I have some new updates on what the next year will hold for me at ABC. The athletic director (AD) for the College, Derek Breuninger, is returning to the States. He had committed for 2 years and his commitment is done in July, so I will be taking over the sports program in July. Being the AD will involve many things. I will be the head of all PE classes for the College but will not be teaching them all. I will be responsible for finding teachers for all the classes and making sure a syllabus exists for all PE courses. I will also be the head of team sports for the College. Again, I will not be coaching any of the teams, assuming each team has a coach, but will be the coordinator for all the team sports. We currently have 5 team sports: men’s soccer, basketball and volleyball and women’s basketball and netball. Along with being the AD, I will continue teaching Christian education courses in the College and being the coordinator for student sponsorship at the Malawi campus.
I am super excited about this new opportunity and using sports as a tool to share the gospel with many people in Malawi. It is amazing to look back and see how God has prepared me for each thing He calls me to do. I was involved and ran Upward Sports for 5 years at First Baptist and it was a great training for being involved in College sports and PE since it laid the foundation of using sports to reach people for Christ! Also, coaching recreational and competitive soccer teams has helped me understand that sports can be fun and competitive at the same time. I sometimes wondered why I committed to coach the teams I did even when “I didn’t have time.” I now see God pushed me to do those things in order to prepare me for ministry.
Thank you to everyone who has supported me and encouraged me through sports, both playing and coaching. There were many times I was not qualified or messed things up when coaching but the parents and players always supported me! Also, thank you to everyone who never gave up on me during my playing days. It is probably hard for most of the parents and my teammates to believe I am now using sports to share the gospel at a Christian college, but God has mercy and grace and for that I am truly thankful! And a huge thanks to my parents for always doing everything they could to help me be successful in sports but never forcing me to play. It was always enjoyable because I knew my parents would be completely okay with me stopping and pursuing other things.
I pray as this new opportunity arises that God would use it to bring glory to Himself and make His name known among the nations! As it gets closer to time for me to officially take over as AD I will let you know more about what is going on in the world of ABC Sports.
I am truly grateful for the prayers and support of family and friends. I thank God for you!
Because of Jesus,
Jeff
2 comments:
So proud of both of you for your successes at this point in your ministry. Sounds like Jeff's free time is shrinking quickly. Great times are ahead as you take on another challenge as AD. It's right up your alley. The Faith Baptist mission team is having a planning luncheon this Sunday. At the same time, a new members luncheon will be going on in 501. The new members get the "china" dinner plates. The Malawi team gets the styrofoam Wed.night plates. Don't want to spoil them. That is according to chief cook Glen Wood. Last night we had 290 eat our NBA Playoff Snack Bar Meal...hot dogs, chili cheese fries, pretzels, nachos, corndogs, pizza,etc. You do have all of this in your locale, right? Take care! Much love from the Wood family, Marilyn and Glen.
So cool, gonna miss Derek, but you will are very suited to the job. Hopefully I'll be able to help you out a bit when we get back soon! Love you guys x
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