WHATS HAPPENING WITH F.C. UNITED

On Saturday September 27 we successfully ran our 5th 4 vs 4 soccer tournament. Its such a cool feeling to see how this ministry is starting to take form and shape and the excitement and feedback that we are getting from the teams that are participating in the tournaments. I yet again was reminded of the amazing opportunity that we get to build relationships with people through soccer. Photo Gallery

Once again we were faced with some challenges when it came to getting teams to actually commit and come to our tournaments. Our goal has always been to have 16 teams participate in each tournament. The day before our tournament we had 16 teams that were confirmed and excited to play. By that evening we were down to 10 teams and then the day of the tournament only 9 teams showed up. Culturally everyone says yes when asked if they want to participate because its easier to make up an excuse later and avoid being directly negative from the beginning. Although this is very stressful and ultimately very frustrating, I know that God has this ministry in his hands and we will only continue to grow and get better at it.

Other things going on:

SOCCER WITH THE MAYOR Through one of our Ecuadorian friends we were given the opportunity to meet the Mayor of Quito. We met him at the Municipal Palace and just sat and talked for about 45 minutes. During our time we were able to share our passion for soccer and our ideas to use soccer to bridge the socio-economic gap that is so evident here in this country. In the midst of our conversation the Mayor invited both Josh and I to play soccer with him. We later found out that he was a little nervous to ask two "gringos" to play soccer. He had it in his mind that Americans just weren't very good at soccer. Lets just say that he was surprised to see that we actually know how to play. Anyway for the past two months we have been playing soccer every week with the Mayor. This is something that is very exciting for us...we are in a position where we have a chance to shine the love of Jesus with one of the most powerful men in Quito. Not only that but we really believe it's a really cool contact that God has placed before us. Please pray for us as we continue to build a relationship with him and that God would shine his love through us.

CONTINUED RELATIONSHIPS This has been an exciting part of what we do through soccer. Through our soccer tournaments we are starting to form some really cool bonds with guys who have consistently played in our tournaments. We are starting to meet weekly with some of these guys at our house just having them over for dinner and playing games. These guys are all Catholics and its evident they are starting to notice that Chris, Josh and I are different. That difference is simply Jesus. I am so excited to see where this weekly time of hanging out goes and my prayer is that God would open doors and use this to maybe start some kind of Bible study with them. Please keep us in your prayers and that Jesus would be reflected in our lives.

COACHING We are in talks right now with a community about 45 minutes from Quito that is in need of some soccer coaches. The idea would be that in November we would meet with the kids ages 12-16, two days a week and start coaching soccer. This could be the start of our dream to start a soccer academy. Please pray for us as we are starting to develop this aspect of ministry.

PLAYING IN CITY TOURNAMENTS As F.C. United, we have officially joined our first soccer tournament. The idea for this is that Josh, Chris, and I as well as guys that have participated in our 4 on 4 tournaments have made a team and joined a city league. This team is made up of a few of us Christians and then some non-Christian guys. What's been great about running our own tournaments is that we get to meet some really talented soccer players. So for this tournament we asked some of the best soccer players to play on our team. We are trying to accomplish 2 things through this. 1. Exposure for F.C. United... Our team name is obviously F.C. United and we are hoping that as we continue to join tournaments throughout the city that our name will be exposed. We are also working on getting jerseys made with our logo on it. As we play teams we can then invite them to join our 4 vs. 4 tournaments. 2. Shine Christ's Love... Our prayer is that through playing in these city leagues that we as believers on the F.C. United team would be given opportunities to shine the face of Jesus to both our teammates as well as opponents.

TEAMS FROM THE STATES Another thing that we are working on is the possibility of bringing Christian College soccer teams down from the States to allow followers of Christ to use their passion for soccer as a tool to build relationships and share the love of Jesus to the people of Ecuador through an Overseas Mission's Experience. I just finished writing the proposal and am now in the process of sending it out to different coaches all over the United States. We hope to have our first team down by next summer. If you know anyone who is a coach and might be interested in bringing their soccer team down as a missions trip please let us know.

Other Prayer Requests

We are still looking into the possibility of buying land. We really believe that buying land would allow us to consolidate what we do. Please pray for us as we continue to explore this option

Josh has been having some really intense back pain. He went to the doctor last week and it looks like he has scar tissue from his last back surgery that is constricting the nerve passage which is causing pain as if he had another herniated disc. Josh is currently on a 10 day treatment. If there isn't any improvement then there is a good possibility Josh will have to have back surgery again to fuse vertebra together. Please be praying for his back as he deals with a lot of pain.

Our next tournament is October 18th. Please pray that we are able to get 16 teams, for good weather, and for the continued relationship building.

Through your prayers, encouragement and financial support you are doing soccer ministry in Ecuador. THANKS

F.C. United