Newsletter

Dear Friends,

One of my favorite activities comes at 5:00 every Thursday afternoon during football season. I have the chance to meet with a local football team, South Decatur High School, and give them some inspirational words from the Bible. This is my third year to be the Cougars’ chaplain. We do it on Thursdays because I am in the broadcast booth on Fridays with Columbus teams, so I rarely get to be with the team on game nights. Coach Ken Wendling has been very gracious, even to the point of stopping practice for a few minutes to allow me to speak. Looking into the sweaty faces of these young men reminds me of the real ministry of Face to Face, which is reaching people through sports.

I’m not sure how many of these players are in church, but many of them have indicated how much they enjoy our time together. In the future, I plan to spend some time with them at lunch and get to know them better.

Face to Face is all about relationships. Recently, I spent time with Cincinnati Reds pitcher Jason Standridge. Jason is a young man from Birmingham, AL, who is starting to make his mark in the majors. Recently, he autographed a ball for someone at a Reds game, and signed “Phil. 4:13” under his name. The owner of that ball is from Columbus, and word got to me that Jason might be a good candidate for the show. I contacted him, and we did a short interview in the Reds clubhouse. After our time together, Jason invited me to lunch in Birmingham. Birmingham is also the new home of former IU Coach, Mike Davis, and his staff. It seems God is putting something together here for a productive ministry trip.

We don’t always know how God is working. Our time in Atlanta on WGST has come to an end. We know God had us there for a purpose, but we were falling behind financially, so we have pulled the show from our Sunday morning slot. But because of a contact we have there, there is a possibility of the show being aired on a station…in Birmingham, at no cost. It’s amazing how God works. We simply want to remain faithful, and follow the path he has laid out for us.

As the year 2006 begins to draw to a close, I would like to ask for your help financially. We need to raise about $8000 extra by January 1 to get us back on track. If you would like to make a year end gift, we would certainly appreciate it.

We would also appreciate your prayers. I am excited about a number of opportunities to minister that are on the horizon. We are working in cooperation with another ministry, Sports Spectrum, to host a Chaplain’s roundtable in Indianapolis at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Nov. 14, and at South Church in Lansing on Dec. 5. I will be emceeing the Dec. 5 meeting.

Ministry is where you find it. Thank you for partnering with us as we seek God’s will in finding where he wants us.

Sincerely,

Tom Rust