Good morning everyone!
Since the last time I updated you, I have been to Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Nebraska! There are so many things to share. In this update I will focus on the Guatemala/Nicaragua soccer connection, where over 75 teams participated, over 700 players played, and over 150 people prayed to receive Christ! In a future update I will report on a fantastic trip we had to the Sandhills of Nebraska.
Thanks for Your Generosity for Cesar And Elba’s Medical Issues
Before I jump into the soccer update, Cesar and Elba Gonzalez, our partners in ministry in Guatemala, would want me to say “Muchas Gracias” for your prayers and financial gifts for their medical expenses from July and August. Many of you sent cards and money, and I was able to deliver those gifts on this trip. Thankfully they are doing well. Elba is no longer dealing with the respiratory issues related to a bacterial infection. And Cesar is beginning to drive and travel some, though he did not travel to Nicaragua with me on this last trip. He and I did make some visits to a couple of Christian Rancher group leaders near Chiquimula, Guatemala.
This is a recent pic of Cesar and Elba Gonzalez near their home in Amberes, Guatemala.
Driving From Guatemala to Nicaragua
On September 4th, I flew into Guatemala, and then a couple days later I hopped into a truck with Dr. Esteban Polanco, Pastor Juan Carlos Lopez, and Luis Carlos Puac. We drove two days from Guatemala, through Honduras, into Nicaragua. Despite dealing with some delays at the borders, we arrived ready to learn and participate in a soccer tournament in San Ramón, Nicaragua.
Here is our Guatemala team enjoying a good meal in Honduras en route to Nicaragua. From left to right is Juan Carlos, Luis Carlos, Dr. Esteban, and me.
Preparations with the Nicaraguan Team
For two days prior to the tournament, we made the rounds with Eduardo Mejia and his advance team from Project Hope, a ministry in Nicaragua that I connected with for the first time back in March.
Eduardo Mejia, a former professional soccer player in Nicaragua, is being interviewed in the San Ramón city square by a local television crew. During the interview, Eduardo invited boys, girls, men, and women to sign up their teams online or in person.
Here, our Guatemala team carries a couple of the trophies out to put them in the back of pickups. Before the tournaments, Eduardo and his team drive through the streets inviting kids to sign up so that they could win one of these!
The night before the first day of the tournament, Eduardo instructs our group and key leaders from the city of San Ramón about the schedule for the following day. You can see by the picture on the wall that we were not in Kansas! Seated behind Eduardo is the Vice-Mayor, who later greeted our group.
The Project Hope team often transports their own soccer goals to the tournaments.
Getting the fields ready for play, the team divided the large soccer field into eight smaller fields so that more games could take place simultaneously.
The sound team sets up and tests the equipment before the tournament begins.
They had me hold the sign with the name and logo of the tournament. “Furia Santa” means “Holy Fury”.
A group picture of our combined logistics team from Nicaragua, Guatemala, and the San Ramón city hall leadership group.
The Evangelism Process
One of the things I wanted our Guatemala team to learn from Eduardo and his team of 35 people was the way that they share the salvation message during the tournament. I was impressed by their winsomeness and their coordinated effort in doing it. Each day there were many who prayed to receive Christ as their savior.
The day started at about 8:30am when all the teams were required to be ready in the stands.
The Vice-Mayor of the city of San Ramón welcomes the players and spectators to the first day.
After the initial greeting, the Project Hope drama team performs a mime set to music. During the drama, a hapless woman gets chained by dark forces. While they are working their evil, Jesus walks toward them.
Jesus blows away the demonic forces to free the woman from their clutches.
After the skit, Eduardo approaches to deliver a message using a colored soccer ball.
Each color of the ball represents a key part of the gospel message.
After explaining the gospel, Eduardo leads the crowd in a prayer of salvation. Then he invites those who prayed to come forward out on the field.
As people respond, the evangelism team writes down the names and contact information of those who came down. They take a picture of the person and collect all the info for a future follow-up team of people from the region who will call them and continue to stay in touch with them.
After the initial group came on the field, others on the team comb the stands to have spiritual conversations with those who may not have come to the field.
Here, Luis, a pastor from Managua, converses with several spectators in the stands.
Two Fun Days of Soccer!
After the presentation of the gospel message, teams were called from the stands to begin playing their five-on-five player games. Each game lasted about 10 minutes, so the games moved quickly and even with a total of 50 teams the first day, they were able to be playing the championship games by about noon.
You can see several games of boys taking place across the big field.
Here, two men’s teams play in a semi-final game. Though we never had rain during our tournament, it rained every day before and after it. So the fields were muddy and a challenge to the players.
The girls had a division to play as well.
The play of the men’s division was very competitive.
In one of the women’s games, it came down to penalty shots to determine the winner.
The Project Hope team did a fabulous job keeping our team hydrated and taken care of at the tent of operations.
One of the men’s teams gathered to pray before their final game.
With the two teams in the final, the referee gathers the teams for instructions before the game.
Here are the winners of the men’s division.
Luis Carlos, of our Guatemala team, congratulates the most valuable player of the tournament. Luis Carlos is a customer service trainer for a major bank in Guatemala but also works with a non-profit soccer organization. Since coming back from the trip, he has worked closely with Cesar Gonzalez in continuing the project in Guatemala, and he will be our leader of logistics for the next few events in Guatemala.
Eduardo gives a recognition to the Vice-Mayor and his leadership group for their support of the tournament.
The Night We All Came Together
When I started trying to connect the Guatemalans and the Nicaraguans with this soccer project, I felt like I was setting up two friends on a blind date! I wanted so badly for them to really click together and for the friendships to bud into something special for the future. Thankfully, it happened.
The night after our first day of the tournament, before cutting the lights out in our big room where all were sleeping on cots and mats, Eduardo led a devotion. After that, Dr. Esteban Polanco spontaneously shared from his heart about how he wanted to be different when he went back to Guatemala. Then Juan Carlos, our pastor from Guatemala, chimed in. “I believe someone needs to get saved tonight.”
Eduardo had shared with me earlier that several of the referees that worked closely with us were not believers yet. Juan Carlos looked over at several of them and asked, “Would you like to pray right now?” Soon, 5 of the referees prayed prayers of salvation. Afterwards the Nicaraguans and the Guatemalans were hugging and crying and praising God together.
Pastor Juan Carlos, with arms stretched out, led in prayer as several referees on our team prayed to receive Christ.
The Nicaragua/Guatemala Connection Continues
As the tournament was winding down, I asked Eduardo if he thought any of the Project Hope team would want to come to Guatemala to help us put on a similar tournament there.
“They all want to go,” Eduardo said.
“How many is ‘all’?” I asked for clarification.
“Everybody!” he answered. “All 35 of our team have told me they would like to come.”
“Okay!” I said, surprised. “Let’s work with that!”
Before I left Guatemala, Cesar and I were able to get the city of Santa Cruz Narranjo on board to host a tournament in Guatemala. Since then, we have made plans for a team of 5 to come with Eduardo between January 22-29,2023, to train our team in Guatemala. Then in April, the week after Easter, we plan to have the whole group for a big tournament in Santa Cruz Narranjo.
Currently, I am working with Lenexa Baptist Church here in the Kansas City area to help anchor this project and recruit some people to go down there. If you have a desire to help out in any way, please let me know! Stay tuned for further developments!
Cesar and I got to speak personally with Salvador Rodriguez, the mayor of Santa Cruz Narranjo, about the soccer tournament idea. Since we have already done multiple projects with him and his administration, he agreed on the spot. In the past few weeks since this initial meeting, Cesar has worked with their sports/soccer liaison with the city on obtaining the fields and connecting with the soccer teams in the region.
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 and Elba and their continued good health. Pray that the logistics for this soccer tournament in Guatemala will come to pass. Pray too for the resources to fund the teams going to Guatemala—especially the Nicaraguan teams. And most importantly, pray that many come to know Christ through this project.
ENGAGE
Bill and I had a great trip to Nebraska last week and look forward to sharing more about that. We are scheduled to be at the Western Way Cowboy Church in Altamont, Kansas, on Thursday, October 20th for their Thursday night gathering. If you are in that area, let us know so we can keep you informed and maybe even connect with you!
INVEST
Thanks to you, this soccer project is becoming a reality, and your investment makes it possible for us to keep moving and connecting with folks all over the map!
Please keep us informed of your prayer needs.
CLICK HERE FOR THE EASY WAY TO INVEST.
Love y’all!
Steve
PS…As I was writing this update, we were blessed to have Zion, our newest grandson, arrive, weighing in at 9 lbs. 2 oz.!
From left to right is Zai, Zac, Zion, Liz, and Zeke!