Newsletter for November 1999

 Fall of 1999 UPDATES
Availability at Area Schools (Ohio)
Visits to other high schools include Aurora, Brunswick, Buchtel, Canton South, Cuyahoga Falls, Firestone, Garfield, Hudson, Medina, Revere, St. Vincent-St. Mary, and Western Reserve.  At Hudson High School, chapels are provided for the schools' athletes weekly or bi-weekly. Weekly visits are also made to the football dorm at Kent State University.

 Unique Events in 1999
Dave Harris of Brunswick HS went with us to the Super Bowl. Game tickets were donated by Tom Murdough (STEP TWO corporation). Irv and Ed Smith treated us to some very special opportunities since Ed was playing in the Super Bowl and Irv was making personal appearances.

Deion Sanders preached his first sermon in Columbus, Ohio. Four area young men and two preschoolers joined TEAM JAM in going down and spending an afternoon "chat" session with a select group of just 25 local high school and Ohio State athletes. (see pictures)

Mike Singletary was the special guest speaker at the Fellowship of Christian Athlete's breakfast the day before the Hall of Fame Game in early August.  Greg Lewis of Akron (and Winthrop U.) joined board member Marshall Jennings and John.  Mr. Singletary was extremely motivational in his charge to represent Christ in all we do, especially to our own families.  Several hundred were in attendance from several area schools.  Many Christian athletes who used to play in the NFL were also in attendance, including Don Cockroft, who also played for the Browns.  We were also able to take 6 TEAM JAM participants to the Browns-Cowboys game the next night thanks to Irv Smith. 

EVENTS WITH THE CLEVELAND BROWNS
Irv Smith has been providing a number of tickets for each game (at least 4-6) for the purpose of using them to minister to young people. It has also been exciting to see someone hear the plan of salvation for the first time or come to know Christ after almost every practice or game that we have taken young people to, making these events twice as productive.

Sixteen different young people were brought to practices and spent personal time with Irv Smith, sometimes Corey, or both, afterwards. Irv has donated thirty-seven tickets for games and met with all of these young people afterwards. This has resulted in the development of solid relationships with these young men while simultaneously introducting them to what Jesus Christ is all about.

Spiritual Counsel
Corey Fuller of the Browns has made himself available to speak at our JAM SESSIONS. About every ten days he has hosted a number of our athletes from area high schools at his home in ordr to explain to them how to both KNOW Christ as their Savior and also how to walk in obedience to Christ.

So far, over 50 different young people have participated in the first four sessions. These sessions included student/athletes from Akron Firestone, Akron Garfield, St. Vincent-St. Mary, Cuyahoga Falls, Medina, and Cleveland South H.S.'s. Others who will be involved in the future include Aurora, Buchtel, Hudson, Ravenna, Revere and Western Reserve schools. Approximately 12-15 young people from this group have asked Christ to be their Savior and lead their life, in addition to several others who are seeking to making their lives more obedient to Biblical standards.

The most commonly asked questions at this point are, "Can I bring my friends" and "How many can I bring". These young people are excited to have direction and answers to life's challenges, assist their friends and be around people "of note" who care about them!!.

A smaller version of this, has also been held at Kent State University with a few of Kent's football players.  These players arrange for us to meet at their dorm room on a weekly basis.  Most weeks, a few area high school students join us as well.  Among the regulars who attend are Josh Bostick, Jurron Kelly, and Ryan Cartwright. 

In the spring, sessions such as these at either homes or schools (without the benefit of a professional athlete), resulted in over 90 young people participating and approximately 20 choosing to pray that Christ would be their Savior.  However, these  six lesson sessions also made it possible for a student to make a concerted effort to learn how to get as close to God as possible and strive for higher personal standards. Specific standards laid out by the Bible included respect for authority, improving their communication with their parents, personal discipline, dealing with anger and conflict, and dating standards that promoted abstinance.  The young people who participated achieved various levels of success. But for the most part, their intent to be obedient to God seemed sincere and approximately half of them experienced a dramatic impact on their life.

Since July of this year, we have seen approx. 30 more young people come to know Christ. Among them are ten from Kent State University's football team, Rachel Figuli from Brunswick, Lawrence O'Toole and Jim Kelley of Hudson, Darren Tarver of St.V-St. Mary HS., Josh Lenaburg and Jermaine Tripp of Medina HS, and Donteil Lewis of Akron Garfield HS. 

THE 1999 SCHOOL YEAR KICK'OFF
In July, we held autograph sessions at the Chapel Hill Mall in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio and Southpark Mall in Strongsville, Ohio for Corey Fuller and Irv Smith of the Browns. Our displays in the middle of the mall included pictures, brochures, newspaper articles, and newsletters as well as several high school and college athletes who were there specifically to share their testimony and help out. It was a unique sight to see so many new believers unashamedly share their testimony to strangers and classmates alike in such a bold public forum. Irv and Corey in turn spent a great deal of personal time investing in our guys. This included counseling, rides in their cars, and even Corey arranging for one of the guys to talk to Deion Sanders personally by phone.  The example these gentlemen set for our youth was tremendous. It was an incredible weekend that we could go on and on about.

Some of the local athletes that accompanied us for the weekend were Dave Harris (Brunswick HS, Cincinnati U. football), Matt Lehrer, Josh Lancy and Shannon Tisch of Cuyahoga Falls High School, Kyle Mraz (Revere HS, Cedarville College basketball), Andy Shepherd (Revere HS, Miami (O) U. basketball), and Josh Bostick and Jurron Kelley of Kent State University's football team. 

Announcements
Revere High School and former TEAM JAM phenom, Ryan Faulkner married Jamie on June 26, 1999 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Jamie is a Kentucky University graduate and Ryan graduated from Ohio State in only three years. They both now reside in the Cincinnati area as Ryan works on his doctorate in psychology.

Cuyahoga Falls basketball legend, Robbie Eggers, also married on June 26, 1999 to Tiffany Shaub in Indianapolis, Indiana. Both Robbie and Tiffany graduated from Indiana University and they both now live in the Indianapolis area where Rob is in pharmacutical sales and Tiffany is a television reporter.

These were two of the finest, God-centered, beautiful weddings we have ever witnessed.  We commend and congratulate these young people for starting out their lives together in such a phenomenal way.

 Kyle Mraz (Revere HS), headed back to Cedarville College this fall for his senior year. Kyle will be the first TEAM JAM youth, saved through this ministry, to graduate from a Christian College. We first met Kyle in 8th grade.

Summary
These stories are a result of investing in young people through Personal Attention, Spiritual Counsel, Athletic Development and College Assistance. Each of these categories are interwoven. Personal Attention results from making ourselves available at their activities such as school activities, their jobs, and at their homes. These educate us as to their needs. Events that we provide teach them about us. Personal Counsel and Assistance is administered once we learn about their spiritual and social needs; this range includes crisis', survival needs, their relationship with God and direction for their lives. Athletic Development is a tool that earns their trust, develops rapport, and develops their gifts. The individual coaching sessions, team opportunities and assistance with their high school teams help build their confidence and helps us to have more time with them. This in turn leads to providing Assistance in getting them to college. All who are interested are assisted in finding an excellent college that will develop the student academically, athletically, and spiritually - all while the school and government provide generous amounts of aid to practically eliminate all college expense. There are also many times that a student has a great college opportunity but lacks the experience (wisdom) or courage to "seize it". We work them through that process, providing all of these services free of charge.