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