Tag Archives: Making a Difference

 From transferred players to transferred lives

Posted in Hard Copy Newsletter by

Abby is a young woman I am coaching who is serving with Athletes in Action at the University of Minnesota Duluth and the University of Wisconsin Superior. God is doing incredible work in the lives of student athletes at both of these campuses.

Here are a few of the highlights Abby shares:

We recently welcomed two former AIA members (who now play professionally) back to campus to encourage and inspire our athletes. Auni Linser (hockey) and Henry George (baseball) talked about continuing to model their faith for teammates at the next level.

AIA and Cru helped to organize and run the 4th Annual Aruna 5K on the UMD campus where 370 runners (250 students!) raised over $13,000 to help free, employ and empower women who are survivors of human trafficking.

God is working in the hearts of hockey players at both UMD and UWS!

This summer I had the opportunity to connect with two women’s hockey players, Kate and Josie, who were transferring to UMD in the fall. Both women had expressed interest in growing in their relationship with God and a desire to be involved in our ministry on campus.

Over the semester we have met weekly to discuss God’s word and to talk through what He has been teaching them as it relates to their lives and where he has been present in their community. One of those God moments was with their teammate Kam. Kam expressed interest in knowing more about a personal relationship with Jesus and wanted to grow in her understanding of Him. We invited Kam to join our weekly meetings. During one of our September meet ups, Kate and Josie clearly articulated what it meant to have a relationship with God, and during that time Kam committed her life to Christ! She is now a regular at our weekly Bible Study – and all three have shown initiative and invited more of their teammates to our large group AIA time at UMD. Praise God!

Thank you for your part in reaching the world for Christ!

Please review our prayer page and support needs and lift our ministry to the Lord. Click on the following: November 2025 Hard Copy Newsletter.

Spiritual Generations

Posted in Hard Copy Newsletter, Sports T.E.A.M. by

Meet Katie. Growing up in Green Bay, WI, Katie studied exercise science and then pursued a masters in athletic training while playing on the golf team. Her family went to church when she was young but stopped going due to sports conflicts. Her last year in college, Katie’s roommate/teammate invited her to go to an AIA weekly meeting. “I went for the free food and to support my teammate,” she admits. When her teammate shared the gospel with her using the Knowing God Personally booklet, Katie was interested, but not ready to make a decision. She continued going to weekly meetings, and two months later, she felt like her eyes were opened and she started to see God everywhere. “It was like I was blind, but now I could see. They shared the gospel with me again, and it was a YES!” she says.


Katie attended AIA’s Ultimate Training Camp that summer and went back to school eager to start a Bible study with her golf team. More than half of them came. This year, she worked part-time with AIA and part time as an athletic trainer, but she felt pulled more toward ministry. “It’s been so encouraging seeing how God can use me,” Katie says, “and I thought, ‘What if I could spend all my time doing this?’” So now, Katie is pursuing a full-time internship with AIA.

Becca, Katie and Santina

Katie has been working as an athletic trainer with a college girls soccer team, and she’s discipling two of the players. Becca is a soccer player who transferred in this year and with whom Katie shared the gospel. Becca responded that she wanted to know Jesus more, and this semester, Becca invited her team to a Bible study, and she is currently discipling her teammate, Santina. Becca told Katie, “After graduation next year, I want to do what you’re doing.”

As Katie trusts God to provide for her spiritual and financial needs so that she can serve Him full time, I (Karen) have the privilege of having a front row seat to watch and encourage her growth as her coach. Thank you for your partnership with us – it is enabling the growth of spiritual generations!    

Thank you for your part in reaching the world for Christ!

Please review our prayer page and support needs and lift our ministry to the Lord. Click on the following: May 2025 Hard Copy Newsletter.

Ready to help others …

Posted in Athletes in Action, Hard Copy Newsletter by

Kory is an AIA staff member I am currently coaching who serves at Ohio Dominican University (ODU).  He shares here about some of what God is doing on that campus:

“How happy is the one who does not walk in the advice of the wicked or stand in the pathway with sinners or sit in the company of mockers! Instead, his delight is in the Lord’s instruction and he meditates on it day and night.”

These words from Psalm 1:1-2 come to mind when I think of my interactions with my athletes. Kylen (football; gray hoody) and Manny (track & field; black coat) meet with me. We have been studying The Basics of the Christian Faith. Manny is ready to start sharing the Gospel with his teammates and will be joining me on some appointments. Kylen needs a little more time before he feels he is ready to share the Gospel. There are still some personal hurdles that he faces in taking his faith public, but he has come a long way. He has joined me in our work in the prisons and is even considering going on our spring break mission trip to Orlando to work with Cru Inner City. Both young men have decided they need a strong foundation in Christ for themselves and for their teammates.

I will be going on a sports-based mission trip with Athletes in Action to Albania. We will be ministering alongside in-country AIA staff to help accelerate the strategic ministry they have at key universities and villages in Albania. As we train and play sports with athletes, we will help them practice English and share what it means to begin a personal relationship with God.


For a long time, Albania was closed to the gospel, but believers grew from nearly zero to several thousand in a few years. Albania faces a long road to recovery from the destructive effects of atheism and Communism. The chaos and corruption of the 1990s and 2000s showed that to build a healthy and productive society, people must rebuild economically, but also morally and spiritually. Many people claim a religion, but do not practice their faith. The city where we’ll be staying is also home to 26 ethnic groups and some of the most spiritually unreached and unengaged people in the world. 

 I invited several of my athletes to join me. Cam (green shirt) and Alex (black hoody) both said yes and are excited to see how God might use them. Both are considering possibly joining staff with AIA and living in Albania for a year to do ministry.

Please review our prayer page  and support needs and lift up our ministry to the Lord.  Click the following:  February 2024 hard copy Newsletter.

Greatly Helped and Deeply Loved

Posted in Athletes in Action, Hard Copy Newsletter by

Last week, 17 Albanians came to AIA’s headquarters in Xenia, Ohio: 11 Olympic athletes, the mayor of the capital city, the Albanian minister of sport, and the heads of the sports clubs from the two largest cities. They came for sports training, but they didn’t expect what else they would encounter while they were here.

In July 2022, AIA’s Global Team took a small group of staff and students to Tirana, Albania, where they held a sports camp for over 150 Albanian students. In November 2022 the Global Team went to Albania to meet with AIA national leaders from 18 Central and Eastern European countries to put on a launch event to help churches start sports ministries. Building on our existing ministry in Albania, we had the opportunity to invite this group to AIA’s campus to learn about competing as a Total Athlete: one committed to success physically, mentally and spiritually.

The consensus was that the group felt greatly helped and deeply loved. George, the head of sports for the capital city and a pro soccer player for 20 years, said, “I’ve traveled to a lot of places. I’ve never been treated like I was here, not anywhere.” Others said, “Here we’ve been treated as people; as human beings, rather than factories to get something done, accomplish a goal or make someone else happy.” The love of Christ compels us, and His love was evident!

AIA global director Bill who shared about the Total Athlete with a very engaged audience. “The Total Athlete concept created a space to help them begin to see the importance of their own souls,” Bill said. “There were great spiritual conversations, formally and informally, sometimes even into the wee hours of the night.” Four of our visitors went to church, some for the very first time. Tirana’s mayor posted on social media (to his almost 400,000 followers) multiple times during their visit, saying that AIA is a fantastic organization with great people with whom they want to partner.

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 2023 hard copy. 

When you are a commodity…

Posted in Athletes in Action, Hard Copy Newsletter, Sports Ministry by

A significant part of Athletes in Action’s ministry is providing sports chaplains in several professional sports and for Olympians. Many people think that elite athletes have it made because of the fame and money they enjoy, but chaplains to these athletes share a different perspective. “An athlete is viewed as a commodity, not as a person,” says Reza Zadeh, AIA chaplain for the Denver Broncos. “They don’t know who to trust because everyone’s out to get something from them.” Former Boston Celtics chaplain Bill Alexson says, “People love them for what they do, not who they are. Their careers are temporary, and when it’s all done, they’re kind of left high and dry. At chapel, they come in and give their burdens to the Lord. A lot of these guys find peace for the first time.”

“The one thing we do more than anything,” says Mike Tatlock, chaplain to the Portland NBA team, “is to help them with their emotional, mental and spiritual well-being. We bring to the table the peace of Christ that passes all understanding. That is the remedy for the things that these guys struggle with.” Chaplains offer Bible studies, retreats, chapel services and individual discipleship with players, coaches and others in the organization. Many chaplains’ wives also conduct Bible studies for the players’ and coaches’ wives and girlfriends.

When Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin collapsed during the game with the Cincinnati Bengals in January, the medical team jumped into action, and so did Vincent Rey, AIA chaplain to the Bengals (and one of Karen’s coachees). He prayed with the Bills’ chaplain and then went to the locker room to support the team. “I gave out a couple dozen hugs just to let them know I’m here.” He also saw the opening for the gospel: “I had a chance to give a message to some people within the organization and management and even some of the coaches. Even though it was a hard thing to get through, I think the Lord used it to get glory throughout our nation.”

Please pray for AIA chaplains as ministers of the gospel and for major sporting events like the upcoming John Wooden Keys to Life breakfast in conjunction with the NCAA Final Four basketball championship.

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:  March 2023 Newsletter hard copy. 

Cancelled means Opportunity

Posted in Hard Copy Newsletter, Sports T.E.A.M. by

As of January 30th, the Sports TEAM division of AIA planned 40+ mission trips, leadership academies, and camps for 2020. Meanwhile, our leadership had been tracking the Covid-19 outbreak and planning since early January.Cancelled Image

Then on March 13th, we received an email from Cru stating:

“Effective March 15, all ministry sponsored projects, missions and conferences are postponed through June … limit group meetings to a maximum of 20 people until then… comply with all local, city, state and university guidelines during this time.”

Opportuintiy             Opportuintiy

Like every other organization, AIA is adapting to ramp up all forms of digitally operations for at least the next 30-90 days and maybe longer, while closing our traditional ministry facilities.

Stay tuned, we will share more about how AIA is adapting to full-time digital ministry. The good news for Karen and me is that both of us can and do much of our work through virtual and digital means.

Karen Working1

Karen is coaching and encouraging new staff. We just heard 58 people are currently applying for staff. God is clearly calling more to serve with AIA. In addition, she continues to write and edit for a variety of our platforms.

Rick Working

Rick’s role of providing analytics and insights for Sports TEAM leadership has become even more important around transitioning to an entirely digital ministry. He will be helping our division redefine and manage assisting our staff as we expand and explore new opportunities for ministry to athletes, coaches and sports fans. Your partnership with us is touching many lives through our staff.

Please review our prayer page  and support needs and lift up our ministry to the Lord.  Click the following: March 2020 Newsletter to print a hard copy newsletter.

Praise God for how He is leading us in redefining our ministry today and in the coming year! Your partnership makes a difference. 

Discovering her Identity

Posted in Sports T.E.A.M. by

Annie was excited! She had just finished college and God made it clear the next step on her great adventure was a one-year internship with AIA’s Sports Performance staff in Xenia, OH. She says, “I thought everything would fall perfectly into place. I thought I would instantly thrive with a brand-new chapter of my life.”

Annie 2, Nov 2019

As with most adventures, “not everything was smooth sailing. I was not unhappy with my job and role within AIA, but as many of you can attest, transitioning from student life to adult life can be difficult.” Add some transition bumps and unanticipated challenges into the mix, and Annie began to feel some discontentment creeping into her life as it was time to consider a second year with AIA.

As she considered what to do next, she believed her time with AIA was not over. But each time she prayed about it, a strong force pushed against her with negative thoughts. Annie realized that these thoughts were not consistent with her identity in Christ. “Right away, I asked God to protect me and block these negative thoughts from entering my mind.” Ever since that prayer, she has experienced “extreme peace” about her decision to serve with AIA for a 2nd year.

Annie 3, Nov 2019

Despite the variety of experiences and the opportunity to make a difference in the Sports Performance ministry, Annie discovered the key for her was that AIA was a “safe place” to transition into adult life. Annie’s faith in discovering her identity in Christ has blessed our ministry because we will be able to continue developing her leadership, and she is contributing significantly in her second year with us.

One of Annie’s second year roles will be to improve our internship program and help promote our intern recruiting efforts. Personally, I (Rick) have had the privilege of coaching Annie as she has begun planning and developing our new internship program so that our interns have an even better growth experience.

Please review our prayer page  and support needs and lift up our ministry to the Lord.  Click the following: November 2019 Newsletter to print a hard copy newsletter.

Praise God for Annie and many other interns who are pouring out their lives to reach another generation for Christ!
We appreciate your partnership. We love you!

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