Danielle in Baton Rouge

Wow! I last wrote a letter like this in December, anticipating a ministry transition from SportQuest to Renew Church. Of course, at the end of 2019, none of us guessed that as of March we would ALL be in a season of uncertainty and change (thanks to Covid-19). I am not sure what kinds of adjustments you have had to make, but the pandemic impacted my life and ministry in some surprising ways, as I am sure it did yours.  Pandemic Ministry Much of my pre-pandemic ministry was during after-school hours, but now I spend more time in Gardere during the regular workday (8-5pm). From March-May, my time was mostly dedicated to working with the Gardere Initiative to feed as many children as possible (ultimately, more than 500!). Since June, I have worked with the  Gardere Initiative  to help lead a youth summer program Monday-Thursday and deliver food (supplied by the public school system) on Fridays.  As Louisiana has slowly reopened, I added the Tuesday night Refuge program ...

WELCOME and opening prayer.   Ethan Play a Song to begin with   Scripture reading (Romans 8) – Danielle reading   So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you. Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later. For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? Who dares acc...

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...