You CAN

This one is a little different I felt led to put this on here. Today in a session this story and video was brought up. Check it out please ive seen it before and It just makes me cry every time. But I really hope someone can get something from this like I did.




Well all say we cant do something. I have trouble telling myself that I can do this or that. This man and his son prove the world wrong time after time that they CAN. If you sit and say you cant do something then you are already defeated in the first place. Get out there and at least try you don't know what God will gift you through that. God's calling me into some big things that are kind of scary, but that's a good thing because they are bigger than anything I could ever do and I will have to rely on Him to help me through it. I really hope you are touched as much as I was through this.

Prayer Request-
Personal
*MawMaw Carroll
* For the visions God has given me.
* Friends and Family back home.

Impact Team
* Unity within the Team
*Walls to be broken
* Travel around Italy
*we leave for Ukraine on July 4th at 4:30 AM fly from Turin Mulin then to Rome, then to Kiev


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Many Challenges in a short week

well Monday started off like a normal day until our night training sessions when we found out we would have to be silent for the next 24 hours, no computers, no talking, no phones. It really was a great time to really just shut up and listen to what God has to say for us, thats been one of my goals that me and David set up for me during my individual meeting that I need to listen to what God has to say to me more than me talking to God all the time, Now don't get me wrong here Talking is fine, but we also have to listen to what he is trying to tell us. It was a great time to grow, I went hiking up the river to a part I hadn't been yet and I ran into a really old dam it was really neat. I was up there for about 3 hours and an hour in half I was in prayer and deep in the word. God gave me the scripture Matthew 7: 7-8, Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks will receive, he who seek finds, and to him who knocks the door will be opened. I just thought this went great for what I really needed in life at this moment, to seek his guidance, find what he wants me to do, and then accept the challenge! God is really showing me more and more about what he wants me to do with my life in the next few years and im getting some awesome visions from him for what I need to do in the sports ministry.Well on the way back from the river I took a nice little fall and cut my leg up pretty good, it didnt need stitches but it hurts like heck, and it will leave a nice scar. But whats cool once it heals ill have a scar from each country I visit, I just hope I don't get one from the Ukraine or Hungary haha. But yesterday we had another team building challenge. The drove us to some awesome waterfalls on the French border and dropped us off there, we were broke up into two teams. We had to rescue two other team mates that "had got hurt hiking" so we had to find them, THEN using rope, two boards, and a blanket we had to make a stretcher to carry them about 4 or 5 miles back to Forterocca back in Bobbio Pellic. We had to work as a team to carry the victim all the way back down the mountain. It was amazing to see how we worked as a team, but there is still somethings to be worked on, and this morning everyone was sore lol. Especially our shoulders. Today was a lot of teaching and a lot of storming in Bobbio Pellic, the teaching is very useful teaching for our leadership trainging. We learned about partnership, and how they work. But its been a long day!!!! But I hope everyone is doing well back home. And a special thanks to Dwane Wilder who put a little something this week in the La Follette Press for my experience and the blog.

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Understanding Leadership equals T.E.A.M.

The last few years as a FCA leader at TWC I have my ideology has been miss guided it would seem. I have never really liked the idea of being called Captain of FCA or President, but it’s been there. All the leaders on the lead team have named position. It the beginning of my leadership role with FCA we decided to not have names but it started to stick with us so we kept it. The idea that one person has more power over another is wrong, as a lead team we have been given special gifts that we should be able to us as leaders. Cassi came this week and spoke with us and it really started to open my eyes about what a real leader was. Something that he said hit me he said we as leaders are training future people to lead. One thing that I really liked was the pyramid diagram with Relational skills, organizational skills, mobilization skills, Transformational skills, and catalytic skills. A relational skill is how we can relate to people, communicate with people, and handle conflict. Organizational skills, is when people optimize the production needed for a certain task. An organizational skill is when people motivate people and they begin to move. I can relate with the next one more than the others at this point of life; Transformational skills, this is where people impact people’s lives. That’s one way I impact the people I know for Christ, I show myself as an example of Him, and people can see that there is something different with me in the way I act and present myself. The last one is the one that I want to strive for in my walk with Christ, catalytic skill this is where people impact the WORLD, very few can get to this level, but it is something that I want to strive to each day, so that one day I can make an impact around the world for Christ. But in order for me to do this and truly make an impact I have to change myself to change the world.
It takes everyone to be part of a team we are like the body we all have special parts that complete it and help it move as one. And the worst thing that we can do is to be independent from this because we need help. God is our help, we have to reach out to him when we need him, but also in times things seem to be going fine. We are sent here to build the Kingdom of God; the kingdom of God is 3 in 1. Father, Son, Holy Spirit. They all work together to complete the Team. To be a leader you have to have followers. That really hit me like a lot of his teachings did. To have followers we have to disciple to people, we have to pour out into someone so that they can learn from you and that they can also make an impact for Christ. At this moment I have 3 people that God really sat on my heart to pour into, but I have to continue to pray and seek God’s guidance in this. Through this I will find myself not as a teacher but as a learner because God is going to teach me and give me the visions I need to have to complete what is ahead of me for my life.
Another thing that Cassi taught us is the world’s idea of Leadership. It is the fact that there is someone above you there is a CEO/President, and it works it way back down. But Jesus didn’t do this for him it was opposite it was Jesus at the bottom and then going up, but always him at the bottom this was an example of Self-less love. The other view is our world created by the sin of people. Philippians 2:6-8 says,” Jesus humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death even physical death on the cross.” As Christians we need to do the same we need to have attitudes like Christ. We are called to build the Kingdom of God. Leading isn’t to be servant leaders, yes we serve but are we doing it for the Glory of God or for ourselves? We are not to be servant leaders, but a humility leader.
What is stopping us from really turning this over and understanding what God is telling us. What is getting in the way of you being a humility leader? Think at it like this, say this,” If this is true then….” You fill in the rest, I put if this is true then my ego is my worst enemy. Death of self is freedom what holds us back and what God has planned for us. Mark 8:34-38 says,” if you lose your life you will gain it, give up to gain, don’t be ashamed or selfish and that if we gain the whole world we will yet lose our life.” Jesus calls us to take up our cross to be a complete follower, not to be the world. Surrender to follow Jesus, he has some amazing things for us to do but we have to realize that nothing can get in the way of that, Jesus is our Life, but we do have priorities like family, friends, career etc. But remember Jesus is first.
But the biggest thing that really stood out to me from Cassi’s teachings is the fact that we are all God’s chosen leaders, he sent us to Italy to receive this training that has already blown me away and to know there is more to come even blows me away more just to see what God has to show me. I believe the whole purpose that God sent me on this trip is explained in 2 words, trust and future. The last few years I have really had a hard time really understanding the trust I need to have in God because in the end he is the one I have to rely on, no one else. But that is slowing leaving day by day. God holds the future for all of us, but I have miss understood this for some time, I thought my future was to be a teacher and a baseball coach and hopefully work for FCA somewhere. I strongly believe that God wants me doing these things, but I think I have been using the wrong word, instead of future it should be calling; God’s calling for me to be a teacher and a baseball coach and hopefully work for FCA somewhere. But its only in his hands, I have gave it all to him. But like David said I just need to listen to more so I can really hear what he has for me, and I have. God has really spoken to me the last few days. But I’m beginning to understand my calling and where he wants me to go, now where that is I have no idea, time and prayer will tell that story. God has shown me very clear visions that I have to do, if it fails then there will be a message for me behind it, but I’m trusting in God to pave the way for me.

Live 4 Christ
Change the World

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BM

Camp at Torre Pellice, Italy

Sorry for now just getting back to blogging, it has been a crazy week with camp and training earlier on in the week. Camp started Tuesday morning, we didn't know what to expect going in, but it was great things worked out amazing. The Children had a few sports to pick from, baseball, football(soccer), Volleyball, and Ultimate Frisbee. Me and Vience did baseball of course. It was really great to work with some of the children and to grown in relationships with them, the language really didn't get in the way to much at all, they could understand what you meant you just had to be very visual with them and exaggerate with them. It was great to teach them the basics of baseball, very few had really played before but some had, and those who hadn't picked up really fast. The goal was to share Christ with them, and through out the week we did, through our actions, and sharing with them. There were a few boys that really stood out to me that I really grew attached too and held a good relationship with them, Andreaes , Marano, and two twins names Jack and Nick.




Andreaes was very smart and had played some baseball, of course his favorite team was the Braves, but over here they don't get to watch a lot of baseball on TV so he doesn't know a whole lot about them. The most important thing was to be an example of Christ and to show love for them all, over the course of the week you could tell that a change was starting it was amazing! Through out the week camp went great and on the last day we had the Torre Pellice Olympics it was really neat, we had an opening ceremony and everything lol. We had two different rounds of stations. The first round included the Gospel station where two interns shared a Bible story with the Children and the second round we had a reflection station from the story. We used David and Goliath, it was really cool to see the children hold on to the story and really get an understanding for you because we found out yesterday that only 4 our of the almost 50 campers went to church. They really understood the trust that David had in God, and how we have to do the same,some of their responses really blew me away, one of the questions we asked was what are some areas in your life that you need to trust God more in? The flood gates opened! They were talking about family problems, how they needed to love God more, how they need to trust in God to help them get out watching TV all the time and playing video games. We have made an IMPACT in these children s life, I dont care if they didn't like the sports or weren't good in them, because they got what they really needed and that was the Gospel!

We are staring to slowly find out where we will be splitting up at after the Ukraine. I will be going to Hungary to do baseball camps with Vince, yes we will be the only two from our team, which will be a challenge but its one that God has called me to do and I trust in him. I have no idea what to expect when we get there really nothing...

Its going to be a bust week here for us. We have to get back to the training and I think its about to go up another level on us, more physical and more demanding, but its great if we really hold on to this stuff and run with it and understand it, it will be life changing and something we can use for the rest of our lives. We had a special quest this week from South Africa he is head of the International Sport Ministry Coalition. The training that we are doing is what he and other people made up. He was an amazing man of God and a great speaker. Well I must go we are about to head to church in Torre Pelliec somewhere lol :-) have a great day! And Happy Fathers Day back in the States! Love you dad

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BM

Growing each minute

I would never have guess God would open my eyes and teach me as much as he has in less than a week. It has almost been a week since we arrived at Forterocca. We have been busy busy busy... but its great. We are learning how to share the gospel with people. I never really realized that there are windows into the gospel, starting with creation, the Fall of man, Judgment, crucifixion, Resurrection, and the Response we use a quick description of each window and a verse to back out point. It really is a great tool to use in the field. Its called the 2 way process because you can either accept Christ or deny him.

The valley that we are in is amazing it is the very spot that the Church first went through reformation in the 1100's. The earliest Waldensians believed in poverty and austerity, promoting true poverty, public preaching and the personal study of the scriptures. The sect originated in the late 12th century as the Poor Men of Lyons, a band organized by Peter Waldo, a wealthy merchant of Lyon, who gave away his property around 1177 and went about preaching apostolic poverty as the way to perfection. They soon came through Italy and on there way to Rome to see Pope Alexander III, he blessed their life but forbade preaching without authorization from the local clergy. They would not agree to this and this would start a war with the pope.They where on the run from his armies and went deep into the Alps of North Western Italy. They would worship in a cave that we actually got to go to, This is a place of worship where they put their lives online for Christ, so they could freely worship away from the Catholic church, unfortunately some would be killed, they were sent to a high peak (which is actually in front of my window) and they would be pushed off the edge if they did not submit to the Pope. Its very humbling to know that these people died for what they believed in, they died for Christ! They are the real reformers!

We start camps Tuesday just outside of the town we stay in right now I can not remember the name of the town. But out main objective is to share Christ with these children and to make them interested and fun in sports, because at there age they have a bad experience in sports and drop out completely. But Its really neat we get to figure out what we want to do with them as far as instructional things me and Vence the other baseball guy will be doing baseball. We have a nice little plan. We only have an hour and 10 min for instruction and then later on in the day 45 min to play. But during the hour 10 min we are going to stretch and have an agility work out. Then 10 min of throwing/catching, 20 min of fielding, 20 min of hitting, and 10 min of base running. During the competition depending on home many children come out we will play a real game, home run derby, or something on a points system its in the air at the moment. The camp is four days long so that means four opportunities to share Christ with a different group of Children each day. I will try and blog Tuesday night about the first day of camp to let you all know how it goes, and then at the end of the week once the camp is over.

God reveals things to me every day. Its happening more and more each day our guys group here is really starting to click and today in our small groups it was really cool to sit down with them and talk about things that we cant really talk to the girls about, it was great! But what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas! (thats the name of the room we meet) haha. But its almost 1AM and I need to go! But thanks guys! Cya all very soon!

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Forterocca Bobbio Pellice

Well im in Italy! We flew out out Atlanta to London, it was around a 7 hour and 30 min flight! It was the best flight I have been on it was great! We had a four out lay over in London which is interesting... we ran into Jamie Kennedy and Jennifer Lover Hewitt getting searched through security. After the excitement we got our first taste of Food in Europe. I got a very good bowl of Tomato soup and garlic bread. After that we flew to Mulian which was about an hour and a half flight. Then we drove about 2 hours to Bobbio Pellice where we will be staying at a place at Forterocca. It Has been great so far everyone is clicking and getting to know each other. Bobbio Pellice is a very beautiful village just below the Alps, waking up with a great view of the alps is something else! We went out to see the village today and take in some of the sites. I also had my first Gelateria Del Corso or Gelato.

FCA stuff starts tonight with an opening meeting tonight. It has really been nice to get to know other college athletes from different parts of the United States and to see people with the Same passion as I do for FCA.