AIA Church Camps Update

Our goal for the summer of 2007 is to work alongside 40 Churches to reach their community through sport. This means we need 16 church partnerships in Ontario, 16 in BC and 8 in Alberta.

We have been pleastanly surprised by the response that we have had so far. As of today we have tentativley booked 6 new church partnership camps. If these churches sign the dotted line, then this will bring us up to a total of 26 church camps so far (13 in Ontario, 8 in BC and 5 in Alberta). As you can see we still have a lot of work to do to reach our goal.

In order for us to adequately serve 40 churches we need to hire 20 coaches. Every summer we hire 4 coaches who travel from church to church, community to community. Their mission is to work alongside church volunteers to faciliate a succesful soccer camp ministry. Not only do they have opportunities to influence kids for Christ but church volunteers too.

In addition to our church based soccer camps, I am very excited to announce that basketball is beginning to initiate partnerships this August. Their goal is to work alongside 4 churches to run basketball camps in BC.

Please pray for the following:

• a total of 40 church partnership soccer camps
• 16 in ON and BC
• 8 in AB
• 20 soccer coaches
• 4 basketball partnerships in BC
• 4 basketball coaches
• that children and their families would come to Christ in new and profound ways.

If you want more information about AIA Church Partnership Camps please go to our NEW Church Partnership Camps website. All you have to do is go to AIA Canada's home page at www.athletesinaction.com and then click on the "Church Partnership Camps" banner (bottom left). Have fun learning about what we offer!

If you know a church or a coach who is interested in useing this great tool to build the body of Christ and engage communities through sport please send them to our CPC webpage to complete the Church Survey or Coach's Interest Form.

For His Kingdom!

Clarke Glover

When it Rains…it Pours, but God is Good!!

It’s true…when it rains…it pours! A month a go I discovered that I need glass and for the last little while I had been giving my laptop CPR in order to get it started in the morning. To make matters worse I got into a car accident a few weeks a go (as many of you know). My car was written off as there was over $13 000 worth of damages.

Sunday Nov. 11th around 11 am I was driving to a soccer game in Langley (as the girl’s soccer team I coach had a game there). On our way a car turned left (across the intersection) and cut right in front of us. I severed into the right line to avoid the collision, but there nothing that I could and the other party hit me on the driver side wheel. The air bags went off, the windshield cracked and the entire driver side of the car was damaged. The rim bent, the axel broke, the front suspension was pushed back and the frame was compromised. Thank God for keeping us safe as no one was seriously injured.

Darcelle, Heidi, Johanna and I were a little shook up and soar. Heidi got the worst of it as she fractured 2 ribs. Today my back is still as I sit and write this Blog. Don’t worry I finally caved and saw a doctor this morning. I start physiotherapy soon. Thank God for keeping us safe! Pray that our bodies (the other party too) would heal well and that details regarding future transportation needs would be ironed out appropriately.

Earlier this week ICBC informed me that the other party was 100% responsible for the accident. This is great news as my insurance premiums will not increase and any damages caused should be covered. On Wednesday I received $13 391 plus a GST voucher if a buy a car from a dealership. So…let the games begin!

One goes through incidents like this and you realize how little control you have in life and how much control God must have. I can’t totally fathom that but it’s true. Through these times is when our faith is proved to be real or fake. So we must press on through the difficulties that come our way and continue to serve Jesus.

Fighting the Good Fight!

Clarke

AIA Church Partnership Camps 2006

It has been an awesome summer. This year we had the privilege of working alongside 22 churches. Twelve in BC, 8 in ON and 2 in AB. Last year we partnered with 20 churches. Even though we had a few drop out of the race, we had several more enter it.

We had over 900 children attend these camps. This is 300 more campers than last year. The most exciting part is hearing tremendous stories of God working in the lives of children and their families.

Here are a few things that people have been saying:

"Soccer camp this past week was amazing...kids that didn't even like soccer at the beginning of the week wouldn't but the balls down by the end! There was such a good response to our team time material - our small groups were most often filled with chatter and lots of searching questions. Friday's commitment message also had a good response.....a number of kids were asking us coaches to pray for them and some even prayed on their own for the first time. It's so incredible to be a part of this!

During the last night we had a wrap-up bbq.....with such an amazing turnout! Over 80 people came....campers and their families. We had dinner and gave awards to all the campers. It was such an great way for the families to meet the people from the church and us coaches - i can't even count the number of incredible conversations and comments i heard. Comments like "I'm going to call the pastor of this church and let him know how amazing this camp was for my children" or "thank you for giving my kids an environment where they were loved, taken care of, and able to have so much fun!"....

Renee Grootenboer
Ontario Soccer Camps instructor

"This has been an EXCELLENT week. Your staff ... Sheena, Drew, Doug, Lana and Leah have been amazing ambassadors for AIA and for Christ - so thank you for sending such a wonderful team to us."

Vicki Bower
Children’s Pastor

Peace Portal Alliance Church in BC

"Our camp was fantastic. It is so great to watch God at work through those He sends - He does so much - not just to our campers, but our leaders, families, and the AIA staff as well."

Thelmae Eisan
Children’s Pastor
Cedar Creek Community Church in Ontario

God has moved and worked in more ways than I can count. I have experienced the power of his love, his grace and his faithfulness beyond measure. It has been a wonderful, incredible journey and has changed my life in more ways than one! I have been so blessed by the people that I meet and the stories and testimonies that I hear. Wow, what an opportunity to grow in and be challenged in your faith in so many ways. I have never experienced such a community of believers before. God has opened many doors and has given me amazing opportunities to share the love of Christ with these kids and to experience the power of his work. It has been such an encouragement in my own life in particular to share in my faith and my experiences and my past with those who God has purposely placed in my life for a reason. I have learned and grown so much from these kids and also from the billets and adults that we have been alongside with in this ministry.

Julie Zantingh
Ontario Soccer Camps instructor

"I want to say thanks, Michael played a soccer game the other night with more confidence and excitement than he ever has." and "I'm going to call the pastor next week, and thank him and tell him how great this week was."

~the mom of Michael, a high energy, super kid

"I am so thankful that my boys got to spend a week with strong, Christian males...their dad isn't a Christian and this past week taught them so much."

~another mother, who goes to a different church in Bolton, came to Matt and I, with tears in her eyes:

"You guys changed our kid's lives."

~a father and mother of three campers, Ally, Julia, and AJ

The Alberta Tour

It has always been a desire of mine to help churches in Alberta initiate their own soccer camp ministries. This year it finally happened. We worked alongside 2 churches: Balmoral Bible Chapel (in Red Deer) and Bonavista Evangelical Missionary Church (in Calgary). Both camps turned out way better than I expected.

I must admit that I was a little nervous seeing that I grew up in Red Deer and know a lot of people. Talk about pressure to perform. However I was more nervous with the camp numbers as a month before camp only 2 kids registered. By the time camp came around we had 35 kids. This is pretty good for a first time camp.

The picture above is our Alberta Team (Me, Bryan, Jeneca and Vicki). It was aweseom to minister allongside Bryan. We went to Briercrest college together played soccer there. It’s always good to be reunited with old friends and even better to serve Jesus together. Next, is Jeneca who I had the privilege of coach while she played at Columbia Bible College. She's a funny girl. Finally and certainly not least is Vicki. I recently met here in Calgary at a soccer tournament as I was recruiting coaches for our camps. She coach's Taylor University College's women's futsul team (which is a version of indoor soccer). I guess the recruiting worked cause here she is. Hopefully she will be invloved this coming summer!

The best part about this trip was seeing God work in the lives of the campers. Many were encouraged in their faith and were challenged to recommit their lives to Jesus or to give their lives to Him for the very first time. The camp in Red Deer consisted of children who allready knew Christ. It is suggested that approximatley 76% of of children will make a decsion to follow Christ prior to the age of 12. You never know how these young children will turn out. The more positive influences one can have...ther better. The next week we were of to Calgary and approximately 10 kids committed their life to Christ for the very first time.

I can't wait to see what next summer will be like. Hopefully God will in able Atheltes in Actoin to partner with 6 more churches in Alberta. This will enalbe us to get more soccer players to use their passion and gifts to further God's Kingdom. Obvoulsy, the more partnerships means greater impact to children and their families.

Fighting the Good Fight,
Clarke Glover

Renovations

Well...it has been a year since I bought a house with my good friend and co-worker Matthew Guynup. Boy has it been an adventure. When I first walked into the place I immediately saw the potential that it had. Little did I know what I was getting my self into. One goal that I had was to make the basement suit into a 2 bedroom suit. In addition to this I wanted to open it up and improve the bathroom also. The first thing I did was nock down the wall that you see on your right. I envisioned putting in an island that would increase the storage space as well as open it right up. Below you can see a picture of the almost finished product.
Here I am standing in virtually the same spot. The part that I am most proud of is concrete counter top that I made with my friend Sander. It turned out better than I expected...with the exception of a minor mistake. You can't see it on this picture but the concrete slab behind the stove has an 1 and half gap. It will be okay as I plan on inserting a piece of stainless steal into the gap.

I still have a few more things to do. If you look close you will notice that I still need some light fixtures and a bar is to be added to the counter top as well. I also need to finish painting here and there.

Things are going well for me as I am in the process of wrapping up from the summer and planning for next year. I must admit that things are a little weird as it seems like there is a stirring in my spirit. Perhaps it is God renovating my own heart or perhaps He is calling me to something new. Maybe it is merely overflow from a crazy hectic summer. Whatever the case might be, pray that I would be sensitive to God's calling, that I would clearly know what it is and that He would give me the strength to follow with all my heart.

Fighting the Good Fight,

Clarke Glover

Lake Garaibaldi

I just got off an awesome week break from my very hectic summer of camps. My holiday began with a 3 day backpacking trip to Garibaldi Lake. It is between Squamish and Whistler. The hike is about 9 km to the lake and it took us about 2.5 hours to reach her. Apparently this is one of the premier hikes in all of BC. Once we reached the top we quickly discovered why.

The second day we hiked up to the Black Tusk. It is about 8 km further down the trail. It is awesome. However, to get to the top you must climb up the chimney, which is a little tricky. It's really steep at the beginning, but it's not too bad. When you reach the top it is certainly worth the effort. We ran in to some people on the way down and told us that we missed a guy who was playing is bagpipe at the top while his friend recording his performance with a video camera. That's pretty funny!

After this adventure I took a couple days and did absolutely nothing at home. I soon went insane but was able to get some done around the house. Soon after I was off to Kelowna with my friend Tylar. On our way up we stopped and went on another hike- Zoa Peak. We had lunch at the top and then kept on going.

AIA Sports Camps

Can you believe there are 2 weeks left in the summer and we still have 6 camps to go. Two are in Ontario, 2 in Alberta and 2 in BC. This year has been one of the best years we have had in a long time. The majority of our camps have been bursting at the seams with campers. We had over 100 girls at our soccer residential camp and our boys camp double from last year to having over 50 kids.

Our Church Partnership Camps have been busting at the seams too. Next week we have a camp in Kelowna with Trinity Baptist Church and the will be having 85 campers attend. We have had other camps with similar numbers all through out the year.

Tomorrow I leave for Red Deer, Alberta to work with Balmoral Bible Chapel. Followed by a 3 day camp with Bonavista Evangelical Missionary church. I am really excited about this as I do have a desire to see AIA Church Partnership Camps break open in Alberta. Lord willing we will be able to partner with 8 churches next summer.

I will be sure to write an update on how the camp in Red Deer goes. Hope to talk to you soon!

northern ireland tour

Brian (a fellow staff memeber) and I were quite nervous about the trip. Especially since so many people had droped out. In total, we had 11 people go, 8 of which were actually players. As you allready know...that is a little short as you need at least 11 players plus subs. In spite of this we still believed that God wanted us to go with whomever God provided. The trip tourned out to be very good.

A highlight was having my good friend Sander join us. In the picture above you can see me introducing him just before he shared his testimony with the kids in Newtownards (aka Ards). It was exciting to see him share his faith jouney for the first time during the tour.

We did 6 camps in 2 weeks and had the privleage of sharing the gospel with appriximatley 150 kids. During the second week we did a camp in Ballywalter right on the beach. You could see scotland as you looked across the Irish Sea. Even though it was a small camp (with almost 20 kids) 6 kids responded postively to the gospel and 4 made sincer decisions to give their life to the Lord Jesus Christ. It was awesome.

We also played a few matches while we were there. We playe a one 5 aside and 7 aside matches along with 3 full matches. We had a few locals join us, which was a lot of fun. We had different players share their faith with the guys afterwards too. The picture is me sharing my faith after some 5 aside matches.

The worst part of the trip was when the 24 hour flu went through most of our team. I was the first to go down and can't remember the last time I through up that much.

By far, the best part of the tour was seeing people be encoraged and grow in their faith. We saw many kids come to Christ and witneessed God challange guys on the tour to go deeper in their faith.