Visiting schools in Brazil and Juggling for Jesus

This is Mark one of our players who is "Juggling for Jesus". At most of the schools we played a game with the students called Juggling for Jesus. We would ask for one of the best jugglers in the class to volunteer and then challenge them to a juggling contest with one of our players. Whoever had the most without letting the ball drop wins and whoever had the least lost and would have to do 50 push ups! We would always let the kid go first and then the Eagle player would try to double or at least beat the kid's score. Many of these students were really good and we didn't always beat them! The loser would then start to do push ups and one of our other players would step in and stop them from doing the push ups and do all 50 push ups for them. After the push ups someone in the group would explain how Jesus does the same thing for us. He takes the punishment we deserve for the wrongs we do and does it for us just like our player did the pushy for the school kid even though the kid should have done them. It was a great way to explain how Christ loves them and wants to offer His saving grace to them.

One of our players Jozi with some of the school kids. At some of the schools we were able to play some soccer with and others we just talked with them in a classroom setting.

This is one of the several schools we visited while in Brazil. The schools were really open to letting us come in and share with the students for an hour or so. We could talk about Jesus all we wanted, something we could never do in the US!

Fun and exciting times in beautiful Brazil!

On our last day just a few hours before our flight back to the US we got to visit the Christ The Redeemer statue. It was amazing to see it up close and in person! When we got there it was just getting dark and it was a really cloudy night. It was awesome!

Some of us at a Batafogo vs. Santos professional Brazilian soccer game. It was packed and the fans were crazy! Even crazier than an Indiana High School Basketball State Finals game!

We got to go to the beach a couple times for the teams to train, have some team devos and just enjoy God's beautiful creation! This is a picture at the Copacabana beach and the famous sidewalk.

Myka (third from the left) with some of the girls at a park near Goiania.

Our men and women's team played several games while in Brazil. This was a dream for most of our players to get to play soccer (futebol in Portuguese!) in the "best soccer country". Ben was the men's assistant coach and also got to play several games with the guys. Myka mostly tried to help out with the girls team by cheering them on and being available if they needed anything. After each game each of the teams would invite the opposing team to hang out with our team. Usually one or two of the players from the Eagles would share their testimony (with the help of our amazing friends and translators) with the other team and also explain what it means to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Someone would usually give an opportunity for any of the players to come forward and accept the Lord and then we would always ask if we could pray for the teams. The teams where usually pretty open to listen and also hang out with us afterwards. It is amazing how God uses these games for us to have an opportunity to share with others about Him!

Men and Women's Eagles teams with Brazilian players

We partnered with a ministry in Goiania called Project Grow. This ministry is open to kids of all ages to come and have a safe place to play and learn more about soccer, play on teams, work on school work and tutoring, and be involved with many other activities. They also have Bible lessons and times where they get to hear about Jesus' love for them. We did a short soccer camp with these kids and also a couple of our students shared their testimony of how they came to know Christ. It is an amazing ministry that is connected with a church nearby. It is a very poor community and is not the safest part of the city. It is a great place where kids can feel safe and loved! (Ben is in the back row on the right)

Eagles '09

If you haven't caught on by now or if we didn't explain things well the ministry we are with is MAI Missionary Athletes International. This summer we are working with the Chicago Eagles (Wheaton) office, one of the three offices of MAI. So if we talk about the Eagles that is what we are referring to!

No camera and not much internet access!

Sorry for the long delay in keeping up with this blog! After the first day we ran out of batteries on our camera and of course forgot to bring the charger! We have been trying to gather pictures from other staff and students from the Brazil trip to add to our blog. We also didn't really have an opportunity to get online. It was such a busy two weeks! More to come!

To find out more about what went on in Brazil these past two weeks and to hear from the players viewpoints you can also visit the: Chicago Eagles Brazil Tour Blog 2009

View from the top of our hotel in Goiania

Saturday night we had an awsome time of worship at the top of our hotel.

Sharing during our layover in Brazilia

After about 30 hours of travel we and our bags finally made it to Goiania, Brazil at 11:00PM, Friday. We are all doing well and staying healthy. Yesterday we helped out at a great ministry for kids called Project Grow. We played some games with the kids there, put on a small soccer camp and made some great friends! Today, Sunday, we went to a youth church service. This afternoon we will play our first small-sided soccer match. I will be playing/coaching the men and Myka will be cheering on the ladies. We have a great group of students with us and we are really having fun getting to know them. Thank you for your prayers!