Have you every thought about investing an hour of your life each week in a way that would leave an lasting mark on another person? Or thought back over the course of your spiritual journey and pictured the day when the gospel became “real” to you for the first time? How about the first time you told someone else how Jesus had changed your life in hopes that they’d want to know for themselves too?
Many times I think back to when someone came knocking on my door in my dorm to tell me about Jesus and I responded in faith to the claims of Christ for the first time. I can’t tell you how excited I was to learn and grow in my new faith, as well as tell others and lead them to Jesus.
In many ways, the expressions of my new faith were a providential result of one person mentoring me and standing in the gap on my behalf. What better way to express my gratitude for what Jesus has done in my life than to give back by standing in the gap for another.
For the past 42 years, Athletes in Action has sent competing athletic teams all over the world to communicate the claims of Christ in clear and life-changing ways. We send tours comprised of both male and female athletes and coaches (high school, college and professional) who play various sports, as well as send those who serve in supporting roles (athletic trainers, administrators and sports information directors). This year Athletes in Action will send more than 40 sports tours or missions projects to six continents.
Over half of the team participants are from campuses or cities without AIA staff members, so it becomes a privilege to invest in the lives of these individuals as they travel and compete with our ministry. For a while now AIA has envisioned the continuation of investing in the lives of those who travel with our sports teams after they return from their AIA summer opportunity.
The time has now come to put that vision in place. Our goal is that each year every AIA summer opportunity participant will be assigned a SportLINC volunteer. SportLINC is an AIA ministry in which non-staffed campuses have student-led ministries. Students are led by an AIA staff member via phone, e-mail and periodic visits to campus. Once the team participant has arrived back home a SportLINC volunteer will contact him or her, spending an hour each week on the phone to spiritually mentor and invest in the life of the student. Not only will the SportLINC volunteer invest in the participant’s life, he will also mentor the student-athlete or coach in how they can continue to have a spiritual impact on their campus or in the city where they live.
Would you consider standing in the gap on behalf of one AIA team participant? Whether you are an AIA staff member or tour alum, ministry donor, lay person or friend of the ministry, please pray about being involved in our SportLINC mentorship program. Robert Coleman speaks of mentorship (discipleship) it this way in his book, Master Plan of Evangelism: “Having called his men [the twelve disciples], Jesus made a practice of being with them. This was the essence of his training program—just letting his disciples follow him.” Mentorship is that simple.
AIA plans to make volunteer sign-up and training materials available to you this spring. I hope each of you will pray and consider whether God would ask you to step up and volunteer your time, effort and heart to encourage another in their faith journey with the Lord. I can tell you from personal experience that as you invest in the life of another, you will be greatly blessed. Simply e-mail Matt.Dunn@aia.com for more information on how you can sign up and become a SportLINC volunteer.
Bill
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