In July, coworkers Karen, Bill and Quinn (whom I coached) led a mission trip to Albania where they partnered with a local church and national Cru staff to put on a basketball, volleyball and soccer sports camp for over 150 Albanian students. Two college seniors went on that trip: Hannah and Adele. Adele was born in Albania and was adopted by a believing family in the U.S. This was her first time back. She grew up watching “Struggle and Triumph: The Prize,” a video produced by AIA featuring the faith stories of world-renowned soccer players. She is also a soccer player. During the camp Adele had a chance to share her testimony. She shared that when she found out she was adopted, she felt purposeless, rejected, and unwanted by her birth mother and her country of origin. But Adele learned that she was wanted and loved by her Creator, whom she now knows.

Many of the students who heard Adele’s story came up to her afterward and said they also experienced feelings of being unwanted. Hannah (the other senior) and Alfrieda (a Cru staff member) met with some of those students later for coffee, and two of them prayed to receive Christ. Some of the Albanian students told Adele, “You fit here. We love you. You are wanted here. We’re so excited and happy you’re here.” It was redeeming for her.

At least seven people came to Christ during this trip, and there will be others who can now connect to the church in Korçë, Albania. Adele shared her story; others followed up to share the gospel; still others will disciple these new believers. Win, build, send is in the DNA of Athletes in Action, and this trip had it all!

In college, I remember hearing a missionary’s report on the state of world missions. At that time he said there were NO KNOWN Christ followers in the country of Albania. But God has never stopped working. Next month the AIA Global Team will be in Albania to meet with 18 AIA national leaders and to put on a launch event with churches to equip them to start sports ministries. Praise God!

Thank you for your prayers and gifts that enable us to serve the Lord and help others to serve Him. We are grateful for you!

Please review our prayer page  and support needs and lift up our ministry to the Lord.  Click the following:  October 2022 newsletter hard copy. 

Because of your prayer and financial partnership with us, men and women, boys and girls are hearing the gospel and learning to walk with Jesus. We could not do this work without a team partnering with us and sending us out so we can also send others out. Thank you!

Here are highlights from the ministries of a few people you helped send through your partnership.

Marie ministers to collegiate athletes in Puerto Rico. The women’s basketball team now pray together before and after their games, and she holds a AO1 sign at their games to remind them that their play is a gift of worship for their Audience of One.

Kory builds into student leaders like Zach and Mike at Ohio Dominican who shared the gospel with Ty. After many conversations with them about Jesus, Ty recently received Christ saying he didn’t want another day to pass without saying, “yes” to Jesus. Kory went to prison last weekend. He took a group of athletes to play basketball with inmates as part of a prison ministry. Gang leaders gather to watch and discuss Christian rap videos, and God has blessed the ministry through friendships that have developed and violence that has been reduced in the prison yard as a result.

Vincent, a former linebacker and now chaplain for the Cincinnati Bengals, spoke recently to 100+ youth at Anthony Muñoz’s Impact for Eternity camp, encouraging them to know God’s Word in community with other believers. Vincent and his wife Noel hold a Bible study with players and their wives and girlfriends.

Ashley has been ministering to women’s basketball coaches at the U. of GA and has seen them experience true life change because of their pursuit of Jesus. She also had several athletes attend AIA’s Ultimate Training Camp for the first time with significant growth resulting from the experience.

Kaylyn’s softball team at CIU finished 2nd in the NCCAA World Series where they participated in a service event with underprivileged youth in Kansas City. Several want to partner with a local school in NC when they get back by adopting a class and creating a mentorship program where they can share the love of Jesus through sports.

Hailey works with student athletes at several colleges in the (937) area code, including track and cross country girls at Wright State University. Kaitlyn, one of the runners there, was recently baptized as God placed it on her heart to live her life completely for Him.

Thank you for sending laborers like these into the harvest field.  We are grateful for you!

Please review our prayer page  and support needs and lift up our ministry to the Lord.  Click the following:  June 2022 hard copy newsletter to print a card copy. 

Meet Kaylyn, one of the new staff members Karen coaches. Kaylyn grew up playing softball and played for both D1 and NAIA teams in college. She coached at Columbia International University in Columbia, SC while she completed her master’s degree in organizational leadership and afterward. Kaylyn will lead a new softball department at Athletes in Action’s headquarters in Xenia, OH.

God has shaped her life for this role through adversity and opportunity. In college Kaylyn went on three mission trips to the Middle East with Competitive Edge International. In her role with AIA Softball, she will recruit for, and lead similar mission trips with softball players from around the US. These trips have the dual purpose of sharing Christ in the places they go and discipling the players who go on them.

While Kaylyn is a very positive person, she has been shaped through adversity. Besides losing her final softball season due to covid, Kaylyn had unexplained hearing loss as a child and had to get hearing aids. Sports was her escape because she was athletically gifted and because listening and speaking on the field didn’t mark her as different. Then when she was a high school junior, Kaylyn developed tinnitus in its most severe form, resulting in anxiety and depression. Medication and counseling have helped, but God has given her a desire to use her weakness for His glory, and He is using her story. Because some of her players deal with anxiety, Kaylyn can uniquely minister to them through her openness about her own journey.

Kaylyn currently disciples the players at the Christian college where she coaches. One of her pitchers recently said, “I honestly forgot how much I loved playing the game. It has been so freeing to just worship instead of being caught up in my performance all the time.” Kaylyn says: “I could not have been more excited for her! Seeing this shift happen in her and knowing the work the Lord has been doing in her life is incredible.”

Right now, Kaylyn’s team is in Kansas City, MO at the NAIA softball World Series. Pray for their witness and pray they’ll play for the glory of God.

Thank you for helping us mobilize laborers like Kaylyn to grow God’s kingdom through sports.   We are grateful for you!

Please review our prayer page  and support needs and lift up our ministry to the Lord.  Click the following:  May 2022 hard copy newsletter to print a card copy. 

One of the ways Athletes in Action leverages the platform of sports to share the good news of Jesus is through large sporting events. For the past 25 years AIA has hosted the Super Bowl Breakfast and the presentation of the Bart Starr Award to a player who exemplifies character on and off the field. The event draws hundreds of sports, business and community leaders who hear about Jesus. This year’s event featured a presentation of the gospel by CBS NFL studio host James Brown. Watch here 2022 Super Bowl Breakfast Online Special on YouTube.com.

 AIA will also host the Wooden Keys to Life Award event (formerly the Legends of the Hardwood breakfast) during Final Four weekend where similar stories will be told about sports, successes, failures, family and faith. Events like these allow influencers in the world of sports and business who may never attend a church to hear the gospel and receive Jesus.

Thank you for partnering with us to reach the nations with the gospel through the platform of sports!

Cru and AIA have 120 Ukrainian staff with one now serving in the Ukrainian army, and many others are serving people in need in Ukraine and in neighboring countries. Some staff members have moved to the western side of the country or to neighboring countries; some have stayed, but all are sharing the hope of the gospel where they are. Our staff in Poland and Moldova have dropped everything to help refugees coming into their countries. You can join Cru and Give, Pray for, or Serve the Ukrainian people at Stand with Ukraine. You can also sign up for a 24/7 prayer chain for Ukraine at this site. Our staff report that shelling is the worst from 2:00-4:00 AM in Ukraine (7:00-9:00 PM Eastern time).

Pray for peace-bringers in this conflict and pray for those leaders who have the power to stop further escalation.

Pray for all our staff in Ukraine and their families and for believers in Ukraine and Eastern Europe—that they will be safe, stay close to Jesus and be a light for those around them.

Pray this conflict ends quickly, justly and peacefully. Pray that many turn to Jesus. Pray that Christians maintain their witness

Thank you for partnering with us to reach the nations with the gospel through the platform of sports!

Please review our prayer page  and support needs and lift up our ministry to the Lord.  Click the following:  March 2022 hard copy Newsletter to print a card copy. 

At a recent Athletes in Action Chapel, our AIA Baseball department shared results from their 2021 baseball teams. Athletes in Action Baseball has U.S. teams in three collegiate summer leagues; the Scouts in Xenia, OH, which is a part of the Great Lakes Collegiate League, the Rochester Ridgemen in New York, and a team near Anchorage, Alaska. Tim, the head coach of the Xenia Scouts, shared how he was struck by the number of guys who were growing spiritually on the Scouts team, and that a culture of spiritual growth and authenticity was the norm. He shared this: 

“Cameron accepted Christ in the early morning of July 2nd and has been transformed for Christ. He now knows who his Savior is and where his true identity comes from!

“Another player, Noah, also accepted Christ on July 2nd right before our game started at 7:00 pm. After batting practice, before the game started, I went to get ready for the game and pray. As I walked out to the parking lot, I noticed our Chaplain, Taylor, talking to Noah, one of our pitchers. For whatever reason, I knew that God was leading me to go up to him and just hug him. When I did, Noah immediately started to cry and went limp in my arms. I held him and then looked into his eyes and said “Noah, there is NOTHING wrong with you and our God loves you more than you can imagine.

“Right after that, Noah told us that he wanted to pray and accept Christ into his heart and make Him the Savior of his life. Both Taylor and I were a little shocked, but we could see in his eyes that he was ready! We prayed and then hugged him.

“We went on to play one of our best games all summer and won the game. Afterward, we invited Noah to tell the guys that he accepted Christ into his heart right before the game. The team went CRAZY!!! They dog piled him, and all of them started to hug Noah! It was a sight that I will remember for the rest of my life!”

Athletes in Actions Sports TEAM minister to (and through) hundreds of student athletes each summer. AIA’s goal is to teach every athlete to become a Total Athlete, one who is physically, mentally, and spiritually mature.

Through your prayer and financial support, you are helping us to send new Christ-centered laborers to serve in the harvest field. Thank you!

Please review our prayer page  and support needs and lift up our ministry to the Lord.  Click the following:  February 2022 hard copy Newsletter to print a card copy. 

AIA is developing a new 100,000 sq. ft. multi-purpose indoor training facility on the campus of our world headquarters in Xenia, Ohio. The Wooden Family Fieldhouse will be named in honor of John Wooden, the legendary college basketball coach. Before he died in 2010, Wooden gave permission for AIA to use his namesake for the new center, and the entryway will include a tribute to the former UCLA basketball coach.

The heart of the fieldhouse is a 40,000 sq.ft. multi-court center for indoor court sports with an indoor team building/adventure course, regulation synthetic turf field, sports performance center, multi-purpose wrestling/training rooms, fitness facilities, team locker/meeting areas, cafe, and conference center. The center will have dedicated space for a variety of activities, including four basketball courts, batting cages, high-rope climbing walls and an indoor field for soccer, flag football and off-season activities for other sports.

Our vision statement which drives us is to see a day where there will be a Christ follower on every team, in every sport, in every nation. Historically we bring in 100,000 unique visitors to the campus each year. Research indicates the new center will triple or quadruple the number of visitors each year according to Eric Nelson, AIA VP of Catalytic Ministries.

AIA has hosted teams and athletes from other countries who stay at the campus and train. Nelson expects the international reach will increase with the new indoor facility. “It’s more than a building. It’s a place where people get the right things to be the best version of who they are,” Nelson says. It’s a place where we can continue to win people to Christ, build them in their relationships with Him, and send them out to reach the world.

Canadian NFL/CFL hopeful Tommy Roadley Trohatos recently trained with AIA at our headquarters in Xenia where he gave his life to Jesus. In his words: “AIA is like a family. It’s really personal relationships, and after that it’s the training part. I chose to train with AIA because … AIA is set apart by their training and leadership/mentorship programs. I thank God for bringing me here. I wanted to grow as a person, and I’ve always wanted to explore my relationship with God. I chose to follow God, and being here helped me grow closer with Him. I want to be someone who inspires others to believe in God.”

Through your prayer and financial support, you are helping us to send new Christ-centered laborers to serve in the harvest field. Thank you!

Please review our prayer page  and support needs and lift up our ministry to the Lord.  Click the following:  November hard copy Newsletter to print a card copy.