Getting Closer

The final details are coming together and it won't be long now before we leave for Uruguay. The team will gather at Northland on Sunday, August 1 and spend three days of final preparations before flying out of Green Bay on Thursday, August 5 (see flight schedule at the end of this blog post). We will arrive in Montevideo, Uruguay on Friday morning, August 6 and then have a 5 hour bus ride to Paysandu.

A Christian camp in Paysandu will be our "base of operations" where we will stay and eat most of our meals. I've added some pictures of the camp facilites (cabins, soccer field, dining area) to this blog post. Camp director, missionary Dan Vallette, has been very instrumental in organizing this trip for us.


Dan (pictured below with soccer ball) was an All-American soccer player for us here at Northland. He has told us how the game of soccer has been a tool for ministry in making new contacts and reaching people with the gospel. He has said, "With the country of Uruguay sometimes being referred to as “the graveyard of missionaries”, we have found two "tools" that are the most effective way to build long term relationships for potential evangelism and discipleship. Those tools are camp ministry and sport ministry".

We hope to assist the ministry there by playing exhibition games (creating opportunities to make new contacts and share the gospel), holding children's soccer clinics, fellowshipping with Christian teens and youth groups, helping with work projects at the camp, and ministering in local churches.



Excitement has been building for this trip since the country of Uruguay did so well in the World Cup this summer. They finished fourth out of the 32 teams that went to South Africa. With Uruguay being one of the smaller countries in South America, there is still a lot of "buzz" there about their team (and I don't mean the buzzing sound from the vuvuzelas at the World Cup). Uruguay did much better than the larger South American countries of Brazil and Argentina who have had a long history of success in the World Cup.




Please continue to pray for our finances and final preparations. Each team member must raise nearly $2000 for the trip. If the Lord would burden your heart so, you can donate online for our trip at the following link. Donate Online. Select Uruguay Mission Team as the specific fund you would like to donate towards.

Each team member will be sharing his personal testimony at some point during the trip and the entire group will be singing some special music and ministering to teens and children. Coach Andrew Scott and I will both be preaching a couple of times. Pray that God would do a work in our own hearts as we prepare.

Pray that we will be an encouragement to the missionary team there and that we would be able to assist them in fulfilling their burden to reach the Uruguayan people with the gospel. We would love to see the stands at the Paysandu stadium soccer field (pictured below) filled with people who are eager to watch soccer and who need to hear the gospel.




Flight Schedule for Northland Men's Soccer Uruguay Mission Team

Departure - American Airlines
Aug. 5 - # AA 4225 - Green Bay to Chicago-1:45 pm to 2:40 pm
Aug. 5 - # AA 2378 - Chicago to Miami-5:55 pm to 9:55 pm (Eastern Time)
Aug. 5 - # AA 989 - Miami to Montevideo-11:15 pm to 9:10 am (Aug. 6)

Return - American Airlines
Aug. 18 - # AA 900 - Montevideo to Miami-5:30 pm to 4:50 am
Aug. 19 - # AA 1577 - Miami to Chicago-9:25 am to 11:35 pm (Central Time)
Aug. 19 - # AA 4181 - Chicago to Green Bay-12:30 pm to 1:20 pm.

Return to Northland's campus on Thursday, August 19 by 4:00 pm

Soccer pre-season begins on Monday, August 23.