Danielle in Baton Rouge

Dear SportQuest Family, I like to share with people that I have literally grown up in the SQ Fam, since I was just 17 years old when I went on my first PWP Project to Ireland, in 2006, and now I’m quite a bit older and leading and hosting projects that 17 year-olds travel on. Like many of you, my closet is full of SportQuest t-shirts and I get an odd sense of pleasure when our coaching teams show up to camp matching or we have staff retreats and realize during a hike in the mountains that we’re wearing 10 different SQ shirts! That first trip in 2006 was just a couple of weeks after a knee injury ended my college softball career before it began. Over the next several years, God used SportQuest to help me realize that my athletic gifts were meant for so much more than a college sports career I didn’t get to have. This is me in Ireland in 2006, before cellphone cameras were really a thing and the quality wasn't that great! Me and KV in Belgium at training camp in Leuven ...

Dear support team & family, I’m writing an end-of-year update to let you know about exciting changes on the horizon. Thank you so much for your support – the work I do in Baton Rouge is only possible because of the support God has provided through your generosity. Hang in there with me, as this is a long letter with some important information! For those who can't hang, the BOLD and UNDERLINED TEXT is most important! Because I know it’s hard to read long letters for lots of us, I’ll start with the BIG news.  In January 2020, I will transition from working under the umbrella of SportQuest Ministries to serving as the resident missionary at Renew Church.   This change is coming after several months of prayer and discernment, and a desire to follow God’s call on my life by expanding local ministry and working more closely with a local team. Some of the Renew team at a recent church planting conference in Dallas WHY RENEW? In September 2018, I joi...

I always expect heavy spiritual warfare during the SportQuest Baton Rouge project. Any time significant Kingdom work is happening in a place where the enemy has strongholds (Gardere), there is resistance. This summer, our coaching team was strong (age, maturity, experience, close friendships, etc.), so Satan would try to divide us. Since January, there has been significant fruit in ministry – increased trust with the Hispanic community, baptisms of youth from Gardere at Renew, the growth of the student ministry, etc. – so Satan would do whatever he could to stall the momentum. The SportQuest Baton Rouge team in 2019: Front Row L to R: Dani, Me, Jordyn, Amy; Back Row L to R: Jack, Luke, Marnus, Michael Kids from the neighborhood participate in team building games with SportQuest coaches and volunteers Me with Kassidy and Unique, who was baptized the Sunday before Easter Team building games during our weekly G-1 "God First" meeting with students at Renew C...