Continuing the Race by - Creatiing Continuous Story - Renee Padgett

Rebuilding after Typhoon Ketsana

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT

If you are interested in getting involved or getting your church/group involved with this project contact me by clicking here.

A little bit can go a long way...

Let's make it happen!

Full Story

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Thanks everyone for praying! Here is the full story with pics:

http://tarareed.theworldrace.org/?filename=he-reached-down-from-heaven-and-rescued-me-psalm-1816&bookmark=true#comments

Prayer Update

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT

This is an update on Tara Reed, one of the World Race participants that was injured on the field a few days ago. Please continue to cover her in prayer!

Tara's Mom and family friend arrived tonight. Her Mom is staying with her at the hospital.

The results from Tara's x-ray showed that she doesn't need surgery! She has a few cracks in her pelvis. One that is more serious than the others, but nothing that requires surgery.

Tomorrow she should be released from the hospital, but we don't have information from the doctor on how long recovery will be and what it looks like since Tara can't move right now or sit up. It sounds like recovery will be anywhere between 3 weeks and 3 months before she will be able to walk again. We are all expecting complete healing - thank you for all the prayers!

The family friend has offered their home to Tara and her Mom while she recovers. Tara's Mom has a return flight to the US 3 weeks from now, but may leave before or after that depending on the answers we get from the doctor tomorrow.

The WR Staff

Urgent Prayer Alert!

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT

We received this from one of our squad leaders on the field the day after The World RaceAwakeningConference in Romania. Tara Reed, a World Racer on the June 2009 squad was recently in an accident and we're asking the community to come together and cover her in prayer. Here's the email:

"We ended up in a hostel in Bucharest for the night in order to plan new arrangements to Istanbul since the train is not currently running due to the flooding. Around 7pm tonight Tara was doing something on the porch - not sure what yet - and ended up falling from the second story of the hostel. We think she slid off a roof that was less than 2 feet away from our building and somehow may have hit another cement wall in the process.

Tara was taken to the hospital and after x-rays they believe she has fractured her pelvis. Her spine is fine and nothing else seems to be wrong. The doctors are planning on keeping her for a few days. There is a possibility that she might need surgery but they won't know for the next few days. If surgery does have to happen they would have to keep her for a few weeks. That is pretty much all we know, please pray for complete healing!

The squad is doing incredibly well throughout all of this, they really are taking the offensive position. We spent the night praying and worshiping and even throughout it they are really focusing onward not letting this get them down."

Please join us in covering Tara in prayer! And feel free to pass this email on to others to join us in prayer. Thanks!

I Am Second

Fri, 21 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT

This website has got me hooked. Check it out:

I Am Second: Joe Gibbs

Following the Tide Out

Tue, 11 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Charlotte Eagles Update
With summer coming to an end and a great soccer season closing out, updates are in order. This month marks the 7th month I've been involved with Missionary Athletes International and the Charlotte Eagles, and that also marks 7 months of support raising. It's been an incredible time of learning and growing, but unfortunately the funds and financial side of things don't share the same growth and success. S o with great guidance from the leaders at Charlotte Eagles we've agreed together that God has shut the door on this full-time staff opportunity. With that being said, don't be surprised if you hear more about voluntary involvement over at MAI headquarters in the future.

The Story Behind the Changing Tides
While I was out on the west coast this summer for a wedding God began speaking to me about this change in direction, I like to assume it's a left turn. At first it was so subtle, I was looking out over Canada's coast and was confronted with "Are you sure you're going the right direction?" I shook it off with out another thought. Then in Seattle it intensified, "What would you say to leaving MAI behind?" I was outraged, NO! No way!!! I love it and I've worked too hard to let it all go. Then, California - oh California. It was impossible for me to fight off God's nudging there. The waves would come, and they would go. In and out, up and down, over and again. Relentless, like God's prompting. And I let it all go there on the coast - the control, the direction, the leading - I let it all go back into the hands of my creator, to the one who knows exactly where we're going, and most importantly at what speed. It's amazing how clear his voice can be when I get rid of all distractions and clear that always-busy schedule - it should always be so simple.

Behind the Pace Car

As for now, I'm looking for that other open door anywhere and everywhere in these crazy days of unemployment. Be praying for me as I continue to put resumes out there and continue to let God be my pace car - one lap at a time.

Pizza with Enemies

Thu, 6 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Today the girls and I had ATL (Ask The Lord) Ministry and Living Water Ministry. ATL is when you pray and ask the God to show you where to go and who to speak to. Becca was hungry for pizza, big suprise there, so we let her stomach do the leading and set out for Peter Piper's Pizza. Once we got there we met two guards who we invited inside for pizza. During lunch we noticed that the two men were distant - not from us, but from each other. We had great conversation and as the meal went on both men seemed to relax and the tension eased. When they went back to work we questioned the translator about it and he explained that they had been enemies for years, fighting over the same jobs and tips everyday. It was unbelievable that God used us unknowingly to bring two enemies together to break bread, or pizza, with one another.

Living water is a ministry where you go and pass out clean water to large groups of people. We choose to do this at the hospital today, and it was unbelievable. Families have to sit outside the hospital in the hot sun and wait for their loved ones to be released, most can not even go in to visit. We also recieved permission from the director to enter the wards where we met a nurse who had lost her nephew recently and was hurting emotionally as well as financially. We also prayed with a couple younger kids who had various diseases or injuries. It was an incredible day of ministry and it was the toughest day to pull ourselves away from the community and say goodbye to all our new friends!

Be praying for us as we head back to the states tomorrow! Thanks for following our journey to Matamoros, Mexico - More pics to come!

Making Choices

Wed, 5 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Yesterday the girls and I had a fun filled day of children, LOTS of children! In the morning we went to Pandavida Orphanage where we feed, sang, and played with the kids until they dragged us out the gate. They were so cute and none of us wanted to leave!

In the afternoon we held VBS - Vacation Bible School - for some of the kids at the church we've been helping to build this week. We sang songs in spanish, played Simon says, or rather Simon "dice", and talked about what it takes to be followers of Jesus. It was probably our most draining day yet!

Today we did construction in the morning and house visits in the afternoon. Our translator took us to a house where we met Frank, Cesar, and Gustavo. The were telling us about all the bad choices they were making in their lives. Things like doing drugs, drinking, dropping out of school. The boys were all about 16 yrs old. The translator told us that they wouldn't listen to him, an adult, but maybe we could talk to them and they would respond. By the time we had finished talking with them two decided to pray and ask Jesus to be in control of their "new" lives.

So please be praying for our new friends Frank and Cesar and their new faith in Christ!

Working it out!

Mon, 3 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT

"Be energetic in your life of salvation, reverent and sensitive before God. That energy is God's energy, an energy deep within you, God himself willing and working at what will give him the most pleasure." Phil. 2:12-13 (The Message)

Today we spent time doing construction in the colonials and prayer walking the neighboring communities.

As we were walking through the neighborhoods we saw a man ahead of us who had his hands wrapped in gauze. We decided to pray for him and stopped while he was still up ahead of us on the road. After praying for him we continued on, but ended up running into him a short time later. As we passed him on the street he asked us if we were Christians and if we would pray for him. Laughing, we replied that we had already prayed for him a few minutes ago, but would love to pray together with him. He explained how his arthritis had hindered him from working a job and how he was in charge of caring for his son, but could not. We prayed God's blessings, provision and quick healing over him so that he could provide for himself and family.

We were so astonished by how our big God cares so much about all of us and even knows how to care for us!

Off the Edge into Mexico

Sat, 1 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT

11:45 am - Mexico or Bust!

Myself, Sabrina, Becca, and Rebecca will be headed to Matamoros, Mexico this morning where we work in local neighborhoods and farming communities to help families who are poor materially and spiritually. You can keep up with our trip here and at Matamoros Blog - http://matamoros.myadventures.org.

About the Gateway:

"Matamoros, Mexico is AIM's most popular mission trip destination. The Gateway, AIM's center for outreach in Mexico, is here. Although it's only a few miles south of the border of Texas, you don't have to go any farther than Matamoros to find a world of poverty and need. Our day will be divided between construction, evangelism, prayer, and children's ministries.

The goal is to strengthen local churches and ministries. We'll work alongside our Mexican brothers and sisters to change Matamoros for Christ. See the video below for more details, and feel free to share it with others."

Bienvenidos Matamoros!

Sat, 1 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT

We made it here safely and are unpacked and ready for the adventure ahead!

Thank you for praying for us this week as we head into the unexpected and prepare for meaningful relationships and felt needs.

We'll be working on getting more pictures up soon!

Rethinking Your Dreams

Wed, 27 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT

If you've ever thought about starting a non-profit this TIMEs article is for you. I find it so interesting how many people want to change the world - and I love the fact there are so many trying to actually do it!

Rethinking Nonprofits

Thursday, Feb. 22, 2007 Article Link

In her former job at the Lutheran Immigration & Refugee Service, based in Baltimore, Jane Leu saw countless foreign professionals--bankers, lawyers, architects, computer experts--flee to the U.S. and become cabdrivers, nannies and security guards. "There was a real need to match these people with their skills," she says. But her employer's "mission was limited," she says, and management wouldn't budge. So Leu quit, and seven years ago she launched Upwardly Global, a nonprofit that helps white collar immigrants network, prepare rsums and search for a suitable job.

Leu, 37, was anything but alone in her frustration with how traditional nonprofits are run. Too many charities cling to an outmoded mission statement, are slow to give volunteers assignments that excite them and perhaps shun older helpers. After enough vexation, "people throw up their hands and just say they'll start their own," says Marc Freedman, founder of Civic Ventures, which helps retirees find rewarding work and volunteer opportunities.

The number of U.S.-based nonprofits has grown at twice the rate of for-profit ventures in recent years. And it's no coincidence this surge is happening as the huge and famously antiestablishment baby-boom generation starts to rattle another cage. You may be getting the itch too.

There is ample reason to forge ahead and do something good for your community or even the world. But first you should ask yourself three questions:

AM I CUT OUT FOR THIS?

Starting a nonprofit is like starting a business except you have to drum up donors, not investors. But today's donors are just as demanding. They want to see a business plan at the start and measurable results along the way. You will have to put in long hours with little or no pay to keep the enterprise afloat. Leu, who needed two years to get her first grant ($15,000), started out by spending 30 hours a week in her "survival job" as a bookkeeper and 30 more building Upwardly Global, which now has offices on both coasts and a staff of 15.

IS MY IDEA DIFFERENT?

With an estimated 2.8 million charities out there, your idea may already be in practice. Fund raising will be especially difficult if there's a "competitor" with a good track record who markets to your potential donors. Leu says she researched her service idea for several years, "germinating the solution and making sure no one else was doing it."

Passion won't make up for redundancy, warns Diana Aviv, ceo of Independent Sector, a trade group for nonprofits. "Unless you're truly filling a need, it's just self-indulgence," she says.

IS A START-UP NECESSARY?

You don't have to start something to make a difference. You may be able to work with a group targeting the same needs. "Putting in 10 hours a week is no small thing and shouldn't be minimized," says Howard Husock, director of the social entrepreneur program at the Manhattan Institute, a think tank that promotes civic innovation. You also may be able to do your own thing within an existing nonprofit with a related mission. This could speed your launch, reduce overhead and leave open the possibility of a spin-off down the road.

IF YOU ANSWERED YES, yes and yes, it's time to get going. To learn the basics of incorporating as a tax-exempt organization, drafting a business plan, raising funds and building a board of directors, go to nonprofitlaw.com and managementhelp.org To research existing nonprofits, start at guidestar.org and to find organizations that make donations, try foundationcenter.org

The nonprofit field is getting crowded, but people's needs are many. "It's not easy," Leu says of starting a charity. "But it's a life rich in purpose." Energetic new retirees may be especially suited to the challenge. They have skills and contacts--and, perhaps in the back of their mind, they're still humming Alvin Lee's '70s anthem I'd Love to Change the World.

TIMEs look at Missions (Part 1)

Mon, 11 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT

TIMEs Magazine has an interesting collection of articles that pertain to Missions. This one was written all the way back in the 1930s where our Christian fathers were putting their heads together to figure out a way to make it a priority in the church.

"I think that what we have tried to do is this : we have tried to recognize that the work of God is the work of God, and that it is too holy to be touched and judged by our feeble intellects." -Dr. Hocking

Re-Thinking Missions

Monday, Nov. 28, 1932

That they were squaring off at the biggest Protestant question of a century doubtless did not occur at once to the little group of Baptist laymen who met with John D. Rockefeller Jr. in Manhattan one night in January 1930. They knew that in Christ's command. "Go ye therefore and teach all nations," lay the largest task of Christianity. Good businessmen, they and Mr. Rockefeller knew that gifts to missions had now fallen off alarmingly. People no longer thought missionizing the best way, as they thought it 30 years ago, to spend their charity-money. Most people did not know or care much about conditions in foreign mission fields. Mr. Rockefeller had called his Baptist friends together to hear Dr. John R. Mott, who had just journeyed around the world to look at missions. Out of Dr. Mott's talk grew a plan.

A Baptist committee of five was formed, headed by Engineer Albert Lyon Scott (Lockwood Greene Engineers Inc.). Because the subject seemed too big for five lone Baptists, an invitation was sent to the laymen of the Presbyterian, Congregational, Episcopal, Methodist, Dutch Reformed and United Presbyterian churches. After a preliminary fact-finding study, an Appraisal Commission headed by Engineer Scott and Philosophy Professor William Ernest Hocking of Harvard, set out to tour the Orient for nine months, returned to the U. S. last summer, began releasing its report to the public last month (TIME, Oct. 31).

Last week the complete report was made public, in a volume called Re-Thinking Missions,* November choice of the Religious Book Club. Excerpts published in the Press had already caused mutterings. But Re-Thinking Missions proved to be well-knit, sincere, lucid, the work of 15 able men and women whose diversities of creeds and interests seemed to preclude collective bias. Thoughtful Protestants had withheld comment until the appearance of the complete report. They now agreed-whether or not they agreed with all the Commission's opinions -that it was a major milestone in the development of church doctrine, church organization both home and abroad. And slowly the realization grew that Re-Thinking Missions had as much significance for Protestantism at home as for Protestantism abroad. Must not a home-church as well as a mission preach a Way of Life rather than threaten hellfire? Should not churches unite against atheism and secularism? Is not economy and centralization as necessary at home as abroad?

Summarized thus are the Appraisal Commission's views:

"The aim of Christian missions [is] to seek with people of other lands a true knowledge and love of God, expressing in life and word what we have learned through Jesus Christ, and endeavoring to give effect to his spirit in the life of the world."

Missions, says the book, must cooperate with non-Christian systems of religion. When missionaries go into teaching, medicine, literature et al., their standards must be higher than those of secular groups. Missionary personnel must be of higher calibre, on the whole, than at present, "even at the risk of curtailing the number of missionaries sent out." There must be concentration of workers in the Orient, with unity among the various Christian sects (which is no new recommendation-unity has long been sought, and achieved in such organizations as the 16-denominational Church of Christ in China). Abroad, responsibility must be transferred from missionaries to natives. At home, all Protestant missionary boards should in the Commission's opinion be consolidated in a single administrative unit.

Full Article

TIMEs look at Missions (part 2)

Mon, 11 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT

This TIMEs article places two of the most unlikely people at the scene of...you guessed it - MISSIONS!

The Good Samaritans

By NANCY GIBBS Monday, Dec. 19, 2005

These are not the people you expect to come to the rescue. Rock stars are designed to be shiny, shallow creatures, furloughed from reality for all time. Billionaires are even more removed, nestled atop fantastic wealth where they never again have to place their own calls or defrost dinner or fly commercial. So Bono spends several thousand dollars at a restaurant for a nice Pinot Noir, and Bill Gates, the great predator of the Internet age, has a trampoline room in his $100 million house. It makes you think that if these guys can decide to make it their mission to save the world, partner with people they would never otherwise meet, care about causes that are not sexy or dignified in the ways that celebrities normally require, then no one really has a good excuse anymore for just staying on the sidelines and watching.

Such is the nature of Bono's fame that just about everyone in the world wants to meet him--except for the richest man in the world, who thought it would be a waste of time. "World health is immensely complicated," says Gates, recalling that first encounter in 2002. "It doesn't really boil down to a 'Let's be nice' analysis. So I thought a meeting wouldn't be all that valuable."

It took about three minutes with Bono for Gates to change his mind. Bill and his wife Melinda, another computer nerd turned poverty warrior, love facts and data with a tenderness most people reserve for their children, and Bono was hurling metrics across the table as fast as they could keep up. "He was every bit the geek that we are," says Gates Foundation chief Patty Stonesifer, who helped broker that first summit. "He just happens to be a geek who is a fantastic musician."

And so another alliance was born: unlikely, unsentimental, hard nosed, clear eyed and dead set on driving poverty into history. The rocker's job is to be raucous, grab our attention. The engineers' job is to make things work.

Full Article

Innocence Atlanta

Sat, 18 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT

This week we took the youth group on a mission trip to Atlanta, Georgia.
While there, we learned about how Atlanta is now the #1 city in the US for child sex trafficking, #13 in the world.

"He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners...to bestow on them a crown a beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair." Isaiah 61:1-3

THE PROBLEM:
- 30% of shelter youth and 70% of street youth are victims of commercial sexual exploitation.
- The average age of entry into prostitution is 12-14 years old.
- 100,000-300,000 children in the United States are at risk for commercial sexual exploitation at anytime.
- 75% of minors exploited through prostitution are controlled by a pimp.

THE STRATEGY:
- Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking victims require PROTECTION including secured safe homes and tailored services that rescue and restore while removing the child from the control of the trafficker/pimp.
- Strong legislation that criminalizes traffickers and buyers while protecting victims, together with PROSECUTION resulting in convictions with appropriate sentences is critical.
- PREVENTION includes proper victim identification enhanced by public awareness and training of those who interact with the vulnerable population of domestic minor sex trafficking victims.

What is being done about it?
"Girls who have been labeled as "throwaways" now have a chance to get a fresh start at life thanks to Covenant House in Atlanta. Young women who have runaway from home or just otherwise find themselves living on the street can take part in Covenant House's Independent Living Program and have a chance to live on their own. 19 year old Joanna Joseph is now living in her own apartment and is in college pursuing her nursing degree after living on the streets of Atlanta from the age of 18. Some girls find themselves on the street after being put out of their homes. Sex traffickers target these young ladies and most often they end up being trafficked within the first 48 hours of being on the street. Joanna, thankfully, is an exception, as are many girls who enter Covenant House. She has gone through therapy, including Anger Management and is well on her way to full restoration."

http://www.innocenceatlanta.org/

http://www.sharedhope.org/index.asp

Down the Amazon

Sat, 4 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Our Chicago MAI office recently took a IWU tour down to Brazil this past month - take a look at their stories!

AMAZON TOUR: IWU

Saturday, Feb. 28th: My first recollection of Saturday morning began early with shouts of rain and guys scrambling around each other, hopping over scattered luggage, and ducking under Brazilian handmade hammocks trying to shut out an almost nightly Amazon downpour. The adventurous souls who were formerly sleeping on the bow of the boat with nothing between them and the clouds, quickly found a make-shift spot to complete their night of rest, protected from the rain. As I laid there trying to get back to sleep, the boat steadily moving down the Amazon towards the Atlantic, the hammocks began to swing in unison with the rocking of the boat-picking up as the wind began to bring on larger waves. It would be an early morning...

We pulled up to Sao Sebestaio just as the sun was sinking over the horizon. It couldn't have been more perfect timing. As we cruised up onto the shore we could see children right up on the grass overlooking the river playing soccer. Everyone on the boat was excited and many jumped off as soon as they could to join the kids in their game. I knew this was going to be a great trip. We are here to share Christ, and we get to play soccer while we do it-what could be better? To God be the glory, great things He has done. Jesse Bassett - #13

Monday, March 2nd: At 10:00 am, all three groups met at the city jail to experience another once in a lifetime opportunity. The seniors from this past year, the IWU coaches, and the missionary leaders played a 7v7 game against the inmates. Although all the inmates were in their 30's and older, they were very talented and defeated us 7 to 4. However, at halftime we were able to take part in a win that means much more than a simple soccer game. It was a win for the kingdom of God! For the first time in my entire life, the Lord used me to bring THREE people, THREE inmates into His kingdom. PRAISE THE LORD! Travis Brady #11

FULL JOURNAL of the IWU Amazon Tour

Prayer Guard

Fri, 27 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Missionary PrayerGuard

Every minister needs a PrayerGuard.
(People who back them up in prayer as
they work to promote the Gospel.)
Even Paul needed a PrayerGuard:

"Finally, dear brothers and sisters, we ask you to pray for us. Pray that the Lord's message will spread rapidly and be honored wherever it goes, just as when it came to you." -2Thes. 3:1

The Problem
The problem is, people are busy, and they can forget I need their prayers.
When they do remember, they often don't know how/what to pray.

The Solution
PrayerGuard has designed a way to help keep prayers coming. By providing short specific topics for prayer, and sending automatic reminders, they help busy people remember prayer needs. By encouraging scripture-based praying, they are empowering people to pray with boldness and faith.

What is it?

PrayerGuard is an online prayer session for Missionaries, Pastors and others who serve. It helps focus prayer by targeting dozens of short topics with scripture and sample prayers. Each prayer session includes 3 short topics which rotate to cover all prayer needs.

This is the general site:

Pray for MAI: Renee Padgett

This my personal profile site:
MAI: Prayer Guard

Waiting on the Rain

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT

I was reading in Joel tonight and it got me thinking about our economy,

and all the people out there that are taking a beating from it all.

This passage encouraged me and I wanted to share it with everyone:

Don't be afraid, my people.

Be glad now and rejoice,

for the Lord has done great things.

Don't be afraid, you animals of the field,
      for the wilderness pastures will soon be green.
   The trees will again be filled with fruit;
      fig trees and grapevines will be loaded down once more.
Rejoice, you people of Jerusalem!
      Rejoice in the Lord your God!
   For the rain he sends demonstrates his faithfulness.
      Once more the autumn rains will come,

as well as the rains of spring.

Joel 2:21-23

I hope that encourages you to REJOICE! Look at all the wonderful things that God is preparing for you and let us know what you're rejoicing about in this season. Staying positive is one of my greatest weaknesses - but I have plenty of reasons to rejoice!

Family! Friends! Time! Home! Generosity!

Praying for you all as you wait for the rains to come...

Couch Surfing

Wed, 4 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT

This is a website my professor shared with me. What an idea?! Check it out:

COUCH SURFING

So you want to see (minister to) the world but can't go - let it come to you!

Or you want to see (minister to) the world and meet new people - couch surf!

What do we care? (part 2)

Sun, 22 Feb 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Continued from - "What do we care? (part 1)"

I just returned from the blue mountains of Carolina, where Missionary Athletes International held a

staff retreat for the Charlotte Eagles, Chicago Eagles, and California Seahorse staff members - new and old.

This was the first time I had the privledge of meeting most of the staff and what a great time we had together

casting a vision for our 2009 season.

One thing we got to do during the retreat was Skype our missionaries that are currently out in the field.

A repeated need that our missionaries voiced was the feelings of being forgotten both prayerfully and financially by

their friends, family, and churches. So in honor, here is a short bio for three of them - take a minute to remember

them and their prayer requests...

Tom and Olena Merchant: Ukraine

Tom Merchant, veteran of MAI's tours to the Soviet Union in 1991, moved to Moscow in 1999 after interning with the Chicago office. Tom married Olenka whom he met in Ukraine and they relocated to begin ministering in

Ukraine

in 2003. His prayer requests are for good ministry opportunities during the EuroCup to share the gospel effectively as well as financial needs.

The West Family: Thailand

The Wests have served with MAI for over 15 years and are currently in partnership with SIM/Sports Friends. They are privileged to come alongside churches and church planting organizations to help equip and empower churches to use sports to impact the Thai people. Prayer requests are for deep relationships to form with the Thai and that the Thai people will begin to trust them and open up to them. Also for their two young children to make quick friends.

Steve and Suzie Mattocks: Czech Republic

In 2001 Steve and Suzie Mattocks began ministering in the southwestern province of Bohemia in conjunction with the Elim church, and have just returned to the states for their furlough. Their prayer requests are re-entry hardships adjusting to american culture and financial needs.

If you know other missionaries abroad take a minute today and remember them in prayer, send a note, an email, make a phone call, a donation - to let them know you support and care about them!

What do we care? (part 1)

Thu, 12 Feb 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Inspired by the Vanita Jones' blog The Responsibility to Care

I've recently began taking courses in Advertising and Graphic Design and one of the main things we ask ourselves each day is, "What is it that people care about?"

It's easy for me to answer for myself what I want to care about, but if I was in a court of law and my life was the evidence what would the verdict be? What do I care about?

"By the time you graduate from high school, statistics say you will have watched more than sixteen thousand hours of television. You will have spent fourteen thousand hours in an educational institution. And if you go to church for just two hours a week, you will have spent under two thousand hours getting spiritual help." -from The Divine Mentor by Wayne Cordeiro

If its our time that is the proof about what we really care about, what I seemingly care about is not what I truly want to care about.

Take some time today to care about something you want to care about.

Care about a nation.

Care about an orphan.

Care about a homeless person.

Care about an unreached people group.

Great Expectations!

Sun, 1 Feb 2009 00:00:00 GMT

What to expect in the future on this blog:

Why Keep Blogging?

AIM has invited World Race Alumni to begin blogging again - the World Race is over so why continue to blog? What more could we have to say?

World Race experiences, although in the past still are affecting our current everyday lives. It has changed how we live our lives, how we look at our world, and has motivated us to be a positive part of changing our world. In particular my blog will be about current events, world-wide happenings, current World Racers, and my ministry with the Charlotte Eagles and Missionary Athletes International.

Who Should Read My Blogs?

Anyone who falls into this category:

Family

Friends

Supporters

Strangers

Artists

Athletes

Canadians

NASCAR Fans

Or is interested in these things:

Missions
Changing the World

The Church

Discipleship

The World Race

Orphans

Africa/S.America

Sports Ministry

Charlotte Eagles

Missionary Athletes International

How Can YOU Respond?

GIVE

Give Time - PRAY

Give Money - SUPPORT (How?)

Give Encouragement - COMMENT

READ

Follow my blogs, give feedback, leave comments, refer me to your friends (How?).

SHARE

Put your own stuff out there! Write and tell us what God is teaching you. What He leads you to do in your life. How He continually surprises and awes you. Share it!

Meet MAI, Make a Move

Sat, 17 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

WHAT IS MAI - Missionary Athletes International?

"Our mission is to communicate the message of Jesus Christ through the environment of soccer. We accomplish this by doing sports ministry, training in sports ministry and deploying sports ministers as a resource to the Body of Christ."

MAI's methodology for accomplishing this is four-fold:
Doing Sports Ministry

Trainging Sports Ministers

Deploying Sports Ministers

Being a Resource to the Body of Christ

See blog entitled "GOAL" for more info on my role at MAI.

MAKE A DONATION - Join my Support Team
If you would like to be a part of financially supporting me through MAI you may mail your donation, made out to MAI, to the following address:

Missionary Athletes International
Acct. #55 Renee Padgett
PO Box 1889
La Mirada, CA 90637-1889

Your donation is gratefully accepted with the understanding that MAI is in full control of the funds and will process them following IRS standards. Missionary Athletes International is a nonprofit organization, exempt from federal income tax under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Its Federal Identification number is 33-0017152. Missionary Athletes International (MAI) MAI began in 1983 in California and is a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA).You will receive a written receipt of the donation by return mail. For further information, please feel free to contact us at (714) 739-5060 or e-mail us at donorrelations@maisoccer.com

For more information about MAI and the Charlotte Eagles go to:
www.charlotteeagles.com and www.maisoccer.com

GOOOAL!!!

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Hi Family and Friends!

As the holiday season arrives I am very excited to greet you with news of what's to come!

In this Post- World Race stage it's been thrilling to see what God has been preparing me for over these past months.

Since being back, I've been offered an opportunity to serve with the
Charlotte Eagles http://www.charlotteeagles.com/

and Missionary Athletes International www.maisoccer.com.

"MAI has a passion to share the message of Jesus Christ by using the sport of soccer as a bridge to sharing that
message with people around the world. Soccer is the world's most popular sport - more countries belong to FIFA,
the organization that governs international competition, than belong to the United Nations! Roll out a soccer ball
almost anywhere in the world and you will attract a crowd of children. Through the common enjoyment of this
world-wide sport, we are able to build relationships that allow us to share the message of God's redeeming love.

In 2008, MAI expects to minister to over 3000 youth through its soccer camps, lead over 150 players in ten
international tours to six countries, and involve over 100 players in competitive, team-based ministry.
MAI's deployment program will expand to Southeast Asia, while continuing in Ethiopia and Nigeria, building on
previous experience in those countries as well as from prior projects in Brazil, Chile, Denmark, India and Japan."

How to Support Renee Financially

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT

MAKE A DONATION - Join my Support Team
Give monthly, annually, or one-time.

If you would like to be a part of financially supporting me through MAI you may mail your donation, made out to MAI, to the following address:

Missionary Athletes International
Acct. #55 Renee Padgett
PO Box 1889
La Mirada, CA 90637-1889

Your donation is gratefully accepted with the understanding that MAI is in full control of the funds and will process them following IRS standards. Missionary Athletes International is a nonprofit organization, exempt from federal income tax under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Its Federal Identification number is 33-0017152. Missionary Athletes International (MAI) MAI began in 1983 in California and is a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA).You will receive a written receipt of the donation by return mail. For further information, please feel free to contact us at (714) 739-5060 or e-mail us at donorrelations@maisoccer.com

For more information about MAI and the Charlotte Eagles go to:
www.charlotteeagles.com and www.maisoccer.com

Thank You Supporters!

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Top Ten Truths

Sun, 13 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT

"By faith we understand..."

Hebrews 11:3

Understanding usually unfolds in the experience.

-Bill Johnson

Over the past 11 months God has shown me truth after truth of how he sees me and what he has for me. With ten days to go - here are my top ten truths I love to think on from each month.

1) Thailand - He Loves Me.

2) Cambodia - He Chose Me.

3) Phillipines - He Uses Me.

4) China - He Listens.

5) Swaziland - He Heals.

6) South Africa - He Speaks.

7) Costa Rica - He Blesses.

8) Panama - He Frees.

9) Guatemala - He Revives Me.

10) Nicaragua - He Reveals Himself To Me.

I believe and claim these truths over my life, do they belong to you too?

What is a particular truth that God continues to speak into your life during this season?

[post it & share it with us!]

ONLY AIM

Fri, 4 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT

To Donate online please CLICK HERE.

Guatemala: Marshmellows and Lava

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT

For more Volcano Pictures:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2206189&l=fbaa4&id=11803752

Nicaragua: New Song

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Visit New Song Mission Nicaragua at: http://www.newsongmissionnicaragua.com

From the Missionaries at New Song Mission Nicaragua:

"New Song Mission Nicaragua is a ministry of love and service to the people of rural NW Nicaragua. God called us to this mission through the direct invitation of a Nicaraguan pastor who asked for help in starting a church in the village of Candelaria. We began as an inexperienced group of North Americans, depending on God to help us plant a church and develop a thriving community. God has provided for this ministry through compassionate people who have joined hands with us to see the Kingdom of God come to this area. We thank God and our faithful friends.

Our vision is to see the cycle of poverty broken through hope for a new life in Jesus Christ. Native evangelists are starting new churches and are requesting our help and support. We have a Bible Training Center for these Pastors and invite US churches to partner with individual pastors and churches. It is our hope that you will be blessed and encouraged as you visit our site and that you will feel welcome to join this mission."