I recently read Kisses from Katie by Katie Davis, a sweet and obedient servant of Jesus who moved from Nashville, TN, to Uganda and is now the mother of 13 beautiful Ugandan girls. On the surface, her story looks much different than mine -- I mean, I still live in affluent, suburban America -- but as I read her words (a few of them are quoted above) something in my heart agreed completely. Because I can feel the same overwhelming sense of, "It's not enough," when I think about our mobilization work with Uttermost Sports. There are millions living in the 10/40 Window who have never heard of Jesus, and honestly, they may never hear of Him, either. The task of reaching the unreached is impossible, and sometimes the tasks that cross my desk feel that way too.
The Uttermost staff, like virtually every other office with an internet connection this week, is busy filling out our brackets for the NCAA tournament. March Madness is a ton of fun and the smack talk has already begun, especially with our colleagues overseas who will be rooting for underdogs and Cinderellas from 24 different time zones this year. We'll keep you updated on who's dominating (and getting dominated) over the next few days. May the Lord smile on your brackets and bless you in those tricky 5/12 match ups but to close with the immortal words of Larry Bird, "who's finishing second?"
Our beloved president is in town this week. He's passing through on his way to Indianapolis to do some pre-Final Four networking. It's a nice change of pace to have meetings face to face rather than via Skype or email. He and the rest of the international staff headquarter about 6000 miles away so its nice having him around. He never stays anywhere for too long, he's constantly globe trotting - connecting with sports officials and administrators around the world. Nice to have him local... at least for a couple of days.
One of the tricky aspects of this job is managing the differences between cultures. Our tiny organization is tasked with navigating the various contexts of sport and culture. You don't have to be a sociology major to imagine that the needs of rural Morocco and urban China, are both literally and metaphorically thousands of miles apart, while both are included in the "10/40 window." The level of sports is wide as well, it is hard to compare Olympic level basketball with recreational ultimate Frisbee. Economics, culture, language, distance - all of it - plays a role in the training, mobilization, support and advancement of sports missions. And much like eating Moroccan food with chop sticks, it's tricky... but good.
This week we've spent a lot of time preparing a quarterly report for our financial supporters. Given the location of many of our workers, security is a major consideration and we are extremely cautious about disseminating information that might compromise their identity and work. So while we have multiple technological outlets (e-newsletters, social media, blogs, etc.) to inform the general public about our work - we go old school snail mail to the select few who's investment allows them a more intimate look into the inner works of our global organization. Want to join them? Check this out and consider joining the 300: https://uttermostsports.org/give/.
Earlier this week, I visited a local university class, sports facility management, and spoke with the fitness & recreation majors about ways to combine sports, international travel, and giving back. It was fun to see a light bulb go on for some of them, and it reminded me of the stops and starts of my own career journey. When you’re 21, the world is full of options and it can be hard to begin taking steps forward when you aren’t sure where you want to end up! Thank God we can trust His purpose for our life: "Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand.” [Proverbs 19:21]
