Personal News
Happy New Year, Friends! We hope you had a blessed holiday season. It was wonderful to have all four of our children, plus Katelyn, here with us. We have also enjoyed having Dave’s dad here for an extended visit. Now everyone has headed back to work and school. We are looking forward to what God has planned for this year. We are trusting Him for many new things.
Ministry Update
Todd and Karen Langerveld serve with Athletes in Action at a university in the San Gabriel Valley of southern California. This fall, they spent a significant portion of their time working to follow up with over 60 first-year football players who signed up to have an informal conversation about God with someone from AIA. At the same time, their staff team had already been training 12 of the older football players to have spiritual conversations by asking exploring questions, and to share the gospel using a simple tool called “The Gospel in a Verse.”
The overwhelming response from the first-year players has given the older guys a great opportunity to put into practice what they have been learning! Todd challenged the older guys to take a faith step to reach out to their new teammates who expressed interest in God. Each of them had the same initial reaction to potentially having these conversations: “I am pretty nervous to do this, but I am also excited because I think it is something God wants me to do!”
After two and a half weeks, a lot of prayer, and 18 conversations, the older guys have seen 16 of the 18 teammates they talked with trust Jesus Christ with them! The two who didn’t receive Christ were already Christians.
Many of the new players shared a similar sentiment after these conversations: “I feel so relieved like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders!” Every one of the 18 new guys have asked to be discipled weekly.
Please pray for these new believers as they begin to learn and grow in their faith in the midst of much spiritual darkness on their team and on their campus. Also, please pray for the staff in this area as they continue to reach out to the remaining 40 players who have signed up to have these conversations.
We are grateful to be a part of helping resource and equip staff like these to reach athletes and others with the good news of the gospel. Thanks for your partnership with us in this work.
Dave & Lynn
Please pray for the upcoming Super Bowl Breakfast, on February 10 in Las Vegas. It is Athletes in Actions’s premiere outreach event. For more info visit superbowlbreakfast.com
Dave and Lynn Meritt 