"Not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these."

Just the other day, I opened an old prayer journal  book and found it.  I come across it every so often.  A dried up bouquet of flowers and weeds.  And that is when I lift her and my former team, up in prayer.                

Linda Carlson…  A name that is stored in my heart from 1995.  I met 9 year old Linda during my tour with MAI as a soccer player in Sweden.  I still remember walking up to the camp we (Charlotte Eagles Women’s Mission Soccer Team) were going to run for the day, and seeing the young strawberry blonde‘s grin!  She was full of life.  Throughout the day, I got to know Linda.  She taught me some Swedish, I taught her some soccer.  She shared her stories, I shared Jesus.  During a short walk thru the park area where we were doing soccer camp, the girls in my group listened to us try to attempt Swedish as the girls giggled at our accents.  They showed us a flower, then gulped it up—showing us a few of the wild flowers they ate there and sharing the bitter petals with us.  During that little walk, Linda gave me a little bouquet of wild flowers and weeds.  Her beautiful gleaming smile boasted as she said, “I picked these for you!”  I cherished the sweet gift, and later that evening, tucked that little bouquet away in my trip journal with some napkin and tagging her name and date on them.   

A dried up, fragile bouquet.  They no longer are alive, but are brown and brittle.  But when I come across these once beautiful flowers, the memories are as alive as that bouquet was.  And I pray for Linda;  that God would watch over her, to guide her in whatever she is going through in life.  That she would be reminded of God’s love for her.  She is probably 25 today.  I have never gotten to hear or see from her, but I know, that God let me part of her life for a little while so I could be part of her life forever in Him.  Isn’t that just like  Jesus?   To be sure His sheep are cared for and covered in prayer.   

That is what God accomplishes on mission trips.   He lets you see, touch, and love His people all over the world.  He changes their lives.  He changes yours.   Today.  And forever.   I am grateful to be able to travel with MAI all over again.  But this time, as a leader and mentor.   Would you pray for those we will be meeting this year?  That hearts would be open to His message and that we would be open to be the vessel for Him to use.  That through soccer, or matches, or camps, or walks in the woods, that Christ's love would be spread. 

What to do if a gun is pulled on you in Bogota...

What to do if a gun is pulled on you in Bogota…

Ok, so I haven’t actually had a gun pulled on me, or in fact, ever been to Bogota.  But my friends Stephen and Sara Otis have done both (well, Sara has just been to Bogota, Stephen is the only one to get accosted).  The young couple are in a ministry working with kids in Columbia.  Recently, Stephen actually had a gun pulled on him, and amazingly, got out of the situation using his rapier wit and a good dose of ignorance.

Check out his story: www.bridgethelove.com

As a family that, for the most part, is state side, in a nice warm house, and in a mostly safe city (though Walgreens was robbed by a man with a pencil yesterday) I often feel like we are “pretend missionaries”.  I’m not trudging through the bush, or evading poisonous snakes, or even pretending to be Spanish illiterate and getting away with not being shot, like Stephen!

But I have 106 reminders of my mission field every day.  While I am planning the Brazil trip, and working on raising support, I enter into a classroom each day, and see 106 eager faces.  While I don’t whack my way through a rain forest, or fight guerrilla warfare, I “fight” on a battlefield that is ripe with divorce, split homes, and self esteem issues.  I’ll bet all of you (the tens of twenties that read the blog) can remember the impact a teacher had on your life.  Fortunately, the role of being an International Youth Tour director mainly takes place after school hours and in the summer.  So this allows me to stay in the classroom.

So, while it isn’t as glamorous or adventurous as what Stephen or Sara are going through, it still is an important mission field.  And with only 3 days until Christmas break, sometimes it can feel like a jungle!!!

Why I do what I do...

Lives changed.  Including my own. 


All too often, I have doubts.  Doubts of "am I doing the right thing" or "if I am doing the right thing, and I doing it the right way".  The biggest?  "Is what I am doing even making a difference?"

In these first days of starting into missions, I am full of these types of questions.  Yet, God has been so good to me in these moments of doubt.  While I don't deserve it, he shows me his grace and mercy, especially in times when I need it the most.

Two stories bring this to heart.  This summer, after I had retired from coaching at CAK to venture into sports ministry, I was feeling a lot of these doubts.  I was listening to a CD that talked about "encouragement".  It talked about people calling individuals who made a spiritual influence in their lives and thanking them for it.  I sat and thought "I wonder if any of my players will one day do this".  I had just pulled into my garage, and my phone rang.  It was one of my players.  Calling from AFRICA, in the middle of the jungle, in the middle of the night, to thank me for what I had done for him!  Not TWO MINUTES after I had mentioned my request!  I was floored.

Fast forward to this week.  We have had a lot of set backs this past month.  Things we thought were going to come through, didn't, and some of the people we thought were going to help us weren't going to be able.  And again, I thought "did I hear God right?"  "Is what I am doing making a difference?"  And that morning, I received the following message from a former player:


"Just thought I should let you know this. I was thinking about life a couple of days ago and how I make my decisions and how I deal with situations and what my thought process is. I was thinking about how my parents have shaped me and made me who i am and knew this was true but not the entire answer. Then it dawned on me. Soccer. I base so many of me decisions and choices on what I learned being on the soccer team.
I always remembered you saying how you were trying to teach and raise more than just soccer players but young men. Well it never really dawned on me until right now what that meant I never fully realized what you were trying to do until now.
So long story short: well done. You have truly done something in my life well beyond where soccer ends. I will take what you taught me on the soccer field into life. So I owe you a thanks.
You are the best"

Again, this letter came out of the blue.  Yet, God prompted this young man at the very right moment, to write these words of encouragement to me when I needed it most.  God has been great in sending me His own messages through people in my life.  I thank the Lord for this, and for those people.

So... why do I do what I do?  Because I know that God changes lives.  I have seen it, I have lived it.  Thank you Lord for these messages of encouragement.  I could not do this without You.

Oh so many questions...

Having spent my entire life in the church, and attending countless mission conferences, little thought was given to the support raising of the full time missionaries.  I loved hearing their stories and adventures, and how God was changing lives, but I never imagined the amount of time they had to spend to raise their full support.

Having just started in this venture, it can be overwhelming, to say the least.  Do we send out letters, or meet face to face?  Should the letters be two sided, or just one?  Color, or black and white?  Do we send self addressed stamped envelopes or will people get their own stamps?  Tri-folded brochures or single folded?  Who do we send them to?  Do we ask for one time donations or monthly?  What pictures should we use?  Do those font colors go well with our pictures?

And those are just the questions about the mailings!

I just thank the Lord for friends and family who have poured their hearts and time into us.  Proof reading our letters, critiquing our picture choices, spending time in prayer, and opening their homes are just a few of the things they have blessed us with.

This whole journey has given us a new perspective and appreciation  for those missionaries we have followed for so long... Joe and Cindy Platillero, Brady and Cindy Greene, and the newest of Stephen and Sara Otis.

Thanks to the Parks, Jernigans, Campells, and Pardues for being such gracious hosts!

Jodi's story...

Imagine:  living on $2 or less a day.  Living in a small hut with dirt floors.   Even worse, having an empty heart with no hope or salvation.  This is much of Brazil.  As many of you know, Tom and I have been lead to go into missions with the Charlotte Eagles International Tours to Brazil .  After many years of prayers , Tom’s  summer tour to Brazil has brought us into missions .   Tom has “retired” from CAK soccer coaching to pursue his calling, and I am excited to be a big part with him.

The story began long before Tom’s summer trip to Brazil.  In 1995, Tom and I both went on tour, as college students/players with the Charlotte Eagles MAI.  I went to Austria, Sweden, and Czech Republic.  (Tom went to Russia, Germany, and Czech). We played professional and local club soccer teams, giving testimonies (the gospel) before games, at halftime, and after the matches.  We also ate with the team, did youth soccer camps, and fellowshipped with those we stayed with .   Soccer is the most popular sport in the world, so what better way to connect with the lost, then through the beautiful game!  What an amazing way to see the Lord work!  And to imagine doing this someday as a leader!  God  began tugging at our heart for this type of mission, and that is exactly what God has called us to do.  We will be doing the same type tours to take the gospel, using soccer as our common ground, to Brazil.   We will begin the trip in June and be in Brazil 19 days.  

Getting started...

Soccer has been such a huge part of my life, as both a player and a coach.  It has allowed me to travel around the world to compete, coach, and minister to many people.  From my humble beginnings at Delaware County Christian School in Pennsylvania back in 1985, to playing at Carson Newman College in Tennessee.  Jodi and I both were also both able to tour overseas as players with the Charlotte Eagles (from North Carolina).

As a coach, God has truly blessed the teams that I have been a part of.  Record setting seasons and championships have given us a platform to share the love of Christ all throughout the state of Tennessee, as well as the surrounding areas in the south. 

Sharing the Good News to people around the country through the sport of soccer has reignited my passion for sports ministry.  Four years ago, my wife and I helped organize a Christian Academy of Knoxville (CAK) soccer mission trip to Brazil.  We were hooked!  We started the pursuit of sports ministry during the summers with the Week of Champions sports camps in South Carolina.  There, we met some of the management that runs Missionary Athletes International (MAI) that partners with the Charlotte Eagles Soccer Club (the SAME club I traveled with as a player on my mission trips back in 1995!).  After lengthy interviews and many hours of prayer and discussion, my wife and I decided that this was the direction that the Lord was leading us to follow.  I stepped down as the soccer coach at CAK having coached there for 12 wonderful years.  I am now the Director of International Youth tours with MAI and the Charlotte Eagles.  Each year, I will be planning summer tours, using teens from across the nation. We will be traveling to soccer rich areas, and use soccer as the “draw” to give us the opportunity to share the love of Christ with their people. 

I am the first “satellite” office of Missionary Athletes International and currently reside in Knoxville.  Being able to stay in Knoxville will allow me to continue to teach 6^th grade science at CAK, as well as be involved in the local soccer community.  As tour director, I will be in charge of planning, directing, and recruiting for those summer trips.  Jodi plans to join me on the tours with MAI, as well. 

We hope to keep you all posted on updates on this journey!  We are very excited about what God has in store for us.