Several members of the PDL team traveled to Northern Mexico on their annual Missions Trip. One of the main purposes of this trip was to partner with the Sports Ministers in San Vicente. It was the same place where the team had gone last year. Since that time the local Sports Ministers have run a league for children and youth up to the age of 18. As we partnered with them we looked to encourage and enhance their efforts locally.
On Friday the doors were wide open to share and we basically were able to share with all the primary and junior high children, as well as with some of the high school students. We would do a presentation which included an introduction of everybody on the team, a player’s testimony, a time for some fun games and then soccer games. At one school they wanted to play volleyball, so we did. At the Elementary School, one boy, Moises, decided to follow Jesus—which was very exciting. Saturday we went to the Shelter for Abused Women and hung out with the children in the morning. In the afternoon, the local Sports Ministers had set up a Soccer Festival with various teams playing. Many youth played and heard the message of salvation. In the evening we played a game against a men’s team and a player shared his testimony. The next day after a team devotional, we packed up, went to church and headed out. On the one way home we stopped at La Bufadora (a Blowhole) to eat, shop and sight see.
All in all it was a very positive experience with very good outreach and in reach. As next steps we will continue to uphold these dear fellow Sports Ministers in pray: Dan, David, Tina and Gabriel. We will also pray that the LORD of the harvest will provide more workers to be life influencers as coaches in the lives of the children in San Vicente.
The Seahorses returned to the Las Vegas Silver Mug Tournament for the 6th year in a row February 9-11. The Seahorses consider this the first tryout phase for the Summer PDL team.The focus of our team time talks was "Prayer". It was great to see how God moved within the team and outside of the team as we prayed for each other and others were praying for us. One of the ways that God moved was in our first game, we played a team called San Antonio. After the game we met up with the players and realized that some of their players were from a town south of Guadalajara where the PDL team had gone on tour for 3 consecutive summers. It was great to interact with this group and to see how God had connected us once again!
On the field, Coach Todd Elkins had the opportunity to look at players and the other staff had a chance to interact with players who are interested in playing this summer in a 2-3 day trip rather than just one tryout. God certainly blessed the team in a special way as the group clicked quickly both on and off the field. They blended well as they placed second in their group of six teams. They moved on to the round of sixteen where in a tough fought match they lost 2-1. The main purpose of the trip is to glorify God and be a testimony for Him on and off the field. This particular group did a great job in this aspect. After each game drinks and a team flier are shared with our opponents. It was exciting to see several of the recipients reading the flier which explained what/who the Seahorses represent and the good news of Jesus Christ.
The tryouts will continue throughout the month of March. We would ask you to pray for us that God will grant the staff wisdom in knowing what players to select as those who are to be trained in Sports Ministry this summer
