Trip Reflections from Coach Andrew Scott

As I look back at the opportunities that God gave us in Uruguay, my heart is filled with gratitude. God clearly answered our prayers and blessed us in ways we would’ve never imagined. I was absolutely thrilled with the opportunities God gave us to present the gospel—on the field, in the church, around the community, and at the camp.

The multiple soccer matches gave us an immediate platform to both clearly present the gospel and also to build bridges of contact for the churches and camp. I was also thrilled with the obvious unity that we had with the believers in Uruguay. The bond that we had in Christ was extremely strong and helped to eliminate the obvious communication barriers.

The guys on the trip did great: they were willing servants, tough competitors, and confident ministers of the gospel. God gave us a great time ministering together.

What a joy it was to also minister and fellowship with Danny and Sergio—these men were great examples to us. Our soccer team is especially indebted to the work of Coach Dennis Scott and the NIU Center for Global Opportunities for their diligent and complete preparation for the trip. We couldn’t have done it without them. It is good to be back home but our minds are continually drawn back to the ministry, fellowship, games, and friends in Uruguay.

God be praised for a life-changing sports ministry trip!

More Team Testimonies and Trip Summary

Now that we have returned home, we will be completing our blog with some testimonies from the team members and coaching staff. These articles should be posted soon. Thanks for following our blog during this trip and for praying for us. It was evident that you were praying for us. God blessed us and changed us in many ways.

It would be impossible to individually thank everyone that made this trip a reality. Only one word comes to mind and it seems so inadequate. It is a word that we saw on a billboard in Uruguay. The picture says it all.

Journey Home

We had no access to the internet to post our blog on Monday or Tuesday while we were in Salto. Also since we were traveling from early Wednesday morning (Aug. 18) and through most of the day on Thursday (Aug. 19) we weren’t able to post on those days either. The “Trip to Salto” post and the “Journey Home” post had to be uploaded after we returned.


The journey home began from Paysandu at 8:30 am for the 5 ½ hour van ride to the Montevideo airport. When we arrived at the airport we found out that our flight home would be diverted through Buenos Aires, Argentina. The flight from Montevideo to Buenos Aires was only about 30 minutes long and only about half of the seats on the plane were filled. We were hoping that the overnight flight from Buenos Aires to Miami would have as many empty seats as this so we could have more room to “stretch out” and sleep. However, when we boarded the plane again, after the nearly 2-hour wait in Buenos Aires, we found that the overnight flight would be pretty full, having picked up a number of passengers in Argentina. The guys didn’t really seem to mind since they had the opportunity to visit another South American country (brief though it was).

The overnight flight was uneventful and we arrived in Miami at 5:30 am. Once we had claimed our luggage and cleared customs, we found the gate for our connecting flight to Chicago. It was there that everyone “crashed”. We had a three hour lay-over in Miami and almost everyone used the entirety of it to sleep. Some of them barely woke up in time to board the next plane and then slept again for the full 2 ½ hour flight to Chicago.

After a brief lay-over in Chicago, we boarded a much smaller plane for the flight to Green Bay. We arrived in Green Bay at around 1:00 pm (31 hours since our wake-up call to begin our journey home). We still had to claim our luggage and wait for the Northland van to pick us up. Unfortunately, we found a few “souvenir casualties” in the luggage. Among them, a glass Coca-cola bottle that was broken and obviously, no longer had Coke in it. The surrounding clothing seemed to absorb it nicely, or not-so-nicely, depending on the way you look at it. Isaac Cummins (Ben’s brother) arrived around 1:30 and we loaded everything up for the trip back to campus.
We were all starving so we stopped at Five Guys restaurant. Everyone enjoyed a traditional American burger and fries. Then, we stopped at the Soccer World store to give the guys a final opportunity to pick up anything they might need for the pre-season training that begins on Monday (Aug. 23). We arrived back at Northland at 4:00 pm (34 hours since we left our “home” in Uruguay).


We praise the Lord for a safe trip and for a blessed sports ministry experience. We are trusting Him to bring forth fruit from our labors in Uruguay. Many, many, many people heard the gospel. The churches and missionary teams we worked with in Uruguay have much follow-up work to do with the new contacts that were made. On our last day there, while reviewing our study in Galatians, we were challenged by the verse in Galatians 6:9 which says, “And let us not be weary in well doing, for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.”

Trip to Salto

After a very busy “Dia del Niño” on Sunday, Monday morning began like most of the days that we have been here. Breakfast at 8:30 am, followed by team devotions at 9:00 am. Our study through Galatians continues to be a blessing to each one of us.
At 9:30 we continued to work on the fort project that we are trying to complete before we have to return home. From the rain last Thursday, there was still some mud to dig out of the post holes before we could set the final 12 posts. Once all that work was done, we had lunch and then began to organize things for the overnight trip to Salto.

We left Paysandu around 3:30 pm for the hour-and-a-half drive to Salto. The church in Salto is being pastored by Northland graduate, Andy Thompson. We saw Andy, his wife Kolette, and their children last Sunday when they came to the camp for the baptismal service. Last Monday, however, they left for their furlough in the States. Therefore, they were not in Salto for our visit. Other Northland graduates and Uruguay missionaries, Sergio Duarte (in Fray Bentos) and Bobby Vallette (in Colonia) joined us on the trip to Salto. Jorge, from the camp, went with us also.


We arrived in Salto just in time to prepare for our game. The game was a small field game against a group that had been organized by some men in the church. Most of the players were unsaved co-workers of the church members. While the game wasn’t as “competitive” as some of our previous games (we won 8-0), the opportunity to share the gospel was the same. After the game, our opponents listened intently as Jason Lorch shared the gospel using the ball of many colors.

After the game, we showered at the public hot baths that are a tourist attraction around Salto. This area of Uruguay is known for the hot mineral spring waters. Many people from all around South America come to this area to enjoy the hot mineral baths. It is believed that the mineral waters have a healing and cleansing benefit to the body. After enjoying the mineral baths and showering, we ate supper at the home of one of the church families. It was a great meal and a wonderful time of fellowship with some of the members of the church in Salto.

Then we returned to the church for our overnight accommodations. We had brought all of our bedding and extra mattresses from the camp to sleep on at the church. Everyone claimed their floor space and got comfortable for a good night’s rest.


Tuesday at Salto

Tuesday was our “day off” before we begin our long trip home. We had nothing specific on the schedule and let the team sleep in. We left the church around 11:00 am to do some souvenir shopping. Everyone began their search for just the right items to take home as gifts and remembrances of our trip. After shopping, we had a great meal at a restaurant called, “El Rancho”. This restaurant features a smorgasbord of meat cooked over a wood fire. It was great!

We spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening at the mineral spring baths. With many of us fighting colds, we were hoping that these hot baths would “open the pores” and “sweat it out of us”. We also thought it might be a great way to heal some of the sore muscles and tired bodies from an exhausting couple of weeks. It was a very relaxing and refreshing way to end our trip.

We left Salto around 7:30 pm arriving back at camp by 9:00 pm, just in time for supper. After supper we divided into cleaning crews to clean the various areas and facilities of the camp that we had used. Our journey home begins at 8:30 tomorrow morning and we won’t have time to clean everything before we leave in the morning, so we needed to do as much of it as we could tonight. After the cleaning was done, many guys stayed up quite late packing their things. Others joined some of the missionaries for a late night/early morning game of Rook.

Dia del Niño

After a short night of rest and quick showers in the morning, we enjoyed breakfast at 8:30 am and then left for church at 9:00 am. Church didn’t begin until 10:00 am, but we needed to get there early and make sure that we had everything ready for our Dia del Niño children’s ministry. We practiced our puppet story, did a quick check on all of the object lesson/magic tricks, made sure we had all of the candy ready to distribute, and were ready to go when the children arrived.

While Coach Andrew Scott taught the adult Sunday School lesson (interpreted by Dan Vallette), Coach Dennis Scott organized the team for the children’s Sunday School. We had around 30 children. They ranged in age from 4 to 12 years old. After some opening songs and instructions from their regular teachers, we began our prepared program. After a few words of explanation from Coach Dennis Scott, Zach started with his changing bag. He changed three ribbons (blue, white, and yellow) into a Uruguayan flag. This created quite a stir and caught the children’s attention.

Micah continued with the three ropes of different sizes, eventually making them all the same size, illustrating how God sees all of us the same in our sinful condition. While we sometimes look on the outside, God sees the heart. This was followed by Grant’s object lesson that “good things” can come out of the “fiery trials” of life. Then, Josh Netz did his rope trick, illustrating that, only through Jesus Christ can we have a restored relationship with a holy God. Zach then came back with his changing bag to show how Jesus’ blood can cleanse our sin and make us white as snow. Finally, Paul Reece told the story of the widow whose oil never ran out since she trusted God to provide by obeying the instructions from the man of God. Paul’s magical pot kept pouring out water time after time, to the amazement of the children, and even to some of the teachers. Caleb Salsman and Andy Gibbons both interpreted so the children could understand. Caleb also taught the Bible verse for the day, Galatians 6:14.

After a few more songs, it was time for the puppet skit. Paul Johns (voice of Pablo) and Jason Lorch (voice of Maria) did a great job reading their parts in Spanish. Pablo sounded like he had a little bit of a cold, but Maria’s voice was strong, yet “girlish”, thanks to Jason. Ben Cummins did the actions for the Pablo puppet while Timothy Legg helped bring Maria to life. The story was about “boletos” (tickets) and how it is not possible to buy a ticket to heaven. Maria helped Pablo understand that his train ticket, his taxi ticket, and even his plane ticket could not provide a way to heaven. Only through the work of Jesus Christ on the cross do we have a “ticket” to heaven.



After the puppet skit, the children all had “panchos” (hotdogs) to eat before we gave them the candy that we brought. All in all, it was a very successful children’s ministry. Pastor Reuben, Guillermo (a deacon) and the Sunday School teachers appreciated our ministry to the children and the Bible applications that were made.

We returned to camp for lunch and, while some took a nap after lunch, Micah, Zach, Andy, and Grant went with Pastor Reuben, Guillermo and others to a small village(about one hour from Paysandu), where there is the possibility of a new church being planted. There is a small group of believers there and they have an afternoon service for them. The children there also enjoyed the gospel magic tricks, Bible lessons and candy. We were not able to take the puppets there because of the limited space.

In the evening service back in Paysandu, the team sang two songs and quoted their theme verses in Spanish (Galatians 2:20 and 6:14). Andy Gibbons and Josh Netz shared their testimonies. Coach Dennis Scott preached. After the service the team shared some gifts with the “jovenes” and they gathered together in a circle of prayer with arms around each other, as this is likely the last time that we will see some of them. The bond that has been formed between them has been very strong for the relatively short amount of time that we have been here. Tomorrow we head out to Salto and will be there for parts of Monday and Tuesday. On Wednesday we have to clean-up, pack-up and head back to the capital, Montevideo, to begin our trip home. We arrive back in Green Bay on Thursday afternoon at 1:30 pm.



Team Testimony from Grant Chai:
Today was kid’s day in Uruguay. I can relate to that because we have a version of kids day in Hawaii. I was able to present a object lessons to the kids. My object lesson deals with trials and hard times in our lives. One can either obey God or disobey God. It’s as easy as that. After I presented my object lesson a kid in the front row jumped out of his seat. At least I was able to relate to one of the kids.

After the object lessons the kids had a snack of hot dogs. I watched and observed a little kid down three hot dogs in a matter of ten minutes. Glad that there are other people out there who enjoys eating as much as I do.

After church today I had the opportunity to go to a new church plant in another small town east of Paysandú. Micah, Andy and Zach came along as well and were going to share their object lessons with the kids. I did not know what to expect but I was excited for the opportunity to serve. Danny dropped us off and we took a van to the town with some other members of the church. The van that we took had a back row with two bench seats in the middle facing each other. I was given the seat with my back to the driver’s seat. I was going to have a whole different trip from everyone else. I found myself on a few occasions making eye contact with the other people facing me and then looking out the window or somewhere else to try not to make the situation awkward.

The van ride was about an hour. We pulled into this small town and the kids were waiting for us. The venue for this gathering was a small patio type building that was incomplete. I have to give props to our TB (Translator Boy), Andy, who translated our object lessons from English to Spanish. After the rest of our group presented their object lessons I was given the opportunity to share a personal testimony with the group. I shared I Corinthians 10:31. I was not sure what I was going to say but I asked the Lord to give me the words to say. After the service, an older gentleman started talking to me. The first words to come out of my mouth were to find Andy to translate for me. The older gentleman told me that he went through the same thing that I went through and that he was encouraged to hear my testimony. All I could say was that all the glory goes back to God. He gave me the words to say and it is because of His grace and mercy that I was able to share that testimony with the church.

I am very grateful to have had this opportunity to come on this trip. God is good. Even though I can’t speak or understand Spanish, it is refreshing knowing that I can worship with other Christians from a different country. Even though I know that I will probably never see any of the people again, I know that I will see them again in Heaven. Thank you for your prayers and support. Please continue to pray for our team and for the ministry opportunities down here in Uruguay.

Grant Chai

Niños Soccer Clinic and Jovenes Fellowship

The bright yellow thing in the sky appeared again this morning. It was great to see it and feel the warmth from it after a couple of cold, rainy, overcast days. After breakfast and devotions we started to work on setting the final 12 posts for the fort. However, there was still too much water and mud in the post holes that had been previously dug, so we had to delay that project again. We ended up gathering more firewood and searched around in areas of the camp that had not yet been explored.

We did not have a soccer game scheduled for today so the guys were able to get some extra rest. Some of them have been fighting with colds that have been developing for the past few days. The wet weather and cooler temperatures have resulted in some sore throats and runny noses. We have been encouraging them to drink lots of water and get some extra rest. Becca Vallette was able to provide some cough and cold medicine for us. Hopefully, the team will be back to full strength on Monday for our last soccer game in Salto.

Shortly after lunch, we went into town to hold a children’s soccer clinic. There were between 10-15 boys and girls who showed up and everyone had a great time. Coach Andrew did an outstanding job teaching the young Uruguayans about not having an “elephant touch” on the soccer ball. The soccer team members helped to give individual attention to each child and provided “targets” for the children to shoot at. The children all seemed to enjoy the “Sharks and Minnows” game. Ben Cummins shared about the “ball of many colors” with the children at the end of the session. We presented two of the colorful soccer balls to Guillermo, one of the deacons in the church. As the children play with them, we hope they will be reminded of the message they represent.



After the clinic, we spent time with the “jovenes” (youth group at the church). Saturday is their weekly fellowship time and it began this week with some of them, accompanying us into the downtown area of Paysandu. There was a lot of activity downtown and many people were buying gifts for tomorrow’s Dia Del Niño (Children’s Day). Four or five of our team members went with a couple of the jovenes in each group, just in case we needed some interpreters.

Everyone returned to the church by 8:00 pm for the youth meeting. We sang songs, shared testimonies of thankfulness, sang more songs, enjoyed a picture-search game (prizes for the winners), more testimonies and songs, and then had a Bible study. Grant Chai gave his testimony of salvation and Zach Haese led the Bible study. Caleb Salsman interpreted for both of them. Caleb also shared his personal testimony with the jovenes. He obviously didn’t need an interpreter.

After the Bible Study, we were treated to a traditional Uruguayan dish with beans and rice. The fellowship then moved out to the back yard of the church for a friendly soccer match, Americans vs. Uruguayans. Everyone had a lot of fun cheering for the goals that were scored. It didn’t matter which team scored, everyone cheered just the same. We stayed at the church until 11:30 pm. By the time we got back to camp and organized a few things for Dia del Niño, it was well after midnight. We have an early morning wake-up call and a busy day tomorrow for this special day.



Team Testimony from Micah Herron:
Today was “Work Day 2010”. Which really means nothing being as how most of gallivanted all morning. Because of the late night on Friday night, Danny and Coach graciously moved breakfast to 9:30. As every morning goes we all mosey on over to the cafeteria congregate around the wood stove and try and thaw out our frozen fingers and toes. Breakfast quickly follows after that, and by that time we are all chomping at the bits to eat. We had French Toast, one of my personal favorites. I think I just about ate a whole loaf of bread… Needless to say, meals are “muy importante’” to me.

One of the highlights of my day is being able to study God’s word with my brothers. I am learning to cherish these times because as a senior they will be few and far between in a setting like this. We have been studying through Galatians. This morning’s passage was on walking in the spirit. I have heard this all my life. My parents have ingrained this into my head, thankfully, but many times I find this difficult to live out practically. I think this is a struggle we all go through as believers. Paul goes on to explain how our flesh is warring against our spirit. I find myself getting discouraged because of this sometimes, but then right as that low point comes, hope comes jumping into the picture. But the spirit is warring back at my flesh. Praise God we have already won the victory over sin. And one day this war is going to be over, and I cannot wait for that day to come.

So after Bible study Danny had us do some odd jobs around the camp. One of them was to haul the firewood from the woods to the edge so it could be picked up quicker. As many of us were doing this we happened upon a tree that was about dead and decided to help the death process and break it down. Now if you can imagine 7 or 8 college guys standing around a dead tree with no chainsaws or tools to cut it down, something stupid was probably thought up. Well we decided to have someone climb the tree, work their way out to the edge of a branch, hang all their weight on it to see if it would break. And much to our delight, they broke. One right after the other. The funniest part of all this was that every time someone hung on the branch they usually proceeded to fall on their back while the rest of the guys gave manly grunts and hoots and hollers. That was our “work” for the day. Don’t tell Danny…

Later in the day, we had an opportunity to do a soccer clinic for some kids at the church. We ran drills, played games and were able to share the gospel at the end. The rest of the day we had to go shopping around town with some of the youth guys. These guys grew on each one of us. The more time we spent with them, will make it all the more difficult to say goodbye. That evening we all rendezvous back at the church for a youth night where we were able to fellowship and challenge the youth here through God’s word. On trips like this, you begin to appreciate these times more than the times you get to just cruise. The kids here live a simple, content life. They do their duties and are thankful for what they have. They have been a conviction to me. I have been thankful to be removed from all the media, wifi (most of the time), and my cell phone. When you step back from the busyness of life, you are reminded of what is important in life- Jesus Christ, the Word, and People. Yeah, sure these kids have their struggles, but what an honor and privilege it was to challenge the youth with a verse that has made an imprint on my life- Micah 6:8. God asks us to be right, be loving, and to be humble.

I am enjoying my time here and am eternally gratefully for an opportunity to be entrusted with the gospel of Jesus Christ- the message of the Cross. God has given us a platform because of a few abilities he has blessed us with. But all through Galatians Paul continually points back to what is most important which is the Cross of Jesus Christ. Thank you to all who gave towards this trip and those who are praying. Please continue to do so as we strive together to reach more souls for the Kingdom.

Honor,

Micah
Galatians 6:14

Keep the fire burning

More firewood! Gathering firewood to keep the fire burning in the wood stove is a constant chore, especially on these cooler days. This daily task has given us a very visual reminder of the need to feed the flames of our spiritual lives as well. We have needed wood for the fire to keep warm, to cook food, and to heat water for showers and a baptismal service.

Friday morning continued to be overcast, windy, and cool, but at least the rain had stopped. After our late night volleyball activities at the YMCA last night, we decided to let the team sleep in a little bit since the outdoor work projects were still “put on hold”. We gathered for breakfast at 9:30 am and then had team devotions at 10:00 am. Our study together through the book of Galatians has been a highlight of each day for all of us.

Our soccer ministry opportunity for today was with some unsaved contacts and co-workers of men from the church in Paysandu. We rented a small, outdoor, lighted field with artificial turf. We scheduled the facility for two hours and played against two different teams in 7 v. 7 competition (one hour each). The first team was a group of unsaved men that Dan Vallette has had contact with through soccer leagues. It was a very close match with both teams scoring often. In the end, Northland pulled out a 12-11 victory with Caleb Salsman scoring the winning goal. After the game, the team shared the gospel by using the “ball of many colors” and again, the gospel was well received. The seed is continually being sown and watered. We are certainly praying that God would “give the increase” in His time. Dan Vallette has assured us that these opportunities to build relationships and share the gospel are very helpful in the ministry here.

The second match was with a couple of men from the church who brought some of their unsaved co-workers. We got behind early 3-0 and 4-1, but finally made a comeback to tie the game at 4-4. I’m not sure if anyone remembers what the final score ended up being, but we think Northland won (even though it doesn’t really matter). What matters most is that these unsaved co-workers heard the gospel and were invited to respond to it. This was an encouragement to the men in the church who had invited them. Two of the unsaved men actually remembered the last visit that our men’s soccer team made to Uruguay, twelve years ago. One of them, who had played with the Estudiantil club team, remembered playing against Coach Andrew Scott, who was a member of the 1998 team that came here. It is very interesting how God brought this man out again this year to hear the gospel. It turns out that he is one of the co-workers of the man from the church. Pray that he will respond to the gospel as follow-up contacts are made.

During the middle of these matches, four of us went over to the YMCA as a follow-up to the contact that we made there last night. The YMCA director invited us back to share the story of the “ball of many colors” with the children who are there in the afternoon. Paul Johns shared the story while Andy Gibbons interpreted for him. The children at the YMCA were also invited to the youth soccer clinic we are doing tomorrow at the church. Dan Vallette also told them about the camp ministry. Many gospel tracts were given out to the children, teens, and some of the parents and YMCA staff members that were there. We were invited to play volleyball there again tonight at 10:30 pm.

After the soccer was over, we had supper in town. We ate traditional Uruguayan sandwiches called “Chivitos”. They are basically a sandwich with “everything on it” (tomatoes, peppers, eggs, cheese, olives, lettuce, peas, corn, and lots of other tasty stuff). We each had our choice of meat. Some chose a traditional hamburger patty, others had ham or chicken. It was definitely a treat! I don’t think that Red Robin has a hamburger on their menu that is quite as tasty and I'm certain that McDonald's and Burger King don't.

After supper, the team did a little shopping while walking over to the YMCA for the evening volleyball ministry opportunity. A number of the guys from the church youth group joined us. We are really looking forward to the children’s soccer clinic tomorrow afternoon and the youth group fellowship tomorrow night.