Celebrating BREAKTHROUGH in '22- The Trilogy

PART TWO: BREAKING THROUGH TO DESTINATIONS

We continue our three-part series celebrating 2022 as a year of BREAKTHROUGH at Sport Outreach with praise to God for opening up outreach trip destinations. After a desolate two years of minimal international travel, outreach trips began winging their way to Sports Outreach ministry sites once again. Outreach trips provide a vital, mutually beneficial experience for both the host fields and the people that visit them. Here we highlight a number of 2022 trips, each one special in its own way.

NEW DESTINATION: DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

God used a five-person team and their baseball camps as a platform for evangelism, and 82 people accepted the Lord! International coach Jorge Bautista, has gathered many of them into a small group that meets weekly, and they are learning the basics of the Christian life.

REVISTED DESTINATION; NORTHERN UGANDA

Lifepoint Church (Wilmington, NC), Waymaker Church (Lynchburg, VA), and Hope College (Holland, MI) hurried back to Uganda this year once Covid restrictions were lifted. Ministry included village outreaches, VBS sessions, interactions with staff and those they serve, and sports activities. A poignant moment for the Lifepoint group was the dedication of the Jessica Embry Annex, which was built in memory of a church member who drowned saving others in 2021.

DELAYED DESTINATION; KENYA AND UGANDA

A medical team from New Albany, OH was originally scheduled to take this trip in January 2022, but Covid caused postponement until June 2022. Since medical clinics had already been scheduled for January, and supplies procured, the Sports Outreach team in Uganda “rallied the troops” and facilitated the clinics themselves. More than 600 people were served!

YOUTHFUL DESTINATION; EL SALVADOR

The SOI El Salvador field is set up well to host our younger-aged travelers, so this summer a new team, I Am 24/7 (a youth empowerment organization based in Charlotte, NC), was able to send 16 youth and leaders. It was the first missions trip for most of them and they were able to distribute food, minister through soccer, and experience a new culture. Rivermont EPC (Lynchburg, VA) also sent a youth team, which was able to build relationships through basketball and soccer, play games withunderserved neighborhood children, and deliver food to needy families.

POTENTIAL DESTINATIONS; DOMINICAN REPUBLIC AND UGANDA

These trips are the ones waiting for you to join in 2023! Sports Outreach would love to coordinate a trip for you so together we can step on the field and into people's lives. Open dates for 2023 are:

February 7-13 trip to the Dominican Republic. The focus will be baseball camps and evangelism, but no baseball experience is necessary to join.

August trip to Uganda. Emphasis will be medical missions, including the dedication of the SORC medical clinic in Kampala. Be assured there will be activities for those with no medical experience as well.

Please contact our new trip coordinator, Devon Timm at dtimm@sportsoutreach.net if you are interested!

A big thank you to the churches, universities, and organizations who contribute to making outreach trips a vital and vibrant part of the relational ministry that is Sports Outreach! God’s work is all about relationships and so are trips. Relationships are formed with clinic patients, players, food recipients, children in neighborhoods, or staff and volunteers on the field. Additionally, trips pull people out of comfort zones and provide unique experiences that allow God to work out His relationship with the trip taker. Clarifying vision for future ministry, kindling desire to pray for and support the work of a particular field, and sparking spiritual growth are all possible. Isaiah 58:10 is a great verse for summarizing the outreach trip experience. “And if you spend yourselves on behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.”

P.S.: In 2022 breaking through to destinations (sending trip teams again) was a cause for celebration! Celebrate with us by supporting Sports Outreach as we seek to expand our trip destinations to Brazil, Croatia, and India in 2023!

VISIT OUR WEBSITE FOR MORE INFORMATION!

www.sportsoutreach.net