to the end! And thanks again for your prayers and support!

Love y’all!

Steve

While in Guatemala, we enjoyed the opportunity to see the Chiefs get a win!

Play.Story.Eat. Summer Update

Good morning everyone! 

The last time I sent you an update (at the end of April), we were coming off a huge evangelistic soccer tournament in Rio Blanco, Nicaragua. Since then, several noteworthy things have happened. So this is my attempt to share some of those happenings and highlight how God has continued to bless.

Pastor’s Discipleship Retreat

In late May in Parkville, Missouri, we did a small retreat to help pastors and discipleship leaders collaborate on how to sharpen their effectiveness in making disciples in their various ministry settings.

Almost everyone on the retreat has been on regular Zoom calls with Bill and me for more than two years. This was the first time to be all together in person. As a result of that retreat, several partnerships were formed for facilitating more training on Disciple Making Movements (DMMs). Stay tuned for more news about that in the future!

Guatemala Soccer Followup

Ever since our big Guatemala soccer evangelism trip of 2022, we have been trying to encourage follow-up to the many decisions made. Much of our efforts have focused on Monjas, Guatemala, where we have a mixture of friends doing cowboy ministry, soccer, a children’s home, and several churches that we have partnered with on various projects.

The week of July 2-10, we funded Eduardo Mejia and Eyner Garcia, of Nicaragua, to spend a week with Cesar Gonzalez, connecting the dots in various projects in Monjas. I wasn’t able to be with them because of a long anticipated trip with Nola and 11 of her family members to Spain. (More on that in a minute!)

Since both Eduardo and Eyner were instrumental team members with us in the preparations for the tournament we did there in Monjas two years ago, they were perfect for tagging along with Cesar and speaking from time to time to players and coaches. Since Eduardo is a key leader of Project Hope in Nicaragua, an added bonus was for him to meet some of the key Guatemalan leaders at the James Project Children’s Home in Monjas where we have begun partnering in the last few months. Here’s a few pics of theirs.

Family cruise from Spain To Italy and France!

From July 9-19, Nola and I had the privilege of traveling with 11 of her family members to Spain, where we got on a cruise that made stops along the Mediterranean Sea in Italy and France. Our trip started off in jeopardy due to the cancellation of our main flight to Spain from Dallas. In spite of the 24 hour delay and multiple traveling mishaps in Spain (including getting on the wrong train and one of Nola’s sisters getting pickpocketed of all cash and credit cards!), we still managed to get to our ship with 5 minutes to spare!

I am grateful that our family handled all the traveling curveballs with grace and good humor. Fortunately it did get better! It certainly was a trip that none of us will ever forget!

Hope you are doing well this summer. Let us know what God is doing in your neck of the woods and how we might join you in prayer.

Love y'all!

Steve

PS…Thanks for your faithful support! Even without communicating ahead of time for funding Eduardo and Eyner in Guatemala with Cesar, your steady generosity made it happen! Muchas gracias!

You can give through the link below, or checks can be sent to:

Daybreak International, 11628 Oakmont St., Overland Park, KS 66210

Nicaragua Soccer Evangelism Trip and May “MAPS”

Here is our Nicaragua soccer evangelism team from Lenexa Baptist right before heading to the soccer stadium in Rio Blanco on Saturday, April 25th. From left to right, you have me, Brian Griffin, Cassity Griffin, Tim Dykman, Heather Mitchell, Jake Solem, Eli Shay, Tony Shay, and Hallie Griffin.

Good morning everyone! 

Our soccer evangelism team from Lenexa Baptist just got home last Sunday night from a week of fast and furious soccer and evangelism in Rio Blanco, Nicaragua. Over the course of the week, we partnered with Eduardo Mejia and a team of 38 Nicaraguans from Project Hope to put on a two-day “Furia Santa” (Holy Fury) tournament. All told there were over 200 teams, more than 1500 players, and hundreds of spectators. Along with the Project Hope team, we partnered with 108 volunteers from local churches in the Rio Blanco area who worked alongside us to talk with people in the stands. As a result, we got to see over 336 people pray to receive Christ!

May Scripture “MAPS” Info

Before I share the story of our Nicaragua trip in pictures, let me say that our 2025 experiment to provide monthly scriptures for a daily conversation with Jesus is now heading into May. I can’t believe how fast this year is going! Below are the links that can get you going. Note that if you haven’t done this before, you can jump in at any time and benefit from this process. FYI, we will have our monthly “MAPS” Zoom call this Sunday, May 4th at 4pm for anyone who would like to meet with several of us doing the same thing.

• Register for Scripture MAPS here

• May 2025 MAPS template available here NOW

• Zoom link for a call on Sunday, May 4th, at 4pm

Thanks so much for your prayers for our Nicaragua team. It was one of the most enjoyable trips I’ve been on, and a large part of that was because of how well our team gelled with each other and with the Nicaraguans in such a short time. As you will see from the pictures below, we had an amazing adventure!

Love y'all!

Steve

Nicaragua Trip in Pictures!

Before loading the bus in Managua for our 6 hour drive to Rio Blanco, we took this picture of our Project Hope team. An advance team had gone before us the day before to prepare for the rest of the group to follow.

The only real travel mishap of the trip came when our bus arrived at the stadium to get through a narrow gate, and the front left wheel slid into a concrete ditch!

Thanks to the ingenuity of our driver and a couple of mechanics, they were able to jack the wheel up out of the hole and put a board under it to drive it out!

Praying Over the Stadium

On the evening before the tournament, Eduardo Mejia (pictured on the right) directed our team and the church volunteers to walk through the stands and over the field to pray for every person who would come to the tournament and that many would come to know Christ.

From the stands you could see our team walking the field to pray.

Meeting the Mayor and Her Team

The evening before the tournament, the mayor (the woman in the scarf) and her leaders arranged to feed the entire team, and while we waited on the food, they gave us a brief history of Rio Blanco.

Before going to bed the night before the tournament, the drama team did a run-through to be ready for the next day. From left to right are Jake, Eli, Cassity, Brian, Eynor, Meli, and Eduardo. Hiding in the back were Heather and Hallie.

Pregame Preparations

The morning before the tournament began, Eduardo gave instructions to the volunteers from other churches.

The trophies sit at midfield as the players and spectators arrive.

Eduardo (left) and Rene (right) take a a quick photo with the city sports director of Rio Blanco. Rene worked with Eduardo on the tournament logistics and visited Rio Blanco several times with Eduardo in preparation.

The referees pose for a picture for the local news before the games begin.

Before the games, the mayor’s team is recognized at midfield.

The mayor says a few words of greeting.

The DRama

Genaro announces that a team of North Americans and Nicaraguans will do a drama. The mayor’s team stands in the background.

The demons have a tug of war over Meli.

But when Jesus shows up, he casts off the demons…

…and takes away her chains of sin…

…restoring her and setting her free.

And at the name of Jesus all will bow down to Him.

The Gospel in the Ball of Many Colors

Following the drama, Eduardo shares a gospel message using the ball of many colors.

At the end of Eduardo’s message, he leads the crowd in a sinner’s prayer and invites them to raise their hands if they prayed the prayer and meant it.

Here are several boys continuing to hold their hands up.

Our team of counselors from the churches helped people fill out decision cards.

Here, Melvin, one of our interpreters, helps several girls write down their information.

Another volunteer helps a couple of players record their decisions. These two players wound up being on the team that won the men’s division.

Here Hallie took the picture of one of the girls with her card. Each person making a decision was encouraged to get their picture taken with their card. This will be used for the churches to follow up.

Eli takes a picture of another who made a commitment to Christ while Heather looks on.

Spiritual Conversations in the Stands

Brian and Cassity Griffin talk with a young man as Diana interprets for them.

Tim uses the message of our team shirt to share the gospel message with several older boys.

Eli looks on as one of the church volunteers shares with a player.

These ladies pray for several young men.

Jake shares his written testimony with a young man as Jenni translates for him. In the forground are Hallie and Heather.

Diana and Cassity get their pictures taken with these girls who prayed to receive Christ.

Brian shared the gospel with this girl who later wanted to get a picture with us right before her final game to win the tournament. I think she liked the idea of having Eli in the picture with her!

Let the Games Begin!

A view from near the sound board.

Eduardo and the sound guys keep the communication flowing as Eduardo keeps track of the brackets.

As these boys play, in the background is the Musun mountain that is the main landmark for the region. Several rivers start in those hills and they flow to water the surrounding areas.

The big field was divided into eight smaller fields and each team played 5 players at a time. Each game lasted about 10 minutes, so games went by quickly to narrow down the teams to the finals.

Here a girl is being taken off one of the fields to be checked out after a hard fall. Thankfully there were not too many injuries over the two days.

A view from the stands as the men played their final game for the championship.

The Joy of a Team that works

On the last night of the trip, a game of charades became a big hit. Here Hallie holds up a cell phone with an item written on it for the others to act out and for her to guess.

Here a boys team prays before their game.

Before the final for the younger boys division, Rene and the referees share with the boys a sportsmanship thought and then a prayer for both teams.

Before the men’s final, Rene leads in a prayer as both teams stand together.

Each night our team had a devotion and a time for sharing. Here, Melvin (center in black shirt) shares how earlier in the day he and Eli had two younger boys overhear them present the gospel to two young men who were not ready to pray to receive Christ. As Eli and Melvin were about to walk away, the two boys tapped them on the shoulder and said that they wanted to pray the prayer that the other guys didn’t want to pray!

The Trophy Presentations

The trophy presentation for the boys winning team.

Because of the wind, all the banners kept falling over. Here, Tony keeps one of the flags from blowing over.

In almost every area, there are people helping that no one sees. While the trophy presentation is going on, Tim, Heather, Diana, and Cassity keep the banners in place.

The players on the first and second place teams all got medals. Here, Tim, Tony, Eli, and Jake greeted the winners as they got their medals.

The women’s MVP received her trophy from the mayor as several ladies from city hall and our three ladies looked on.

Here’s the men’s winning team with the officials from city hall in front of the trophy for first place!

You can give through the link below, or checks can be sent to:

Daybreak International, 11628 Oakmont St., Overland Park, KS 66210

Thanks for making it to the end of this! Now YOU deserve a medal!

Our Lenexa Baptist team want to say thanks to you for your faithful prayers!

Guatemala Update, Nicaragua Trip, and More “MAPS”

Good morning everyone! 

I have a lot I’d like to share with you, but I will attempt to keep it short. After I got back from Guatemala at the end of February, my mother had a small stroke (a TIA, they call it) and I have been spending a little more time, along with my sisters, helping Dad care for Mom. Fortunately she is doing better, and I have been getting back to a more normal schedule.

Today, I’d like to share a few pictures from that trip with Ray Gurney, pastor of Cross Creek Baptist in Oak Grove, Missouri. We had a great time and were able to follow up on several projects. We made the rounds between the children’s home in Monjas, our cowboy friends in several places, a senior adult center in Santa Cruz, speaking to a coffee growers class in Barberena, and a motorcycle gathering in Amberes! Before I share those pictures, I want to tell you a little bit about our next adventure in a few weeks.

Soccer trip in Nicaragua April 22-27

We have a team of 9 of us from Lenexa Baptist who will travel to Nicaragua April 22-27 for a soccer related project in Rio Blanco, Nicaragua. Eduardo Mejia, the leader for that ministry in Nicaragua, was here in Kansas City Monday night, March 24th, for a training event, and our team is excited about going! Stay tuned for more about that trip.

“MAPS” Gets Translated into Spanish!

Before I show you trip pictures, I need to let you know that thanks to our good friend, Selvinth Maldonado, our monthly “MAPS” plan for having a daily conversation with Jesus is being translated each month into Spanish! Please pray for Selvinth as he begins another baseball season this week as the chaplain for the Kansas City Royals Spanish speaking players. Down below you will find the links to all our MAPS stuff and to our Zoom call scheduled for this Sunday, March 30th, at 4pm. If you need the Spanish versions, let me know and we can get those to you.

Links to Our April maps eXPERIMENT

• Register for Scripture MAPS here

• April 2025 MAPS template available here NOW

• Zoom link for a call on Sunday, March 30, at 4pm

As always, we love hearing from you.

Love y'all!

Steve

Guatemala Trip in Pictures!

You can give through the link below, or checks can be sent to:

Daybreak International, 11628 Oakmont St., Overland Park, KS 66210

March MAPS plus Guatemala News Coming Soon

The menu board at MAPS Coffee in Lenexa, Kansas

Good morning everyone! 

I just got back from Guatemala and am needing a little more time to sort out my pictures to share more about my recent trip. In the meantime, March is already at our doorstep! Can you believe it?

So for those of us using the monthly MAPS verses, our February MAPS plan ends today. But fortunately for us, Bill Burrows has put together a new set of verses for us to continue on in March! Woo hoo!

Along these lines I want to mention that Nola and I are especially grateful to Bill for putting so much thought into each month’s roadmap for our daily conversations with Jesus. We look forward to each day’s assignment, and it has been a real blessing for us.

You Can Join us In March to do “MAPS”

If you know of someone who might want to join us, feel free to pass this on and invite them to try it. Here are the links below for you to have everything you might need to get started. Note that we have a Zoom call scheduled for Sunday, March 9th, at 4pm for anyone interested in hearing and sharing about how the MAPS process is going.

Links to Our March maps eXPERIMENT

• Register for Scripture MAPS here

• March 2025 MAPS template available here NOW

• Zoom link for a call on Sunday, March 9, at 4pm

As always, we love hearing from you.

Love y'all!

Steve

PS…If you know anyone interested in a short soccer-related mission trip to Nicaragua April 22-27, have them contact me! See pic below.

You can give through the link below, or checks can be sent to:

Daybreak International, 11628 Oakmont St., Overland Park, KS 66210

My friend Eduardo Mejia is sharing a map of Nicaragua and pointing to various places that they have done soccer tournaments. April 22-27 several of us from Lenexa Baptist are joining Eduardo and his team to put on an evangelistic soccer tournament in Rio Blanco, Nicaragua. If you or anyone else might be interested, let me know ASAP!