Spring 2010 Newsletter

Hello Sports Fans

This newsletter finds us trying to rest up a bit from our spring break ROCK’em Road Trip and planning for another very busy summer. The Lord has given us the great privilege of being able to minister in many venues as of late and we have been able to see His Gospel message going forth in all its power and glory!

We just returned from 9 days in Florida. “We” refers to me, Coach Hank Dahl, and 15 boys ages 12-18. We had a very full schedule that included: painting a house; working on the rock garden landscaping at a home; leading an Easter morning service; leading 2 youth rallies; leading a Christian school chapel; sharing testimonies at a youth detention center; playing/training in hoops; and even taking in an Orlando Magic / New York Knicks game. The kids were challenged throughout the trip with thoughts from Tony Dungy’s book Uncommon and the theme of our trip: It’s Time To Man Up!

We were able to see over 20 people make professions of faith during the trip (including 9 from a public high school team we scrimmaged.) I also had the thrill of my oldest son, Clay, sharing his testimony at the detention center! It was a great trip for ministry.

I have also had many opportunities as of late to fill pulpits and share God’s Word. I love getting to share His truths and challenge the church to step our game!

As the summer approaches I am finalizing my schedule for camps, mission trips, etc. There are already many weeks of camps planned both in our local area and also in other states. (These will be posted this week.)

Plus: Coach Torzewski has a full slate of Midwest events scheduled (including clinics in Indianapolis and a return to Cornerstone Festival.)

I also will be joining a dear friend from Bible college in the West Indies to survey the area for church plants. (This trip will include Lisa, Lord willing. She has been asked to be a part of the vision team as well. Therefore pray as we seek to raise the support needed for her travel. And selfishly I am pretty pumped about the idea of spending a week in the Caribbean with my wife!)

My son Clay is also getting an incredible opportunity to take a journey I took last summer to London. He will be serving with a group called London Bridges in an outreach to Arabic speaking Muslims on the streets of London. Please pray for him as he prepares for this challenge.

All of this planning is taking place as I finish out my year back in the classroom teaching Bible to middle school students. I have spent 3 days a week in this position and in spite of fatigue I have enjoyed trying to help these kids increase in their knowledge of God’s Word and His love for them. (I have also utilized this time at the school to have “open gyms” in the mornings before school for the ball players.)

This update could carry a lot more details of the amazing things God is doing in our ministry. I am hoping you see from this brief description that we are still moving forward on this “spiritual fast break.”

I do ask that you pray for the following things:

1. Finances to continue to come in for the cost of running the ministry (including my salary.) The Lord has blessed greatly in that we have been able to cover the bills but the reality is that our regular monthly giving is probably only at 40% of my salary – let alone the overall operating budget of InBounds Ministries. Yet somehow God has continued to do His thing!

2. Coach Torzewski and his wife Rebekah: they have a lot of things to juggle with jobs, kids, and InBounds events.

3. Jordan Myers: he is a college student/athlete at Southern Illinois University. He is getting ready to go to China on a basketball mission outreach. We have seeded a bit of money from the ministry into his trip and consider it a part of our overall outreach. Jordan is a quality young man; a good basketball player; and loves the Lord Jesus Christ!

4. Clay Burden: for his trip with London Bridges this summer

5. Lisa Burden: for the extra dollars to come in to sponsor her trip with me this summer. This will be the first time she has been able to go to the foreign field with me.

6. A new computer for the office: with our youngest kiddo heading to kindergarten this year, Lisa is going to be freed up to help me in the InBounds office as well as the classroom at the school. In essence we will be sharing 2 jobs. As of June we will be transferring all of the bookkeeping responsibilities for InBounds Ministries here to our North Carolina office. Therefore we need something other than my little netbook to use.
[This request is coupled with a huge thank you to Jeff Johnson. Jeff is one of our board members and has handled all of the financial area for us since we went full time with InBounds. Yet the job is now getting to be a lot more demanding and pulls into time at Jeff’s actual job. He has done a tremendous job for very little pay ($0) and very little recognition.]

7. Wisdom: opportunities continue to abound for us. My prayer is for clear guidance from the Holy Spirit on when to say “yes” and when to say “no.”

8. Rest: I need it!