Lenexa Baptist Nicaragua Missions Trip Report

Before heading to the airport on our last day in Nicaragua, we took this group photo of our Lenexa Baptist team. 

Good morning everyone!

As I write this update, I (along with many of you) have been waiting with prayerful anticipation for the results of the presidential election. And shortly before completing this, President Trump has been declared the winner. Please continue to pray for him and for our nation and for a peaceful transition.

While we pray about this new era in our country, I’d like to tell you about a fantastic mission trip I got to participate in with Lenexa Baptist Church and Project Hope in Nicaragua. During the trip, our team simultaneously worked on construction projects at the Project Hope base, a VBS for children at Project Hope’s Taellor’s House for children, and a baseball clinic for boys. In each category we accomplished what the Project Hope team needed us to do, and I must admit that we all had a ton of fun doing it together.

I was involved mostly with translations for the baseball team and the VBS team. The construction team got a wall built, a playground painted, and sound panels completed for the dining hall (which made a huge difference in the ability to have conversations without a distracting echo!).

Our baseball team saw 13 boys pray to receive Christ over the three days of the baseball clinic. Each day we did testimonies before the training. Here are a few pics of our first ever Nicaraguan baseball trip.

Nicaragua Baseball Project

In Nicaragua, baseball is about equal to soccer as the most popular sport for kids. At Taellor’s House, last year a team erected a batting net for pitching and batting practice. The Taellor’s House team were runner’s up in a national league championship last year! 

On our first day of talks to the boys at Taellor’s House, these 10 boys prayed to receive Christ. On the far left is Selvinth Maldonado, a Lenexa Baptist member and chaplain for the Kansas City Royals’ Spanish speaking baseball players. Next to him is Brian, the boys baseball coach and teacher who is a dedicated follower of Jesus. On the far right is Jason Neland, who is chaplain for the Kansas City Monarchs baseball team. (And if you are keeping score at home, Jason was also on our August Guatemala trip with his family!) The boys loved hearing their stories of some of their favorite baseball players and of their testimonies of coming to Christ. 

Kevin Bost makes a point before the training starts. Kevin was the leader of our coaches and planned our schedule each day. 

Selvinth Maldonado shares with the boys that what he is telling them is the same thing he told Salvador Perez last week! When it comes to our value before God, we are all the same, no matter how famous we might be. 

Rene (green shirt), a Nicaraguan team member who pitched professionally in Nicaragua before a shoulder injury ended his career, shares his testimony of how he came to know Christ.  

On the last day, Jason Neland shared a picture of a baseball player he had the privilege of baptizing this past July.  

And then Jason brought his friend up on a Zoom call to talk with the boys! 

Kevin instructs the boys before dividing up the teams for a scrimmage. 

The last day it was fun to see the boys and all the coaches play a friendly game together. 

Like we have done on other trips with a lot of pictures, I want to give you our prayer concerns and then show you some pictures of the other things we did below that.

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.)

Pray for the children who prayed to receive Christ, that they will be given increasing opportunities to grow in their new found faith and that the leaders at Project Hope will be effective in their discipleship of these kids. Pray too for our nation and for a spiritual awakening here in the United States and around the world.

ENGAGE

We are in the process of scheduling mission trips for 2025. Right now, I anticipate doing a cowboy trip sometime during the year, a soccer trip in April, and another school evangelism trip in the summer. If you or your church would like to be in the loop on any of these trips, let me know!

INVEST

Thank you so much for your continued partnership in this ministry. Your giving has been strategic for us all of this past year.

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

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

Thanks again for your support. Please let us know about any of your prayer needs.

Love y’all!

Steve

PS…Below are more pics! Lots more!

At the start of each day, we’d have a large group experience and then a small group time. During the large group time on our first morning, my good friend, Eduardo Mejia (right), shared a devotion. Mikel, one of the translators, translated whatever Eduardo said in English or in Spanish. 

On our third day in country, Mikel had us perform various parts to the biblical story of David getting selected to be the next king of Israel. For some reason he picked on me to be David! In the background left is Justin Pedigo. Behind Mikel is John Bednarczyk, then, Jeff Buckner, and on the far right is Karl Ploeger. 

This week in our small groups, we had Project Hope staff mixed in with the Gringos to follow up on the theme brought out in our large group time. Several of the stories and comments bonded our group as we shared with one another. 

The wall building team was very industrious this week, getting a new wall built on the mission compound in Sandino. On the left is Mike Meisinger, then Tim Dykman, aka Nehemiah!  

For a couple of days, another team helped install a greatly needed septic overflow for the plumbing system at Taellor’s House. The Lenexa team, starting with the tall guy on the left, are Eric Offill and the three Davids: David Wroten, another David from Springfield, Missouri, and David Patterson, also of Springfield.  

Eric smooths down the gravel as the last step in completing the septic overflow project. 

Emily Hunt moves a ladder over for me to hop up on to paint the top of a playground slide at Taellor’s House. Looking on is Julie Crocker. 

The team that finished the sound panel project from bottom left clockwise: David Wroten, Howard Dickinson, Emily Hunt, Justin Hunt, Justin Pedigo, Julie Crocker, Jeff Buckner, and Emily Ploeger. (Somebody is hiding behind Jeff!) 

On one of the VBS days, Rhonda Reinhardt shares with the children as I translate for her. 

In the background, Emily Hunt tries to follow the motions to a favorite song of the children. 

Doing the world famous chicken song! 

Craft time! 

Jason helps pass out paper plates for an art project. 

Patti Horton helps a boy glue some beans to his paper. On a side note, on this trip, Patti and I realized that she and her husband were a part of a church we started over 30 years ago! 

Rhonda poses with a little boy proud of his artwork. 

Fun days with children in Latin America almost always involve a piñata! 

On Thursday night we had a big celebration together with the teachers and parents and families. Here, Kelly Hughes gives the teachers a gift from our team. 

Karl Ploeger and his daughter Emily give a bag of food to one of the families. Taking their picture is Tammy Stearns, one of the missionaries dedicated to the Project Hope operations. 

The last day with Taellor’s House we had a fun morning of competitions with the children. Here, each team passes a football in a relay race. 

After the football, the same relay was done with wet sponges! 

Here, the team squeezing out the most water from their sponges wins! Wendy Bost helps a girl funnel the water. Emily looks on. 

After one last water balloon fight, most of the kids were soaked and happy! 

The last day, the team got to spend a couple of hours at the beach. 

Jason, Selvinth, and David explore some tide pools. 

At the Oasis Church in Sandino, I just happened to be wearing a “Legendarios” (Legendaries) men’s ministry shirt I got a couple years back. And it just “happened” to be their Sunday for recruitment for an upcoming Legendarios men’s retreat coming up in November! It’s like I got the memo or something! What fun! 

Rural Christian Workers Conference Update

Ransom Wentworth and his wife, Brittany, lead worship for the Rural Christian Workers Conference in Burwell, Nebraska.

Good morning everyone!

Bill and I just got back from a weekend trip to Burwell, Nebraska, for a Rural Christian Workers Conference on Saturday, October 12th, where Bill was invited to do a breakout session on prayer. Then on Sunday I had the privilege of giving a message and a mission report to our friends at Burwell Baptist Church, and Bill spoke at Cedar Creek Church, which is north of Burwell. Here are a few pics of our time there. Special thanks goes to Joel Wentworth, pastor of Burwell Baptist, who directed the conference and keeps inviting us up!

Bill gets his honorary mug from Joel Wentworth for leading a breakout session on prayer.

Pastor Andy Addis of Crosspoint Church in Hutchinson, Kansas, was the keynote speaker for the conference. Bill and I really enjoyed getting acquainted with Andy and his wife, Kathy. Andy has an amazing story of how their rural church has multiplied to either start or revitalize over a dozen churches in rural towns all over Kansas.

In one of the sessions on prayer, Bill role plays with Jonathan in having a conversation that could lead to an opportunity to pray.

Before my missions report on Sunday, I coaxed the congregation at Burwell to do a quick greeting for Cesar and Elba Gonzalez in Guatemala.

In preparing to give my report to thank Burwell for more than 20 years of partnership, I put some slides together of our projects in the last 18 months, and as I was doing that, the evidence of God’s grace overwhelmed me.

While the pictures representing the hundreds of people making professions of faith in Jesus were impressive, what got me most were several pictures of individuals who have multiplied what we did after we left. And the clincher was a couple of pics of people thanking us for something we said or did 20 or more years ago. Amazingly, a few of those involved in one of those blasts-from-the-past stories were sitting in the congregation at Burwell! To me, that’s God’s grace on display. That’s God blessing us way out of proportion to anything we deserve or could take credit for. And we got to be a part of that! Yea God!

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.)

This Saturday, October 19th, a team of 29 of us from Lenexa Baptist Church will be going to Nicaragua to work with Project Hope for a week of construction, VBS for children, and leading a baseball clinic. Pray that our team will demonstrate a contagious love for each other and the Nicaraguan people as we partner with them in various endeavors. 

ENGAGE

We are in the process of scheduling mission trips for 2025. Right now, I anticipate doing a cowboy trip in February or March, a soccer trip in April, and another school evangelism trip in the summer. If you or your church would like to be in the loop on any of these trips, let me know!

INVEST

Thank you so much for your continued partnership in this ministry. Your giving has been crucial to all we have done the past several months.

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

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

Thanks again for your support. Please let us know about any of your prayer needs.

Love y’all!

Steve

PS…As I pack my bags for Nicaragua, I’m looking forward to our trip, but I’m also burdened for our nation, as I know many of you are as well. Let’s pray diligently together for God’s will to be done through us during this election season.

After the conference, Joel took us on a hike at the Calamus lake north of Burwell where the water level was low from a lack of rain. From left to right are Brandy and John Tiller (new friends from near Springfield, MO), Bill, Ethan (friend of Lindy), Lindy Wentworth, Linda Wentworth, and Joel Wentworth.

Guatemala Team Sees 614 Professions of Faith!

Good morning everyone!

It’s been a little over a week since we got home from our Lenexa Baptist Guatemala mission trip, and wow! Have we got some great news to share! As we mentioned before the trip, this team was scheduled to work in several public schools in the department of Santa Rosa, doing “Play. Story. Eat.” evangelism in three elementary schools and three high schools. And as a result of this team’s outreach, 614 children and adults made professions of faith!

Here is our Lenexa Baptist Guatemala team. From left to right on the front row are Courtney Neland, Jason Neland, Maggie Neland, Nola Reed, Steve Reed, and Ken Miller. On the back row from left to right are Anthony Cox, Jake Solem, Makayla Johnson, Benjamin Johnson, Luke Neland, Ellie Conaway, Claire Henderson, Josh Neland, Evie Neland, Kisla Rodriguez, Gracie Neland, Angela Miller, and Anna Powell. 

Your Prayers Answered in Big ways!

Before we get into some of the stories, our team would like to say “Muchas gracias” to you for your prayers. In the last update, I listed several things to pray about, and God answered every one of your prayers—especially those prayers for effectiveness in communicating our testimonies and the gospel! Down below I will take each of those prayer concerns and mention how God answered each prayer so specifically.

Note that each day the team was scheduled to have about four hours in a particular school to do a combination of fun activities, classroom presentations, sports, faith stories, and share a snack and refreshment with the kids. Our team of 20 divided into four teams, and each team took a classroom to share testimonies, play games, and invite people to respond to the gospel message and pray to receive Christ. Those that prayed gave us their names and sometimes phone numbers, and that is how we kept count of those responding.

I have so many pictures to share with you! Each picture conveys a wonderful story that excites us, and we hope they might inspire you. Don’t miss the picture and story of a teacher who told me how we had impacted her as a child 20 years ago!

But before I show you those pictures, I want to highlight the answered prayers and how you can respond.

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.)

God answered your prayers! You prayed for:

1. Safety in travel for the team. We made it there and back with no issues. And even though it rained almost every day, the rains never stopped any of our outdoor activities!  

2. Each of our team members to stay healthy and be unified. We had a couple of days where several of our team had stomach bugs. Thankfully that only lasted a short time and all got better quickly. Our team did demonstrate a contagious love for each other and for those we encountered. Their flexibility was also evident as we navigated multiple changes each day.  

3. Each member of the team to have an opportunity to personally lead someone to Christ through their testimony. Wow! Was that prayer answered in spades! Every team member had the opportunity to share their testimony at least once a day and many several times each day.  Our team was able to connect well and were able to share the gospel clearly, persuasively, and with much joy. And 614 came to Christ as a result!

4. The follow-up plans. With so many new converts, there is much to be done to follow up. Pray especially for Cesar Gonzalez and his wife, Elba, as Cesar will be leading follow-up teams in each location.  

ENGAGE

We plan to divvy up the names of those who came to Christ among our team so that we can pray for every one by name. If you would like to be a part of a prayer team that joins us in praying for these people, let me know, and we can give you a portion of these names to pray for.

INVEST

Thank you for your continued investment in this ministry. Your giving made the difference for us to do what we did. We are so grateful to God and to you for the many blessings we have received in the process of doing this work.

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

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

Thanks again for your support. Please let us know about any of your prayer needs.

Now, check out these pictures!

Back to School!!!

Our first school was in Santa Rosa de Lima. 

I took a selfie with our classroom in Santa Rosa de Lima. Best I recall, most of these students prayed to receive Christ! 

Here, Kisla Rodriguez, one of our team translators (left), helps Nola tell her story in a classroom. 

Our team of younger folks were like rock stars the whole week taking pictures with hundreds of kids. In this pic are Anna, Josh, Claire, Makayla, Ellie, and Benjamin. 

In Santa Rosa de Lima, the students perform a marching band number for us. 

This is at a high school in Santa Rosa de Lima. 

Jason Neland promotes a game of football. Benjamin, Ellie, and Gracie look on. 

Jason teaches a group of high school students how to execute an American football play. Amazingly they got the idea and wound up enjoying their first chance to play an actual game!  

Anna and Gracie share a moment with several high school students and a teacher in Santa Rosa de Lima. 

Claire Henderson brought hundreds of balloons and made various animals for the children in this elementary school in Amberes. 

This little girl loves her butterfly balloon Claire made. 

Courtney Neland does a craft with a few children at an elementary school in Amberes. 

Gracie Neland braids a girl's hair while Makayla gets a big hug from another little girl. 

Claire, Ellie, and Jake "die" in the water skit while Josh is waiting in the wings to come searching for water as well. 

This teacher at an elementary school in Amberes told me a story of how 20 years ago, when she was 10 years old, she had come to a bonfire we had at Cesar Gonzalez' house for about 60 kids. She remembered us roasting hot dogs and marshmallows and telling stories that she said changed her life. She told us that what we shared that night had made a difference in her marriage! Today, she is married and has two children and believes from personal experience that what we were doing today would have a similar result on these children!  

During a sports day at a school in Amberes, I interacted with a group of kids over the message of the colored soccer ball. Evidently a class of about 25 students had missed getting a visit in their classroom the day before because their teacher had taken her sick child to the doctor. On the spot, we talked with the class, and there on the sidelines, all 25 of those children prayed to receive Christ! On further review I found out that their teacher was a good friend of ours who we have worked with for years. She was ecstatic that we had made the connection.  

Ken Miller and his daughter, Angela, share a moment with these children in Amberes. 

Anthony and Luis, one of our Nicaraguan pastor friends who had come to help Cesar during the week, got in a friendly arm wrestling match while several boys from Amberes watched.  

In Amberes, these girls connected with Gracie and wanted her to play on their team. 

Jason shares with a kindergarten class after his daughter, Maggie, had shared her testimony. 

Jason and his group got a picture with their grade school classroom in El Carrizal. 

Anthony does a balancing trick at an elementary school in El Carrizal. Anthony's story is an amazing one about how for 45 years he was a drug addict, and for a few years he was homeless. Now, more than 2 years sober, he is living a new life in Jesus! 

Evie and these girls try their hand at balancing the brooms. 

Josh, dressed as a lion, does the limbo while Courtney and Claire give an assist. 

Once the kids started, they all wanted to do the limbo, too! 

Makayla and Ken turn the rope for several boys jumping rope. 

Claire and Ellie are amazed at this little boy's skill at spinning a top on Ellie's hand. 

Ken Miller and his team take a pic with their class at a high school in El Carrizal. Pictured left to right are Evie, Angela, Benjamin, and Makayla. The girl with the sash had just won the title of Miss Independence Day. 

In Amberes, the final games for the elementary school were decided by penalty kicks! 

Jake played goalie for one of the boys teams and had to defend some penalty kicks himself! 

Benjamin Johnson and Luke Neland help with the trophy presentation as the high school principal looks on. 

Luke wound up playing goalie for one of the high school teams in Amberes. 

Makayla Johnson gives a trophy to one of the winning girls teams. Makayla played college volleyball for Evangel University in Springfield, Missouri, where she met her now husband, Benjamin. 

In Amberes, the teachers wanted to challenge the gringos in a basketball game. Here Evie dribbles down the lane while her mom, Courtney, blocks, and dad, Jason, refs the game. 

Anna is looking to pass while the teachers double down on defense. 

Josh prepares to launch the ball to a teammate while Evie looks on. 

Jason and I pose for a pic with Hamid, one of our pastor friends from Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. We have known Hamid for over 20 years! But years ago, when Jason first met him, both were young men, and Hamid was a semi professional soccer player. This particular day, he had driven several hours to come speak to some of our soccer players. Below is an old pic of Jason and a few of his buddies with Hamid. See if you can pick them out! 

A pic from 20 some years ago! Do you see Jason and Hamid? 

Here Cesar introduces Hamid before he speaks to a group of soccer players. 

Several of our girls played with some girls from a soccer club run by Maria, one of our good friends. Top row includes Claire and Gracie. Bottom row has Ellie, Kisla, and Anna. 

Gracie, Claire, and Anna got their money's worth and played a second game with another team! 

Claire and Gracie try to team up to steal the ball. 

Kisla gathers the ball while Anna closes in on her. 

Benjamin, a former college soccer player for Evangel Universtiy in Springfield, Missouri, shows his stuff on a penalty kick. 

Ken, Angela, and Luke make sandwiches for the soccer players to eat when they finish their game. 

On one of the last days, the local fire department, which had accompanied us on two of the days of sports games, came to Cesar's house for a demonstration.

Here, Kisla volunteered to see if she could get the gear on in less than three minutes. 

To finish off their presentation, the fire department does the "ladder of the wind" and unveils an American flag to honor our team.  

After the firemen did their demonstration, Cesar wanted us to do the "brand" skit. Cesar narrated the story of how multiple people die without Jesus. Here, Jason gets to be one of the first, dying as a famous man. 

Cesar got the firemen to get Jason and carry him away. His brand of being famous didn't help him get to heaven. 

Ken died as a rich man. His brand was his money. It didn't help him gain heaven either. 

Anthony died as a drunk, whose brand was whiskey. After the skit, Anthony told his true story of being a drug addict, alcoholic, and homeless man. After sharing his testimony, and how he had come to Christ and been mentored by Jason for the past couple of years, every one of the firemen prayed to receive Christ as well! 

On one of our last mornings in Guatemala, I took most of the team on a sunrise hike in Amberes. 

This route is where I like to run when I'm in Amberes. This morning I took the crew to where I like to catch a few beautiful views. 

With the recent rains, this stream was a little more full than normal. 

The team took a few minutes to explore the river. 

Angela and Anna posed along the trail. 

The mountains of Guatemala can get into your heart and mind. 

On our next to last day in Guatemala, Makayla had a birthday, and we all celebrated with her! Here, Elba and Cesar Gonzalez look on as Kisla pulls off the candles and Nola cuts the first cake! It looks like Maggie will get one of the first pieces! 

On Sunday evening, we had a great visit with Juan Jose Davila, the mayor of Santa Rosa de Lima, pictured here in the white ball cap. As a result of our time together, he wants to continue working with us and was excited about what we did in the schools in his city. 

This is now the end of the pictures! Thanks for tracking this to the very end!

Love y’all!

Steve

Guatemala, Here We Come!

Good morning everyone!

If you are reading this on Tuesday morning, August 6th, then a team of 19 of us from Lenexa Baptist Church are most likely in the air traveling to Guatemala for a weeklong sports evangelism mission trip! This team is scheduled to work in several public schools in the department of Santa Rosa, working with grade school aged kids through high school.

These are printed testimonies in English and Spanish of our Lenexa Baptist team traveling to Guatemala August 6 -13, 2024. This bilingual tool is used to share our faith with individuals we meet on our mission trips.

Preparing to Play and Share Stories

Each day the team is scheduled to have about four hours in a particular school to do a combination of fun activities, classroom presentations, sports, faith stories, and share in a snack and refreshment for the kids. Along the way, we will be meeting with a couple of mayors and their teams to prepare the way for future soccer tournaments and other sports related evangelistic events. Pray for the logistics of all this. We are told that it is raining almost every day right now, so pray that through it all we can connect with people.

Honorable mention for heroic participation on this adventure goes to Jason and Courtney Neland and their five kids going on this trip! More than twenty years ago, Jason went with me several times to Guatemala, and for a long time he has wanted to have his family experience a mission trip in Guatemala together. So now is their time! Woo hoo!

Here is our team of 19 more or less in alphabetical order: Ellie Conaway, Anthony Cox, Claire Henderson, Benjamin Johnson, Makayla Johnson, Kenneth Miller, Angela Miller, Jason Neland, Courtney Neland, Gracie Neland, Joshua Neland, Luke Neland, Evie Neland, Maggie Neland, Anna Powell, Nola Reed, Steve Reed, Kisla Rodriguez, and Jake Solem.

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.)

Points of Prayer for LBC Guatemala Sports Evangelism Team

1. Pray for safety in travel for the team. Pray that all 19 of the LBC team and our Guatemalan partners are able to move freely and arrive safely to each daily activity and event. 

2. Pray that each of our team members stays healthy and unified. Pray that our team will demonstrate a contagious love for each other and for those we encounter. Pray too that our hearts are flexible as we know changes will likely occur. 

3. Pray that each member of the team has an opportunity to personally lead someone to Christ through their testimony. Pray that we are ready to share. 

4. Pray that whether we are on a soccer field, in a school classroom, or standing under an umbrella, we are able to connect well with those around us and that we are able to share the gospel clearly, persuasively, and with much joy. 

5. Pray for the follow-up plans. We expect many to come to Christ and are preparing with that in mind. Pray especially for Cesar Gonzalez and his wife, Elba, as Cesar will be leading follow-up teams in each location.  

ENGAGE

Bill Burrows and I are now scheduling time with partner churches for this Fall. If you are interested in having one or both of us come to your church, let us know! We can do Be-the-Church training or collaborate with you on your church’s next mission trip!

INVEST

Thank you so much for your continued investment in this ministry. Your giving has been crucial to all we have done the past several months both here and in Guatemala.

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

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

Thanks again for your support. Please let us know about any of your prayer needs.

Love y’all!

Steve

PS…Last Sunday, August 4th, Nola and I celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary with all our kids and grandkids! I still can’t figure out how the time can fly by so fast! I must be more persuasive than I think. Somehow I talked Nola into going on this trip as a way to celebrate!

From South Dakota to The Sandhills!

Good morning everyone!

A couple of weeks ago, Bill and I had a great time in both South Dakota and in the Sandhills of Nebraska.

The first week in June, we started off in Colome, South Dakota, for Calvary Chapel’s annual Vacation Bible School. The theme for the week was “The Great Jungle Journey.” My assignment: to share missionary stories from the jungles of Guatemala.

I must admit that the kids really spurred me on in telling more stories than I had originally planned! And I really enjoyed the responses of the children. By the end of the week, several of them expressed their desire to follow Jesus. They were so attentive and made me realize that I need to tell some of these stories to my own grandchildren!

From VBS to Troubleshooting

After a great week of VBS, we drove a few miles south to Burwell, Nebraska, so that Bill could be one of the presenters at the Sandhills Center for Christian Leadership Network, led by Joel Wentworth, to do a breakout session titled “Troubleshooting Small Groups.” The pastors and leaders really appreciated how Bill took their questions and, using some dialogue, talked through possible solutions.

In addition to that, Bill also did the heavy lifting of preaching messages on both Sundays of our trip. I got to say a quick word of thanks to both Calvary Chapel and Burwell Baptist for their long-standing partnerships and support in the Guatemala mission endeavors. And I must say that in both places we were treated like family. Here are a few pictures to highlight the week.

At Calvary Chapel in Colome, South Dakota, I presented a plaque to pastor Keith Moody, thanking them for their years of partnership, especially in the cowboy-related ministry in Guatemala and Honduras.

The first Sunday morning, at Calvary Chapel, Bill shared a message on the “Fear of the Lord.” Here he is setting up a story about how, on a family vacation in the mountains of Colorado, one of their sons slid off a melting glacier into a dark crevasse.

Bill and I really enjoyed hanging out with Randy Shippy and his family. For years, Randy has raised and produced some of the most ranked bulls on the professional rodeo circuit. Now, his two sons are riding that circuit as professional bull riders. From left to right are me, Bill, Riley, Randy, and Riggin.

Each day of Vacation Bible School, the kids lined up outside to enter the church building for the beginning of their Biblical adventure.

Each day the children recited the pledges of allegiance to the flag of the United States, to the Christian flag, and to the Bible.

The first day, the kids learned some new songs that emphasized various aspects of the jungle adventure theme.

With the added motions, it didn’t take long for the kids to sing and move to the music.

During one of our mission learning times, Bill led an exercise on how we can love people who are different than us. In this example, Bill divided the kids into the “shorts” group and the “long pants” group.

Each day the children enjoyed some play time.

One of the unique things the children do during VBS at Calvary Chapel is decorate clay figurines to the nativity scene. Each year of VBS, they get a new piece, and if they attend every year for 6 years, they will have collected all the pieces to a complete set.

Here’s the whole VBS crew on the last day.

At the end of the week, the children shared with their parents the songs and some of the stories they learned during the week.

Here Dena Weidner, one of the jungle adventure guides for the week, leads the children in sharing with their parents what they learned.

Also during the week, we got to enjoy the June South Dakota weather. Here we took a stroll with Keith Moody to see one of the new colts recently born to one of Keith’s mares.

Bill celebrated his birthday while we were gone, and here, Keith and Judy Moody treated us to a delicious home cooked birthday steak dinner!

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.)

1. Bill and Joyce just moved a few days ago into a house closer to their grown kids and families here in Kansas City. Continue to be in prayer for them and their transition.

2. Pray for our Lenexa Baptist Guatemala team as we prepare for a sports-related mission trip planned for August 6-13. Currently we have 18 signed up!

ENGAGE

If you are interested in the August Guatemala trip, let us know ASAP. And if you are interested in helping us recruit another team for a later trip, let us know that as well.

INVEST

Thank you so much for your continued investment in this ministry. Your giving has been crucial to all we have done the past several months both here and in Guatemala.

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

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

Thanks again for your support. Please let us know about any of your prayer needs.

Love y’all!

Steve

PS…On an early morning run near Keith and Judy Moody’s place, I felt compelled to stop and take this picture.

There is just something about a South Dakota sky!

Way Overdue Play. Story. Eat. Update!

Good morning everyone!

After months of being AWOL, I am FINALLY sending you an update! Woo hoo! Hope you didn’t faint! Several have asked me, “Steve, are you okay? We haven’t heard from you in a while.”

“I’m Alive!”

The short answer is, I’m okay now. But I ran into a buzzsaw that I should have seen coming! That buzzsaw has a name. It’s called a “Kitchen Remodel.” It started innocently enough. I took January off to do a little “kitchen remodel” for Nola that I figured would take me just a few weeks to accomplish. Certainly I’d be done before I went to Guatemala in February. But when February came, I still wasn’t done. So I paused the construction to do the Guatemala project with Ray Gurney (pastor of Cross Creek Baptist in Oak Grove, Missouri) and Caleb Miles (a new rancher friend from near Valentine, Nebraska).

On our last trip to Guatemala we met with several new mayors to talk about our ongoing evangelist soccer tournaments as well as various cowboy related projects. Pictured here from left to right are me, Ray Gurney, mayor Juan Jose Davila of Santa Rosa de Lima, Cesar Gonzales, and Caleb Miles.

We had a great trip with great things to share, but when I got home there were several things that had to be done on the house immediately or our finishing schedule would be in jeopardy. (What’s crazy is that now I can’t even remember what those pressing things were!) So I went back to work on the kitchen and put off writing about our fantastic trip. Then Nola and I did a spring break in March with our kids and grandkids. By Easter, the kitchen project revealed major problems in our electrical where sometimes lights would work and sometimes not! (It turns out that mice had eaten into our wiring in several strategic areas of the house!) In addition, we decided to do the flooring in the kitchen and all the traffic areas of the whole house. (What were we thinking?!) Bottom line: the kitchen project bled into nearly every part of the house.

Writer’s Block

Along with that, and probably more significant than the house stuff, by now I developed one big case of writer’s block. I just couldn’t seem to sit down at my computer to write anything. I tried a couple of times and couldn’t produce anything. I was stuck. I continued to do ministry things, but I just couldn’t make myself write about it. Also during this time I was helping Dad with smaller projects to be able to care for Mom at their house. Top that off with a couple of jobs helping friends with painting and handyman stuff on their houses, and time got away from me.

So me writing this short blurb is my breaking the chains of my inhibition that has had a hold on me for several months. And as I’m doing it, I’m remembering anew my passion for sharing with you about the wonderful things God continues to do with our friends in mission endeavors both here and in other places in the world. Thank you for your love and your patience with me.

Catching Up

Perhaps in the near future, I’ll write about the February Guatemala trip I alluded to above. For now, I’d like to highlight a few things Bill Burrows and Cesar Gonzalez have been up to. Then at the end I’ll do a quick synopsis of what is coming up.

Bill Burrows

While I have been in my construction mode, Bill has been as well. He and Joyce are about to move into a house in the North Kansas City area. It will put them in much closer proximity to two of their sons, daughters-in-law, and especially their two grandsons. This long-anticipated move has involved a complete remodel of the “new” house as well as preparing their current house to rent. But they are close to being ready to move in by June 30th.

In Bill’s case, he has been more balanced than I have in life and ministry. He has continued to coach church leaders and work at one-on-one/group discipleship at RiverPark Church in Parkville, MO. He has been really encouraged by participating in the “Lifestyle Leadership” training from Leadership Edge Inc..

Cesar Gonzalez

In Guatemala, Cesar Gonzalez is doing well and is continuing to disciple soccer players at his house just about every day of the week. He has also continued to help our Kekchi friends who are starting churches in the jungle, and he has visited them twice since we were with him in February. In the past year we have asked you to pray for Cesar’s wife, Elba, and her health. Currently she is in need of cataract surgery on both eyes so she can see clearly again. Please keep her in your prayers.

Coming Up

This next week, June 1-7, Bill and I will be in Colome, South Dakota, for Calvary Chapel’s annual Vacation Bible School. I’ll be the missionary for the week, and Bill will speak to the congregation on Sunday. Then Saturday, June 8, we will be in Burwell, NE, for the Sandhills Center for Christian Leadership workshop to do a breakout session, “Troubleshooting Small Groups.” Finally, on Sunday, June 9th, we’ll be at Burwell Baptist to worship with them and share with them during the Sunday morning service.

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.)

1. For our trip to Nebraska and South Dakota - that Bill and I would be able to cheer them on in making a difference in their necks of the woods

2. Cesar and Elba and their health

3. Bill and Joyce in their move

4. That disciples would continue to be made and developed in all of our projects

ENGAGE

If you are in northern Nebraska or near our friends in Colome, South Dakota, come see us this next week while we enjoy their June weather!

Also note that we have a sports-related mission trip planned August 6-13 in Guatemala. Lenexa Baptist and Carry the Cross Ministries will be partnering with us. Let us know if you are interested in sliding into that group.

INVEST

Thank you so much for your continued generosity to this ministry. Your giving the past few months in spite of my lack of communication has kept us going and especially made a difference in our Guatemala connections.

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

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

Thanks again for your support. Please let us know about any of your prayer needs.

Love y’all!

Steve

P.S. Below you can see before and after pics of one corner of the kitchen!

This “before” pic of the kitchen is after gutting everything and rewiring when we realized mice had gnawed on some of the wiring behind our walls, exposing some bare wires.

Our “new kitchen” now in use!

End of 2023 Update

Good morning everyone!

I hope you all had a merry and meaningful Christmas and are looking forward to 2024 with a sense of hope and gratitude for all God wants to do through you in the coming year. While much in our world is in chaos, we serve a God who is not surprised by anything. And He can direct us and lead us to just the right place at just the right time.

As I mentioned in our last update, I was en route to Guatemala with Nate Smith to team up with a couple of Nicaraguan guys and make the rounds with our long-time partner, Cesar Gonzalez. We wanted to visit some of our friends and do some video work for our soccer project and for our ministries with both cowboys and Kekchi Indians.

This pic was taken at the Las Conchas waterfalls on the last of our three days in the jungle. Before that we had spent more than a week crisscrossing the country. From left to right are Rider Tenorio, a new friend from Nicaragua, Cesar Gonzalez, me, Eduardo Mejia, and Nate Smith.

Traveling with me was Nate Smith, another long time friend and videographer who had done a documentary project with us about 14 years ago. Meeting us in Guatemala was our good friend from Nicaragua, Eduardo Mejia (who you might recognize that I was with in October doing some soccer interviews and ministry with Project Hope in Nicaragua), and a good friend from his church, Rider Tenorio, of Managua, Nicaragua. Years ago, Rider had studied at John Brown University in Siloam Springs, Arkansas, so he is fluent in English. In fact, it was something of a luxury for me to not have to translate as much because both Eduardo and Rider speak English very well — making it easier for Nate to get someone to translate for him as we conversed with many different people.

As you might also recall from our previous update, we were concerned about being able to travel freely in light of the protests in September and October. Thankfully, we had no problems on the road and were able to go where we needed to go.

As has been a pattern for the past few updates, I want to give you a summary of this trip, then highlight some prayer needs, and then offer more pics for those who want more. At the end, I want to share my favorite story from the trip, and to do that I will have to flashback 15 years to a boy in the jungle who had been bitten by a poisonous snake!

Trip Summary: On This trip We…

Over a ten day period, we witnessed God’s amazing faithfulness that in some cases goes back years and in other cases goes back to recent months. Here is our quick take on it. On this trip we…

…Interviewed the First Cowboy Church Pastor

We got a video interview with Enio Orantes, a Christian Rancher group leader who was instrumental in starting the very first cowboy group in Guatemala 20 years ago. Enio was a guy who came to Christ who we sent to a church that didn’t welcome him. Cesar and I got a chance to sit down with him and remember how mad he was with us and how his group got started when Enio got rejected from attending a church because of his cowboy attire.

By way of video, Cesar and I are introducing our friend, Enio Orantes, to tell why he wanted to start a group for cowboys in that very location some 20 years ago.

…Did some Soccer Tournament Prep

While this may be one of our most pressing projects for 2024, we had the privilege of reconnecting with Luis Gabriel Rosales, current mayor of Jutiapa and long time friend who we have worked with in cowboy ministry going back over 14 years. Though he lost his current election, he and many of his colleagues have committed to help us with a soccer tournament in Jutiapa this coming year.

This pic was taken in the mayor’s office in Jutiapa. From left to right are Nate, me, Mayor Luis Gabriel Rosales, Cesar, Eduardo, and Francisco, an assistant to the mayor.

…We did a little bit of Follow Up Work in Monjas

One of our days in country, we spent a few hours with some key leaders in Monjas who are instrumental in the followup of many who came to Christ in our soccer tournament last April. While most of the soccer connections in Monjas are a couple of years old, we have friendships there that go back 23 years!

In a meeting with three teachers in Monjas, Cesar talks with the committee that puts on major events for the schools in Monjas. Talks centered around having the next soccer tournament in Monjas coordinated with the schools in the region.

…We Encouraged a Kekchi Pastor in the Jungle

Some of the hardest but most fulfilling days for me came in our time spent in the jungle with Marcos Chol, a new Kekchi pastor who is circuit riding to pastor three churches in the jungle. One of the churches is in Por Venir (where our base camp has been for the past 20 years), another is in Sojolobob (a new church that Marcos started that is a 2 hour drive up a mountain road from Chahal), and the other is in Volcan Semux (a church in the same region as Sojolobob that we visited several years ago that was started by the Kekchi Baptist Association). We spent three days with Marcos and 2 of his congregations. During that time we got to see 12 people pray to receive Christ! And, spoiler alert, four of those people have something to do with the boy with the snake bite! Keep reading!

Here we are with one of the newest churches started in a home near Sejolobob. In our introductions, Cesar is asking some of the men of the church to answer the question, “What are you most grateful for today?” On the far right is Marcos Chol, the pastor.

…WE Got to do a Spontaneous Baptism!

While this trip was slated as an encouragement and prep trip, we received a bonus of having two people desiring baptism! Because they mentioned this at Cesar and Elba’s home in Amberes, we were able to use Cesar’s emergency water pool as a place to do it on the spot. See more pics below!

Eduardo prays a prayer of blessing for the two who were baptized at Cesar and Elba’s house in Amberes, Guatemala.

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.)

1. Continue to pray for Guatemala as they are still in political turmoil after their last election. Pray that as a result of this time, people will continue to be open to the gospel message and that believers and churches will be winning many to Christ in these days.

2. Pray for our next cowboy team going to Guatemala February 12 to 19. Pray that passports come in for those planning on going.

3. Continue to pray for the health of Elba and Cesar Gonzalez. Elba told me how blessed she feels after her mini stroke and how God is helping her.

4. Pray for the plans to get solidified for our next soccer tournaments in Guatemala. Because of the turmoil, we had to postpone our January plans. Now we are working towards being ready for two locations this spring or summer.

5. Pray for Marcos Chol and his ministry in the jungle. Pray that the churches he pastors will be effective at making disciples of the Kekchi people and that they would continue to multiply.

ENGAGE

If you are interested in being a part of the cowboy trip February 12 - 19, let me know. And if you are interested in participating in the soccer project, please let me know of your interest. We will be doing training events in preparation for that mission trip at least a month or two in advance.

INVEST

Thank you so much for another year of generosity to this ministry. Your continued giving makes a huge difference for us and those who count on us in various parts of the world. If you would like to get a gift in for the end of 2023, you can do that here by clicking the easy button below to invest now.

If checks are mailed to us that are postmarked by December 31st, we can count them in your 2023 contributions.

Checks can be sent to:

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

Thanks again for your support. Please let us know about any of your prayer needs.

Love y’all!

Steve

PS…keep reading!

Now, The Snake Bite Story!

On the very last day of ministry in the jungle, Marcos wanted us to make some visits with some folks near our base camp in Por Venir. On the very last visit, we came to a house right across from the soccer field and met with a woman named Romelia. She invited us in, where we met her husband Juan, her daughter Sindy, and a daughter-in-law and granddaughter.

Eduardo took this picture of me with the Calxol family right after they all prayed to receive Christ. From left to right is Sindy, Juan, Romelia, Laura, and Catalina.

When I was shaking Romelia’s hand, she said, “I remember when you prayed for our son many years ago after he had been bitten by a snake.” Immediately I remembered.

This is Juan and Romelia’s son, Luis right after he got bit by the highly poisonous and greatly feared yellow beard snake some 15 years ago.

Here, a Kekchi pastor named Julio is praying for Luis. Dan Columbo and Jeff Benton were praying as were several others not pictured from a team from North Heartland Community Church of Kansas City, Missouri. Also standing in the background are younger versions of Romelia and Juan. Romelia is holding Sindy in her arms.

“How is he doing?” I asked.

“Muy bien,” she answered. “He’s in the United States and is in need of a job.”

Before I could ask anything more, Sindy came over to me with her phone and said, “Here he is!” And looking on the screen, there was Luis, her brother, on a Face Time call!

“Hola Luis!” I said as I waved at the phone. Now 27 years old, he is living in Atlanta with some other relatives. Quickly it dawned on me that the daughter-in-law was his wife and the little girl was his daughter. How Luis got to the United States I don’t know. Undoubtedly he wants to make money and send it back home to Guatemala. After chatting with Luis for a bit, we got down to the purpose for our visit.

Marcos asked me to share some questions that help us figure out where we stand with God. The questions range from “Do you believe in God?” all the way to “Would you like to pray for Jesus to save you of your sins?” As we progressed through the questions, Marcos translated to Kekchi so that they could understand more clearly. I could see that they all believed in the right stuff to be saved. They just needed an opportunity to receive the gift of salvation.

In helping folks understand this concept, I often use a birthday analogy that helps highlight the fact that we can believe all the right things about a gift, but that it doesn’t become ours until we receive it. I did that illustration with Juan by asking him what day his birthday was, and we pretended like it was his birthday. Shortly after that, Eduardo helped them all pray a prayer to receive the gift of salvation. When we got done, Romelia spoke up.

“I didn’t say it before we prayed, but I want you to know that today is my birthday! And I feel that your visit and you helping us pray is the best present I could ever receive!”

Wow! From a snake bite 15 years ago to now receiving Christ, this family can attest to the fact that God really does care about the details of their lives. And I can attest that God will bring completion to ministry that may be forgotten in this world but that is never forgotten by Him.

And Now Some More Pics!

More Jungle Pics

Our first full day in the jungle we hiked from a dirt road up a path to Sejolobob. Because of the recent rains and the drizzle, the path was a little more slippery and sloppy.

One of Marcos’ daughters took her shoes off to get better traction in the mud.

Once we got to the meeting place of the new church in Sejolobob, the women took their position on one side and the men on the other. On the left is Marcos’ wife, Candelaria, who is a vital part of the ministry and who connects well with the other women.

Here, Marcos introduces everyone to one another and talks about the plan for making some evangelistic visits in homes later that morning.

Before going on our visits, the ladies fed us their spicy but tasty chili soup.

On this visit, the woman of the home is sick and asking for prayer.

On our last day we took a group pic with Marcos and his family.

One of the days driving into the jungle, we happened on a yearly Mayan “Dance of the Deer” celebration. It harkens back to when they would dance before hunting. Now, the dance is more of a fund raiser for keeping the tradition alive. Dancers with plastic guns “invite” people to make donations. Here Cesar is about to get encouraged to give!

When Cesar discovered that one of Marcos’ daughters had a birthday, he arranged to get a cake and have a celebration for her to invite her friends — several of which were not yet believers, so that they could hear the gospel in an inviting atmosphere.

One night at our base camp in Por Venir, Nate tried his hand at playing the guitar with several of the men.

Soccer Project Pics

While in Jutiapa, we decided to video Eduardo sharing his soccer tournament presentation with two of the local officials who work in the promotion of sports in the region.

In Jutiapa, one of the sports promotors asked Eduardo to speak to the soccer team that the mayor’s son plays on.

Baptism day

Before doing the baptism, Cesar wanted to explain what it meant to Cristian, who helps with the yard work around their property in Amberes. Because Cristian is a soccer player, Cesar used the ball of colors to explain the gospel. Cristian readily received the message and prayed to receive Christ. Then Cesar asked him if he would like to be baptized too, and he eagerly said, “Yes!”

What a thrill it was for me to get to baptize Cristian. I pray that he grows stronger and stronger in his relationship with the Lord and that Cesar helps him get started living in his new faith in Jesus.

Here I had the privilege of baptizing Noemi. Noemi is the wife of Cristian Gonzalez (grandson to Cesar and Elba but not related to the Cristian baptized here!). I have known her for several years, and it was so good to hear her testimony of how this past year she gave her life to Jesus.

After the baptism, we captured this shot of all of us together. From left to right are Cristian, Elba, Elbita (Elba’s granddaughter named after her), Noemi, Cesar, Nate, me, Miguel (Elba’s brother), Eduardo, and Rider.

Thanks Again for Your Continued Prayers and Support!

Talk to you soon!

Steve

Play Story Eat Update December 2023!

Good morning everyone!

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are beginning to enjoy the Christmas season. I know it’s been a bit since I last updated you on the mission projects that we have been working on. Since the last update, we have had friends from Forest Grove Baptist Church in Pleasant Hill, MO, join our update. Nola and I enjoyed spending a Sunday with them, their Pastor Sam Anderson, and his wife Judy—who are long-time partners in several cowboy mission trips we have done.

We also want to welcome more friends from the Sandhills of Nebraska, friends from Amazing Grace Church in Thedford, Nebraska, and Tallin Bible Church south of Arnold, Nebraska. Pastor Lee Wonch and his wife, Dandee, serve those two churches, and we have really enjoyed getting to know them and the wonderful ministry they are doing in Nebraska.

Bill Burrows and I had the privilege of spending a weekend with Lee Wonch and his two congregations in the Sandhills in October. Fortunately Lee is a big Kansas City Chiefs fan and didn’t mind taking a picture with me! Lee and his wife Dandee are doing a great job ministering and loving the folks in their part of Nebraska. The two congregations they pastor are 60 miles apart!

Be the Church Training

Bill Burrows continues to lead the charge in our Be the Church training, and in late August he made the rounds in Nebraska, speaking and teaching at First Baptist Church of Valentine and Amazing Grace Church in Thedford. In October I joined Bill, and we led the workshop “Building Relationships for Discipleship” at the Rural Church Workers Conference in Burwell, Nebraska, hosted by our good friend, Joel Wentworth. That same weekend Bill took me along to meet the good folks at Amazing Grace Church and Tallin Bible Church near Arnold, Nebraska. By the way, several members of those churches are interested in going to Guatemala to work with cowboys and ranchers in late January. If you are interested in being a part of that, get a passport and let us know!

Celebrating 25 years of Ministry in Oak Grove, MO

On November 19, 2023, Cross Creek Baptist Mission of Oak Grove, Missouri, celebrated their 25th anniversary as a church. Ray and Vickie Gurney, our good friends and partners on many a mission trip to Guatemala, invited Nola and me to be there on their special day. Thanks, Ray and Vickie! And happy anniversary, Cross Creek!

On Cross Creek Baptist Mission’s 25th anniversary, I presented a plaque of appreciation to pastor Ray Gurney and their church for many years of partnership in mission projects in Guatemala. In Ray’s hand are two bottles of his favorite Guatemalan hot sauce that Cesar Gonzalez, our ministry partner in Guatemala, wanted me to give Ray to thank him for being such a great friend!

Nicaragua Mission Trip

In October Nola and I had the privilege of being a part of a Lenexa Baptist team of 35 people who went to Managua, Nicaragua, to work with the various mission endeavors associated with Project Hope. As a part of that trip, Justin Pedigo (the tech team leader at Lenexa Baptist) and I got to spend one full day with Eduardo Mejia to shoot footage in several places across Nicaragua for the soccer videos we are producing. In the story down below the prayer requests, I’ll share more pics and especially a story about an incredible encounter we had with a professional soccer team!

Nola gives a girl a hug as our Lenexa Baptist team gets off the bus in the Nueva Vida village near the city dump. The team did a variety of projects including home construction, VBS with children, women’s ministry, a ministry to recovering drug and alcohol addicts, and a ministry to children and families at a place they call “Taellor’s” house.

Guatemala Soccer Project

As you are reading this update, I am in Guatemala with long-time friend, Nate Smith, and Eduardo Mejia (yes, the same Eduardo I was with in Nicaragua!). Nate has done a lot of video work through the years and will be helping us capture some of the stories of what God has been doing in Guatemala. On this trip we plan to crisscross the country to shoot some videos for our soccer project and to document some of the key stories and testimonies from both our ministry to cowboys and to our Kekchi friends who are starting new churches in the jungle.

Please be in prayer for this team. For two weeks in October, the country was shut down due to protests arising after the August presidential election. Protesters blocked streets and highways in over 200 key locations across the country, and for a time there was no gasoline available. Grocery stores were empty. People were forced to stay home. Thankfully the country is now open again.

This is a pic from a news article of a protest on September 18, 2023, in Guatemala City. This would have been just before the nationwide shutdown.

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.)

1. Pray for the above mentioned request for safety of our team as we travel and prepare for future teams to come to Guatemala. This team will also be working with several mayors to plan the next soccer tournaments in 2024. We are scheduled to be in the country December 3-13.

2. Pray that we are able to have a cowboy and rancher team ready to go on a mission trip in late January to Guatemala. Several of those interested are needing to get passports.

3. Pray for the health of Elba Gonzalez, wife of Cesar Gonzalez, our key leader in Guatemala. Elba had a mini-stroke a couple of months ago and thankfully has recovered well. Pray for continued health for Cesar as well.

4. Pray for our friends like Lee and Dandee Wonch, who are pastoring in rural areas in Nebraska. Pray for their stamina in traveling between towns and that their congregations thrive in being the church in their respective regions.

ENGAGE

If you are interested in being a part of any kind of mission trip in 2024—whether it is with soccer enthusiasts, cowboys, or Kekchi Indians, please let me know.

INVEST

Thank you so much for your generosity. Because of you, we have been able to travel unimpeded this year and fund the movements of guys like Eduardo Mejia to travel more frequently from Nicaragua to Guatemala in the soccer ministry. Muchas Gracias!

Please let us know of any of your prayer needs.

Love y’all!

Steve

And Now Some Stories and Pics!

More from Nicaragua

As promised I want to show you a few pics from the Nicaragua trip and conclude with the story of our time with a professional soccer team.

The first day in Pueblo Nueva Vida, Eduardo Mejia translates for Rhonda Reinhardt, of Lenexa Baptist, as she tells Bible stories of ordinary people who God used in a great way.

During Rhonda’s Bible story, a little pony came running out of nowhere! Here I took the picture as the little horse is catching the cables and about to pull down the speaker! And yes, the speaker did fall down!

The Lenexa team brought super hero outfits for all the kids to remember the Bible stories of how God takes ordinary people and makes them into super heroes!

Here, we are pouring concrete for one of the homes being built. The lady holding the shovel is the home owner. In this project everyone works together on all the homes until every house in a particular section is done.

The local mayor (in the blue shirt with the microphone) came out the last day to help celebrate the completion of a section of 45 houses.

The entire group of workers and well wishers walk from house to house for the official ribbon cutting ceremonies.

Nola and I got to celebrate the completion of a roof on the house of Martha, whose house had been completed a few weeks prior. We got to present her with a gift from a group of ladies at Lenexa Baptist who made decorative quilts for the new home owners. Martha is also a new believer and is part of a ladies Bible study in the village.

Here I’m with Eduardo (far right) and Justin Pedigo (left of Eduardo) as we prepared to make a video with several people who were impacted by a recent soccer tournament in Somoto, Nicaragua.

Justin Pedigo is setting up the camera to film a soccer testimony from our friend, Eyner Garcia, of Somoto, Nicaragua. In the background is the town’s sign and under it says “Capital of Friendship.”

The Soccer Harvest is truly Plentiful

We have been impressed by the receptivity of soccer enthusiasts and soccer players to the gospel. The next to last day in Nicaragua, we traveled to Matagalpa, Nicaragua, to get some video interviews with three professional soccer players who played with Eduardo when he was playing professionally. We planned to catch them after the evening practice, do the interviews and go. But when they got done and huddled up for their last word of the practice, one of Eduardo’s friends called over to us, “Come speak to the team!”

After the invitation to speak to the team, we all sat down as Eduardo shared his testimony. Because Eduardo knew several of them personally, they seemed very open to what he had to say. At the end, Eduardo invited them to pray a prayer of salvation if they would like. When he asked how many wanted to do that, about 10 of them raised their hands! We then used copies of my translated testimony that has a quick form to write down their response for a way Eduardo could get their info and stay in touch with them.

Here are several guys who played with Eduardo when he was playing professional soccer.

The team prayed together before leaving to go home.

Thanks for your continued Prayers and Support!

Talk to you soon!

Steve

PS…A couple weeks before Thanksgiving, on November 10, 2023, Connor Allen Reed, a new Reed grandson, arrived into this world! Congratulations to proud parents, Ryan and Bobbi Reed, and proud big sisters, Bridget and Addie!

Guatemala Soccer Project Part 3!!!

Good morning everyone!

I hope you had a wonderful Independence Day celebration. We sure did. Besides enjoying family time, Nola and I went to the movie, Sound of Freedom, on the 4th, and we highly recommend it.

In our last couple of updates we have focused on the soccer project and our continuing efforts to follow up on the incredible harvest we experienced in April as over 600 people came to Christ. You received part 2 on the same day that I was in route to Guatemala for a follow-up trip. So this update will focus on that trip. Cesar Gonzalez and I wanted to revisit all the places we went to in April and strengthen our efforts to get new believers into small groups—most notably Futbolistas para la Vida soccer groups.

As we began to make our rounds, two things caused us to change our itinerary. Number 1, we realized that because of the (then) upcoming elections on June 25th, all our friends working in city halls that plan big tournaments were busy in campaigns for re-election. But a second and more significant thing caused us to change our plans. It all started in Monjas when we introduced a simple drill we use as a way to help people initiate spiritual conversations. To share that story, it’s going to require a little more setup. So, as has become our pattern lately when we have lots of pictures to share, we have listed the prayer requests first and then followed that with the rest of the story and more pictures.

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.)

1. Continue to pray for us as we organize groups from the harvest in Monjas, Pueblo Nuevo Viñas, Amberes, and Santa Cruz Naranjo. Pray that leaders for the soccer groups will emerge to help assimilate and disciple new believers. Pray too that we are able to effectively use the technology available to us to stay connected with those starting new Futbolistas para la Vida soccer groups.

2. Continue to pray for our video team: Sam Swift, Selvinth Maldonado, myself, and others who are being recruited to join us in producing soccer-related discipleship videos. Before the end of the summer, we hope to launch the website with everything we have. And we hope to send two video teams to Guatemala and to Nicaragua this year for the purpose of shooting soccer video content.

3. Pray for Gloria Lopez and others who are using our connection drills in the schools in Monjas. (See story below!)

ENGAGE

If you know of any soccer enthusiasts or coaches who we might be able to interview for our videos, please let me know. And if you are interested in going on a mission trip this year, let’s talk! Even though we are putting a lot of effort into this soccer project, we still hope to have a couple of teams this year focused on cowboys and on our Kekchi friends starting churches in the jungle.

INVEST

Thank you so much for your generosity. You have kept us moving and responding to the open doors before us!

Please let us know of any of your prayer needs.

Love y’all!

Steve

And Now Some Stories and Pics!

On our first day after I landed, Cesar and I had the privilege of visiting Paola, the soccer player from Pueblo Nuevo Viñas, who broke her leg in the tournament in April. As you may remember, in treating the break, the doctors discovered a tumor that they were able to successfully remove. Both Paola and her mother expressed their gratitude to God that this accident just might have saved her life!

We had the opportunity to share an evening with the team from the Lions Club in Monjas. This group helped us with many of the logistics in putting on the tournament there in April. Here the first-comers to our meeting posed for a photo around the grill when we started prepping for a barbeque just outside the rodeo arena.

After the grilling, it didn’t take long for this group to enjoy a meal together.

After eating, we thanked everyone for their help and shared about our ongoing needs to help follow up with the children and adults who want to be a part of new Futbolistas para la Vida soccer groups. Cesar and I both wore our cowboy hats, because many from this community know us for our cowboy ministry too. In fact, this gathering took place in the meeting hall of the rodeo arena owned by the cattlemen’s association that we have worked with in the past.

To introduce one of the features of our soccer groups (or any Play. Story. Eat. group for that matter!), we did our wagon wheel drill that we use in our Be-the-Church training, where we give a pair of people two minutes to share what they are grateful for, what they are concerned about, and then pray for each other. With the clock ticking, in about 10 minutes it’s possible for each person to connect in a meaningful way with 5 other people.

On the right in this photo is Gloria Lopez, the president of the Lions Club. She is also an elementary school teacher and a dedicated follower of Jesus. When we did this drill, it so impacted Gloria that she mentioned it to her school principal the next day. And the following pictures are of her leading about 200 children in the same drill at school! We only found out about it after she did it!

Here Gloria is getting the kids organized into wagon wheels to do the activity.

Many of the children told Gloria that they really liked the prayer part, and Gloria told us it went so well that they plan to do this exercise every Friday morning for the rest of the school year!

Later on that same day, Gloria invited us to come to the school to meet some of her fellow teachers. Most are Catholics, and what amazed us was their unified opinion that this was one of the best things they had done all year! One teacher said that they thought that no matter what a person’s religious views might be, everyone was affirmed and listened to.

Cesar spoke to the teachers and thanked them for what they do every day. By the way, since then, the regional director of the elementary schools has invited Gloria to show other schools how to do what she did!

Because of Gloria’s contagious spirit, we changed our plans when she talked about her church and the fact that she believed her pastor would be supportive. In order to follow up on these contacts, I wound up spending a couple of days in the home of Gloria and her husband Rony while Cesar kept a family commitment back in Amberes. In this photo, Gloria led a Saturday night youth gathering in her church and had them do the drill as well! Once the pastor and I met, he invited me to speak the next day in their service.

This is Pastor Favio Ramirez, Gloria’s pastor. Not only is he an excellent communicator, he is a talented musician—playing multiple instruments and having an incredible voice. Here he is speaking at the youth event after playing drums for the band. When it comes to music for big events, Favio is willing and ready to help in our future soccer tournaments.

The following day, right before I spoke, Favio introduced a family from their church that was leaving to pastor a new church in another town. It just so happens that Cesar has contacts there who are believers but have no pastor. We believe that God may be up to something! Stay tuned!

One of the goals for this trip was to recruit pastors who have a heart for young people, and in particular soccer enthusiasts, to help us with the follow-up in Monjas. Here we are meeting with three pastoral leaders who have committed to helping with this project. The day after this meeting we had planned to do a training event, but a thunderstorm knocked out the electricity for 24 hours, and we had to postpone it!

The Soccer Harvest is truly Plentiful

While we continue to have people willing to help in this soccer project, we desperately need to have people trained to lead groups. And because of logistical issues in doing the training in person, we see that we absolutely must invest more time and energy in putting training online and using technology to call and walk potential leaders through the material when they are ready.

While most of the videos we have made have been done here in the U.S., we believe we need to send video crews to Guatemala and to Nicaragua to film our partners in action in order to make the website feel like all three countries are represented in what we hope will become a movement should the Lord continue to bless this endeavor.

Please pray for wisdom in all of this!

Congratulations on Reading the Whole Update!

Talk to you soon!

Steve

PS…Please pray for these two men speaking with Cesar. They are soccer coaches in Monjas and want to use their influence in getting new groups started.

Guatemala Soccer Project Part 2!!!

Selvinth Maldonado and I welcome our friends in Guatemala to our first soccer video designed to give soccer enthusiasts their first steps in following Jesus and becoming a part of new Futbolistas para la Vida soccer groups. Behind the camera and creator of the backdrop is Sam Swift, one of the tech guys at Lenexa Baptist who also went to Guatemala with us last month.

Good morning everyone!

In our last update we told you about the incredible harvest we experienced in April as over 600 people came to Christ through our Guatemala soccer project. Today I want to share a little bit of what happened the following week, after our teams went back home, and how we have been responding since we got home.

Like our last update, we have listed the prayer requests first and then added more of the stories through the pictures that follow.

As you are reading this, I am likely in route back to Guatemala to continue to follow up and make preparations with Cesar Gonzalez for grouping the new believers into Futbolistas para la Vida groups. We will also begin preparing for future tournaments in two new cities.

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.)

1. Pray for Cesar Gonzalez and me as we work this next week to organize groups from the harvest in Monjas, Pueblo Nuevo Viñas, Amberes, and Santa Cruz Naranjo. Pray that leaders for the soccer groups will emerge to help assimilate and disciple those who responded in April.

2. Pray for us as we prepare for the next tournaments in San Andrés Sajcabajá and Jalapa. Pray for Marcos, José, Mario, Caleb, Abner, Alejandro, Fabiola, and others (shown in the pictures below) who are partnering with us.

3. Continue to pray for our video team: Sam Swift, Selvinth Maldonado, myself, and others who we will have in our soccer-related discipleship videos. Pray too that we are able to effectively use the technology available to us to stay connected with those starting new Futbolistas para la Vida soccer groups.

ENGAGE

If you know of any soccer enthusiasts, or even tennis players (see pics below of the upcoming project in Jalapa!), who might want to go on a mission trip this next year, let me know!

INVEST

Thank you so much for your generosity. You have kept us moving and responding to the open doors before us.

Please let us know of any of your prayer needs.

Love y’all!

Steve

And Now More Stories and Pics!

Government Official Invites Us to Travel with Him

One of the stories we shared last time was of Marcos Ramirez, the national director of Conjuve, the Guatemala government’s youth issues department. Marcos, a Catholic by background, had prayed to receive Christ in our tournament in Pueblo Nuevo Viñas and had been so impacted by what we were doing, he invited Cesar and me to come with him to visit San Andrés Sajcabajá, a small town in the mountains. He was concerned, because the youth there have been succumbing to drugs and alcoholism.

Marcos Ramirez (on the right), the head of the youth issues department for the government of Guatemala, responded to the gospel message in Pueblo Nuevo Viñas.

Cesar and I met Marcos and his family outside of Guatemala City for breakfast and then followed them about 3 hours to San Andrés Sajcabajá. Marcos’ wife, Mariela (on the left) is an evangelical Christian and was very happy about Marcos’ decision. San Andrés is her hometown, and it’s where Marcos’ grandparents and other family members are from as well. Edwin, Marcos’ dad (on the right), joined us for the day trip.

There were several beautiful places to stop and take pictures on the drive.

San Andrés Sajcabajá is an indigenous name that is one of the most difficult towns to pronounce! (If you say it right, it sounds like San Andres Sash Ka Ba Há). Here you can see the spelling on the sign in front of their city hall.

Marcos took us to city hall and introduced us to José Gressi (blue shirt on the left), his cousin who is in charge of sports projects in the region, and the vice mayor (center) of San Andrés Sajcabajá. From this point on, José was our guide, because Marcos had to get back to Guatemala City.

After our meeting at city hall, José took us out the front door of the city hall and to the town square. Here, Cesar and José are seated in front of the Catholic Church building where José tells the story of how back in the 1980s and early 1990s, this whole region was in the middle of Guatemala’s civil war. For a time, the government had seized the church and used it as a base of operations. Just this past year, hundreds of skeletons were found buried under the church where, presumably during the war, government troops had killed communist sympathizers and buried them under the church. Today, few from the town have any memory of that time.

On our visit around town, we stopped at the Mayan community center where they house the statues of saints that they use in religious parades at various times of the year. Traditionally, many indigenous communities have syncretized Catholic beliefs with Mayan beliefs.

Another Divine Appointment

After the introductions at city hall, Marcos had to get back to Guatemala City and left us with his cousin, José Gressi, who is part of the city’s sports department. He began to tour us around town, and when we were driving to the soccer fields, he was talking about the problem of drugs and alcoholism among youth. On a street corner a young man was talking with another, and José pointed him out, “Right there is a good example of this. Mario is an excellent soccer player, but he has had difficulty staying sober.”

“So he is the type of person we want to reach?” Cesar asked. “Would he want to talk to us?”

“Probably,” answered José. Immediately, Cesar put on the brakes and shifted the Toyota pickup into reverse to back up to the corner where this young man was.

“I hear you are a really good soccer player,” Cesar said with the window rolled down. “Would you like to go with us to look at the soccer fields?” Recognizing José, who he had played soccer with before, he immediately agreed and jumped into the back seat with me.

This is Mario Mendez, who José had mentioned was a prime example of a young man who is an outstanding soccer player, but who has struggled with alcohol. Mario is in his early 20’s and was born in Honduras, but when his mom died he came to Guatemala to live with his father who was from San Andrés Sajcabajá. Mario plays on a semi-professional team in the region and is widely known for his soccer prowess. During our time with him, countless people waved at him, calling him by name as we drove around.

After we found out that it was his daughter’s birthday, we helped Mario pick up a piñata and a couple of gifts while we were driving around.

After we shared a little bit of what we were doing and how we had just come back from a week of soccer tournaments, we asked Mario about his religious background. His mother was from Honduras, and his dad was from San Andrés. For most of his adolescence he lived in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, with his mother. There, he was part of a dynamic youth group of a new church and he had committed his life to Christ. After his mother passed away, he moved to San Andrés with his father. Soon he realized that his soccer skills were better than most in his new home, and he quickly became a soccer sensation. With the notoriety came many invitations to celebrate with alcohol. Unfortunately, he didn’t have the same youth group to lean on here, and he succumbed to many of the temptations.

After seeing some of the fields, we stopped to get a bite to eat for lunch. Mario told us that he would gladly work with José and a team of people to bring the tournament to San Andrés. We agreed to meet again the following morning for breakfast and to talk more, since Mario needed to get back to help with his daughter’s birthday party. We also agreed to an invitation from José to join him at the hot springs later that evening for a boiled egg picnic!

San Andrés is known for it’s hot springs that flow into a nearby river. Here José wanted to meet with us to eat boiled eggs, beans, and tortillas.

At one of the sources of the hot springs, José drops the sack of eggs into the water to boil.

After fishing the sack of boiled eggs out with a stick, we ate together.

The next morning we continued our conversation when both José and Mario met us for breakfast at our hotel.

As I got up early to work out, the sun highlighted a cross on the mountain overlooking San Andrés. Many towns in Central America have crosses on mountains overlooking their towns. Most of these were placed there by dedicated Catholic priests and their parishioners.

While we ate, we talked about the project and about some of our methods for sharing the gospel. After learning about the message of the colored soccer ball, Mario repeated what he remembered of the meaning of each color. Incidentally, a little after I took this picture, Mario prayed a prayer of rededication to the Lord and wants to not only help in our soccer project but also to offer whatever gifts and abilities he has to serve God.

Mario shows some foot skills and passes the ball to José.

When we talked about needing to build some soccer goals for the project, Mario took us to a friend who has a welding shop and who is also a soccer enthusiast.

One of the places Mario wanted us to see was this ancient Mayan ruins just outside of town.

Part of the ruins is this pit where an ancient soccer type of game was played. While they used makeshift balls and rocks, in some cases heads of sacrificed individuals were purported to be used as well!

Retracing Cesar’s Past

After taking us to the Mayan ruins, we bid farewell to Mario. Instead of heading to the main road, Cesar wanted to go straight into the mountains on a dirt road and see if he could find some places that he had visited back in the 1970s. For almost 10 years, Cesar worked as a public health official, and for several months he had been assigned to walk through this mountain region to talk to individuals and leaders about common health problems and deliver medications to nip any communicable diseases in the bud before they spread. So we took part of a day to drive this mountain road.

If we didn’t have a four-wheel drive vehicle, we would have had to turn around multiple times. It took us 5 hours to go 43 Kilometers! That would probably average us at about 5 miles an hour!

When traveling through this part of the country, there are no restaurants or hotels, so we stopped at houses like Cesar did back in the day and asked this woman who was sowing if she would fix us a meal! And she did!

The dirt road snaked its way through the mountains. Eventually we made it to the other side.

About the only thing we accomplished in this excursion was realizing that Cesar was in great shape back in his day! But once we got through to the other side, we had to make a decision.

Visit Some Cowboys or an Old Friend?

There’s a country song that has a line in it about flipping a coin to figure out where to go next…“heads Carolina, tails California…” And that almost describes our dilemma.

When we got out of the mountains and hit the main road, Cesar pointed out that if we went left we could go and visit some of our cowboy friends. If we went right, we would be on the way to where some friends we hadn’t seen in a long time lived and where we had done ministry years ago.

“I feel like we need to check in on Gregorio in Guastatoya,” Cesar said. “What do you think?” Through the years, when Cesar has had a hunch like this, I have learned to go with it. I could probably write a book on some of the amazing things that happened when we went with his gut!

“We haven’t promised our cowboys that we were coming,” I said. “So let’s go see Gregorio.”

Cesar and I met up with Gregorio and his wife, Joanna, in front of their tire shop in Guastatoya, Guatemala. We picked right up where we left off many years ago!

Sure enough we caught up with them at their tire shop and quickly began laughing about all kinds of misadventures together. When I had stayed at their house 20 some years ago, their kids were little. Now of course the kids are grown, and Caleb, one of their sons, has been a youth leader of a group of about 130 youth. Without telling you the whole story, it became obvious why we needed to see them. Caleb has some kids in their group that could help us with drama and music in our next tournaments. Stay tuned for more of this story!

Next Big Soccer Tournament in Jalapa!

After we left Gregorio, we drove about an hour to Jalapa, where we were scheduled to meet with Abner, a sports leader with Conjuve who wanted us to come and evaluate whether we could do a soccer tournament there. As it turned out, we spent one evening and one morning evaluating the fields, and what we saw blew us away!

Cesar and I met with Abner (center left) and his boss Alejandro (left) in Jalapa to visit the city’s sports facilities. Abner was with us in Monjas doing the soccer tournament there and had insisted we needed to come to Jalapa. Abner is a dedicated follower of Jesus and has been doing soccer evangelism on the streets with some guys in his church in Jalapa. When I walked up to meet them, Alejandro smiled and noticed my bright orange shirt. I earned that shirt last year by surviving a men’s retreat in the jungle. “When did you become a Legendario?” he asked, knowing where my shirt came from. I told him, and Alejandro went on to tell me that he went to the same retreat the year before and that it had changed his life!

This is one of three large fields available to us.

They had large multi-use courts as well.

An olympic sized pool

They even have this nice baseball field.

The next day we met up with Fabiola (left), the tennis coordinator, and Cesar, being a huge tennis fanatic, set up a future tennis project!

With Cesar and I are the leaders of the sports facility in Jalapa. All are excited about us doing a tournament there!

To quickly sum up the two days in Jalapa, we have a huge door of opportunity open to us to use any of the facilities the city has. Also, Abner will help us connect with several churches doing soccer evangelism in Jalapa. We believe that we could train them and partner with them both in the execution of the tournament and in the follow-up of those who might respond to the gospel message at a tournament in Jalapa. In addition, because of the proximity of the tennis courts to the soccer fields, we plan to include tennis in this next project as well! This week, Cesar and I will be spending more time there to evaluate it all, and we believe we will schedule something there soon. Please pray for wisdom in all of this!

Congratulations on Reading the Whole Update!

Love y’all!

Steve

PS…Here’s our soccer video crew!

From left to right are me, Sam Swift, Selvinth Maldonado, and John Maldonado. After making a video together, we went out to an El Salvador restaurant here in the Kansas City area to celebrate!