Summer Snapshot: 2007

- 32 churches (14 in ON, 10 in BC and 8 in AB)
- 1395 children
- 300 church volunteers
- 20 summer staff
- 30% of our campers came from non churched backgrounds
- 266 children made first time decisions to follow Christ

Holy smokes it has been a long time since I last wrote in my Blog. The summer as pretty much done (2 weeks of camps left). I am amazed at God's grace and mercy as he continues to use a broken person such as myself to enable others to share the gospel.

To the left is our coaches that are ministering in Ontario. I had the privleage of spend 4 days with them preparing them for their summer. We spent 2 days going over a variety of camp details. The spiritual curriclium, sharing testimonies, camp skills, drills and games were just of few of the topics we covered. Then I was off to Alberta to do the same.

So far AIA Church Partnership Soccer Camps have had over 1200 kids attend 34 church based soccer camps throughout Canada (BC, AB and ON). Here are a few highlights of the summer so far:

Steele Heights Baptist Church:
There was one boy whose parents very recently got divorced, and the pastor was talking to me after the camp, and he had no idea who this man was or that he just got divorced, because he had never met him. But his signed his son up for soccer camp as a way to put his troubles/ worries behind him for a week. The father would sometimes come out to the field just to watch. He witnessed his son being loved, and having so much fun throughout the week. On Friday the man came a bit before camp ended because he was so excited to see how much his son had learned and loved soccer, and he asked the coaches for a group picture with his son. I didn't know what kind of impact we had, because he didn't tell me.. but I was talking with the pastor after the camp ended , and he told me that Ben's Father came up to him after the camp on friday , and said he wanted some help with his marriage, and was willing to meet with the pastor to talk about it.

Bryan Cawthra

Erin Village Alliance Church:
A young girl was here at camp for her fourth time. On Thursday, at lunch, Sally came running up and was really excited. She said that on Wednesday night she had got on her knees and commited her life to Jesus. I pulled out my laptop, and wrote down what she was saying, because I told her I needed to share it. I wanted to encourage her, let her know how much prayer has been given up for her specifically, and how excited the other coaches would be.

Darren Sinke

Hinton Alliance Church:
"Clarke, why did you not tell me about this ministry in the last three years when I was sweating VBS!! Your support, teaching, materials, coaches etc. etc. are such a blessing. AIA truly is first class. Thank you so much."

Trish Palmer

These are just a few things that God has done so far....

CG

The Count Down Begins!

April, May, June and then it's July! Three and half months until the camp season officially begins! And I am almost ready…but not quite!

I am happy to announce, as of today we have been able to successfully secure 33 official church partnership soccer camps for this summer. Eight of these are in Alberta, 11 in BC and 14 in Ontario. The search is not over yet, as we are still in the process of securing 3 more camps. Plus we have 2 weeks to fill in Ontario. Unfortunately, we only have one church in the hoper at this time.

This summer we will be putting together 5 Summer Ministry Teams, one in Alberta and 2 in BC and Ontario. Each team consists of 4 coaches (2 girls and 2 guys). They spend 8 weeks traveling from church to church during the months of July and August. It’s kind of like going on mini-missionary journeys for 8 weeks of the summer.

The coach's mission is two fold: to help churches build the body of Christ and to engage their community through sport. This accomplished by our staff working alongside church volunteers. Together they facilitate the week of camp, leading games, teaching skills, sharing their testimonies and answer questions kids might have during small groups. It has been exciting to see many high school practice leadership skills as they help lead and to see many children and their families be encourage in their faith and come to Christ for the very first time.

Filling these Ministry Teams has been one of our biggest challenges. This year we have too many female applicants and not enough male ones. With that said 11 of 16 positions have been filled. We only have to secure 2 male positions in Ontario and 2 male and 1 female positions here in BC.

Pray....

• that the last 2 weeks in Ontario would be filled (July 2 to 6 and July 30 to Aug. 3)
• that every church camp would reach their 40 camper minimum
• for more guy coaches to apply for BC
• for wisdom in choosing the right people for the job
• that God would begin to prepare the coaches for a full summer of ministry
• pray that seeds plated would fall on fertile soil

Lambrick Park Church Soccer Camp 2007

Last week (March 19 to 23) I was in Victoria working with Lambrick Park Church to reach kids for Christ through a soccer camp. I can't believe it's already done. I wish I knew time went!


This was my 3rd year doing this camp and it was the best one yet! We had 30 kids between the ages of 6 and 12 and it rained entire time (well almost). Soccer in the rain rocks except when you do the fun run and come across really soft grass/mud. It was really cold and we had to spend one morning indoors.


My Friend Sander (to the right) came with me which was awesome. We had some good conversations with each other and were able to encourage many kids in their faith. I am always blown away by God's grace! He continues to use broken vessels (such as my self and Sander) to be ministers of reconciliation.


Three kids came to commit their lives to Christ! You can certainly pray for Sean, Dylan and Annie. Pray that the seed that was planted would have good soil to grow strong routes and to stand the test of time. Life is hard and challenges us in the things we believe in. When we are faced with the greatest difficulties the authenticity of our faith Jesus Christ is revealed.

It is times like these that confirm that I am doing what God has called me to do: to do good works and to share God's love with others. Pray that i would be able to do this continuously!

Clarke

It's Almost February!

I can't believe it's almost February. It seems like it was only yesterday that I was sitting around the Christmas tree with family and hanging out with friends. This year I spent Christmas in my hometown of Red Deer, Alberta.

I had a week of unused holidays and attached it on to Christmas. So I was in Red Deer for 3 weeks. I did absolutely nothing, it was great. I didn't realize how worn out I was from. I guess that's what happens when you don't take time to rest.

One of my highlights was playing settlers with my Mom and Dad. Mom was winning one game so my Dad and I teamed up on her...and I eventually won! Sorry mom! Its always good to see my brother and his family. My nephew Riley is almost two and he is a pretty fun kid.

I flew back to Abbotsford on Jan. 4th and then went directly to Cedar Springs Christian retreat center in Sumas, Wa. We (Athletes in Action) had our annual Staff Conference and meetings known as Summit. I had an awesome time hanging out co-workers/close friends. God used Charlie MacMahan to challenge me on a few issues in my life.

Upon my return the weather was really cold for BC. It was so cold I was able to play some shinny on a frozen pond close to mission. You can see my buddies Tyler, Luke and myself in the picture below (I am the short one!). That was awesome!

Since then, I have been back in the office trying to secure our summer schedule. This includes I updating perspective churches on the available dates, informing them of what we offer and encouraging people to be a coach this summer.

AIA Church Partnership Soccer Camps are growing very fast. We are close to securing partnerships with a total of 32 churches across Canada. This is 12 more than last year! Praise God for his graciousness and pray that He would enable us to secure all of these churches for this summer!

On top of helping churches secure their weeks. I am also responsbile for hiring 16 coaches for this summer. So far 2 people have applied. So you can pray that God would bring a few more people to apply for these positions so that we can reach more kids and their families for Christ this summer.

All in all, things are going well. However, as you can see there is a lot of work to still to come.

All for Jesus!
Clarke Glover