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General news and information about Soccer Chaplains United including newly formed partnerships, news on the different teams and communities being served, and upcoming events for donors, partners, and communities.

Consider Supporting Soccer Chaplains United this Giving Tuesday

Today is Giving Tuesday — it’s a day of generosity around the US and around the world.

There are a number of ways to support Soccer Chaplains United and our work during this time of year.

#1 — Sign up to make a recurring or one-time gift through PushPay. Click the link below or text “soccerchaplains” to 77977. You can visit our donate page to learn more about our different funds or to make a gift in a different way.

#2 — ColoradoGives is another opportunity to give. Since our non-profit is based in Colorado we are eligible to participate in ColoradoGives Day (Tuesday, December 9). In previous years, we often receive $100-$150 from the incentivized fund which is based on contributions made on that day.

This year, we are hoping to exceed a goal of $15k to help us with our $45k end-of-season need.

Give through PushPay
Make a ColoradoGives Day contribution

Here are some opportunities for donor generosity to be multiplied on ColoradoGives Day:

  • Donate at a certain time (all Times Mountain) on Tuesday, December 9 and if we lead the hour in giving, it could mean an extra $2,000 for us through a sweepstakes format. Our chosen time is 10:00-11:00 pm

There are other fun prizes for donors on ColoradoGives Day such as a pair of SouthWest Airlines ticket vouchers for travel!

The great thing about Soccer Chaplains United is that when you donate — you are actually a part of the team. Donations don’t go to cover some big building somewhere or pay exorbitant salaries — it goes toward supporting people in soccer and a portion of each donation gets sent out into the far-reaches of the earth through our Community Projects.

Soccer Chaplains United is non-profit, 501(c)3 and depends upon the financial support of individual donors and church partners to carry out our work of chaplaincy service across all levels of soccer. Our chaplains are not employed or paid by any of the clubs that we serve. Simply click the PushPay (the big P or give tab) link below to make a secure, online, tax-deductible gift, or mail a donation to Soccer Chaplains United, PO Box 102081, Denver, CO 80250.

Pause a Minute to Peruse Peru: An Update

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Soccer Chaplains United Chaplain Greg Aydt took a few minutes, recently to share an update from this past summer’s trip to Peru. You can see the gear we packed out for Saint Patricks Presbyterian from our previous story. Greg shared the following highlights:

  • A small team from St Patrick Presbyterian Church in Collierville served with Peru Mission in Trujillo, Peru.
  • The team served in the morning at Geneva School, a distinctly Christian school started by Peru Mission to serve the urban poor in that area by helping with ESL, reading, chapel, and PE.
  • Also served in their medical clinic and constructing a building for the school
  • Able to give away all of the soccer gear from SCU’s Community Project
  • Students from 2nd-10th grade were overjoyed and incredibly grateful to receive different pieces of gear from the US
  • It was well deserved as they spent most of their week in PE destroying the gringos in soccer
  • The PE teacher wasn’t sure what to think about these Americans flying all the way to Peru to help out. He was a bit reserved and confused the first day. But as the week went on, he participated more, showed off his soccer skills as a former pro, and was grateful to collaborate with the Americans.
  • The highlight of the week was to give the PE teacher a Memphis 901 FC jersey signed by the entire mission team from St Patrick.
  • These gifts to students and teachers were a great way to build a bond of trust and point them, in a very small way, to the far reaching, overwhelming generosity of our God

When you financially support Soccer Chaplains United a portion of your gift automatically goes to help our community projects and requests. You can give specifically to help cover our costs by making a gift through PushPay — simply select Community Project from the selectable funds. Your financial gift helps us purchase new soccer equipment, sponsor individuals projects and organizations, and to cover associated costs of providing Bibles, soccer equipment, and other outreach tools locally and around the world!

Giving Season begins in advance of ColoradoGives Day!

Soccer Chaplains United, like many Colorado-based non-profits participates in ColoradoGives Day. ColoradoGives Day is part of the ColoradoGives program sponsored by Community First Foundation. Through ColoradoGives.org donors and philanthropic-minded people can support local, Colorado-based non-profits that meet certain criteria. Those nonprofits are then eligible to receive a portion of an incentive fund that adds to the donation total.

Early giving began November 1 which means that all donations made through ColoradoGives.org will be counted toward our December 9 efforts.

Check out our ColoradoGives Page

This Year’s CO GivesDay Goal? $10,000

Last year, we raised just under $5,000. This year, we are hoping to see that number increase. Because of the number of chaplain losses this year and replacement for next year, we’re looking to raise $45,000 in our last quarter of 2025.

Soccer Chaplains United is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization which relies on the generous support of individual donors and church partners to carry out its work of chaplaincy in soccer. 

Thank You For Considering a Gift!

Beside using the ColoradoGives.org site (2% fees) donors can also give a safe, secure, electronic, tax-deductible gift via PushPay by clicking the button below or by texting soccerchaplains to 77977. PushPay charges flat rate fees of 1, 2, and 3% based on ACH, Debit and Credit donation forms respectively. Donors can also mail donations made out to Soccer Chaplains United, PO Box 102081, Denver, CO 80250.

Grace FC El Paso Getting Ready to Kickoff for Fall

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Iglesia Cristiana Bethel in El Paso, Texas is starting a new soccer club as part of the ministry of the church. The club will look to include girls from the ages of 7-11 years old. For many of these girls, they do not have experience playing but they have expressed excitement and a willingness to learn.

Pastor Pablo and Natalie Mata have shared their hopes for seeing this new girls team begin to train, play, and compete in a local league.

We hope to bring them closer to God while they are learning this new skill and grow in favor towards other people, like coaches, teammates, and other club teams. It is a new project for our church, Iglesia Cristiana Bethel, in El Paso. It is part of the work to continue developing to help the community and spread the love of Jesus.

Pablo and Natalie pose with the family in 2024

The church is looking forward to utilizing discipleship moments and seeing the discipline that comes from practicing and being a part of a team sport along with the joy that comes from playing soccer. Specifically, they have requested the following to help the team:

  • Jerseys
  • Soccer Balls
  • Goalkeeper gear
  • Coats/Jackets
  • Equipment for training
  • Nets

When you financially support Soccer Chaplains United a portion of your gift automatically goes to help our community projects and requests. You can give specifically to help cover our costs by making a gift through PushPay — simply select Community Project from the selectable funds. Your financial gift helps us purchase new soccer equipment, sponsor individuals projects and organizations, and to cover associated costs of providing Bibles, soccer equipment, and other outreach tools locally and around the world!

Piña Proud of Work Done in the Valley

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In 2018, I gave Isidro Piña a phone call after a recommendation from Spanish-speaking chaplain, Cesar Duran. Isidro began (in late April) to serve the Rio Grande Valley Toros FC as volunteer chaplain and led the ministry with the team until 2023. I still recall an early phone call with Isidro after he had been introduced to the team in the locker room after a mid-week training session.

These players are so young…they are just like…kids.

Isidro went on to win so many hearts as he served the coaches and the players of the organization. His time included the difficult year of COVID. Isidro led the Spanish-speaking Ash Wednesday service that Soccer Chaplains United produced for 2020 and 2021 when teams were sequestered at times.

Isidro continued to serve until a new opportunity within the United Methodist Church opened. His new role included a move to San Antonio and he travels around to various UMC ministers and encourages and supports them, much like a chaplain to chaplains. He handed the chaplaincy ministry over to EJ Ruiz who had also assumed pastoral duties at the church that Isidro had led for many years. But EJ’s service wasn’t to last very long as RGV Toros FC folded at the end of 2023.

Since moving to San Antonio, Isidro has been helping Soccer Chaplains United with Spanish translation and serving as an adviser on several projects. Hopeful that there might be an opportunity to serve a new team in SA never materialized.

Isidro finishes eight years with Soccer Chaplains United and many athletes still reach out to him today.

One of the guys from the team moved back into the Valley and he called me. ‘Rev, are you in the Valley right now?’ ‘I am…’ ‘Could you come and pray over my new home?’ It was such a privilege that he asked me to come and bless his house. The years of working with the Toros are some of the best ministry moments of my life.

We wish Isidro and Blanca all of God’s best for this next, new chapter!

McDaniel Has Heart for Heartwood, Resigns Defiance Chaplaincy

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Jubal McDaniel has tendered his resignation from his volunteer chaplain role with the Tacoma Defiance and from Soccer Chaplains United. Jubal began serving the Defiance in 2020. The last 6 seasons have watched him grow the ministry toward the team and community in some really neat and exciting ways. 

Jubal not only served as volunteer chaplain to the Defiance, but also played other key roles in the community and for Soccer Chaplains United. He had a direct hand in getting soccer gear for three different community projects including two project in Spokane, WA with Community First in 2024 and 2022 which did work and ministry with refugee resettlement families. Another project in 2023 saw Wilderness Church working with an orphanage in Mexico.

In addition to the Community Projects, Jubal was also key in seeing the placement and support of several new chaplains to Soccer Chaplains United. His additional volunteer work as the West Coast Chaplain Coordinator for Soccer Chaplains United since late 2023 saw him play a key role in helping bring chaplaincy to Ballard FC via Gavin Brand, Spokane Velocity with Russell Branham, Spokane Zephyr FC with Amy Miller, and Central Valley Fuego FC with Geraud Brumfield. He also introduced Tiago Souza to us who helped with Portuguese translation of our 2022 World Cup Devotional.

But more so than all of the above, Jubal had a deep love and care for the athletes, coaches, and staff that he supported through his time with Tacoma Defiance. Some of my favorite stories include him getting a keyboard for an athlete who loved playing piano. Or, the one time he helped get a bicycle for an athlete who was new to Tacoma. Oftentimes, Jubal could be found coordinating with training staff and bringing out electrolyte pops on a warm summer Washington day. Or, simply celebrating someone’s birthday in a meaningful way.

It has been a tremendous five years of serving the Tacoma Defiance and its people. It’s incredible to think back over where I’ve come from, but also to serve in a time where the club underwent some significant growth and changes of its own. It has been one of the greatest honors of my life. I am so thankful for the opportunity…It is extremely hard to say goodbye, but I believe it is what’s best for myself, my family, the club, and the people I care for.

-Jubal, on his final farewell

Last fall, Jubal stepped into a new role leading the restart and revitalization of a church in Covington, WA. His duties now include oversight of a decent size building, a growing congregation, two part-time staff members and several community partnerships. This work and his responsibilities continue to grow, leaving him with less time and capacity to serve the Tacoma Defiance in the way he feels is best for the team.

Bless you in this new endeavor, Jubal. Thanks for all that you’ve done for Tacoma Defiance and for Soccer Chaplains United over the years!

Congress Schedule For Waco Coming Out

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Earlier this year, I learned that my proposed talk on translating the scriptures for sport had been accepted for the 4th Global Congress on Sport and Christianity (GCSC) happening this summer in Waco, Texas at Baylor University’s Truett Seminary. And I recently received an email about where my talk will fit into the conference as a whole. A tentative draft of the schedule has me presenting with three others in a panel titled “Contextual Sport Ministry.”

Presenting alongside of myself, will be friend Xavier Bharath, who has been doing a pioneering work in India. He will speak on a theme of church planting using sports ministry as a vehicle. Two others that are part of the panel I don’t, yet, personally know include Jonny Reid and Scott Jackson. Scott is based in South America and has been ministering in Argentina as a missionary. He founded Vertical Deportes which is primarily a social media platform connecting Latin American athletes to their faith. Jonny Reid is with Christians in Sport (a UK group) and co-authored with Graham Daniels, Spiritual Game Plan, a recent book that looks at sport and faith.

I will look forward to sharing thoughts and reflections from the work in publishing my recent books, The Soccer Psalms and The Football Psalms and soon to be published, Los Salmos del Fútbol.

https://mybook.to/thesoccerpsalms
https://mybook.to/thefootballpsalms-uk

2025 marks the fourth GCSC and the Faith & Sports Institute is proud to host the event at Truett Seminary in collaboration with Sport.Faith.Life, Ridley Hall, the Christian Society for Kinesiology, Leisure, and Sports Studies, wired4sport, and the University of Tennessee’s Sport & Religion Research Alliance. 

This will be a special time, as well, as I have had the privilege of teaching the online section of Soul Care in Sports with Truett Seminary this past semester and I will likely get to meet several of the students face-to-face, while in Waco. I am hoping to raise about $1500 to offset the costs of the conference. If you’d like to make a contribution toward this, you can make a one-time donation via PushPay to the General fund.

Hope Going to Gitombo: Kenyan Village and School Needing Gear

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Wanjiru Mukunga and I went to Denver Seminary together many, many years ago. Formerly a chaplain with Christian Living Communities, we shared some professional development moments and colleagues throughout the years. In 2017, Wanji (known as Mary to many of her American friends) left the comforts of the US and her job here to return to her native Kenya. While in the States, Wanji had been raising money and working to transform the village of Gitombo. Her work was originally known as Project Adopt A Village (PAAV) – Gitombo; but many other ministries have similar titles. Today, Hope Gitombo has seen massive growth since its beginning in 2014!

In 2014, three students formed the first “class” for the small local school. They met inside of a small shack made of iron sheets. Today, PAAV Gitombo School boasts 222 student learners and 45 teachers and staff who meet in 6 buildings. They’ve recently purchased additional land and now have 2 playing fields with football (soccer) being one of the most popular activities amongst the children.

I met with Wanji this past week and offered here soccer gear to take back with her. The struggle is that the school lacks soccer balls (something that we currently lack as well in our inventory). I did share that we might be able to provide some uniforms.

The children, when they go to play against other villages and other teams, they only wear these very small shirts. They don’t have much. They don’t have much at all. They don’t even look like a team. We would love some jerseys that can make the children feel like a team.

While unable to provide soccer balls at the moment, Soccer Chaplains United, through our Community Project program are able to provide some uniforms and gear for the Gitombo children and some of the adult workers. Below are some photos of what I was able to pull together for Wanji to take back with her in July.

Here is a list of the items we were able to provide on short notice (40 lbs of gear):

  • Rapids Academy Jerseys: 23
  • Rapids Shorts: 3
  • Calf Sleeves: 14
  • Lime Green GK Kit (shirt/shorts/socks)
  • Camo Yellow GK Kit (shirt/shorts/socks)
  • Other shorts: 10
  • Other shirts: 20
  • Rain pants: 1
  • T-shirts (s/s): 11
  • T-shirts (l/s): 9
  • Ball pumps: 2
  • Cones

Hope Gitombo also has a large capital campaign that supporters may be interested to learn about. The students and school have grown so much that a secondary school is now needed to see the student complete high school. You can learn more on the Hope Gitombo website.

When you financially support Soccer Chaplains United a portion of your gift automatically goes to help our community projects and requests. You can give specifically to help cover our costs by making a gift through PushPay — simply select Community Project from the selectable funds. Your financial gift helps us purchase new soccer equipment, sponsor individuals projects and organizations, and to cover associated costs of providing Bibles, soccer equipment, and other outreach tools locally and around the world!

Subbing Out: Bailey Concludes West Virginia Chaplaincy Effort

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In late 2022, Josh Bailey reached out to Soccer Chaplains United about what chaplaincy might look like in Charleston, West Virginia. While there was nothing concrete at the time, Josh had noticed the influence of soccer and the number of people that were on the sidelines any given weekend. As a local church pastor, Josh had a heart to care for people. His relationship and mentorship of a couple of players with West Virginia United (a USL 2 side) prompted him to reach out and explore our process.

Josh joined Soccer Chaplains United in February of 2023, but after a 2-year season of vision and effort, Josh has decided to sub out and conclude his volunteer role, stepping away from attempting to establish a soccer chaplaincy presence in order to devote more time to some other ministry opportunities. Though the work didn’t gain long-term traction, Bailey’s heart and hope for caring for players, coaches, and staff still continues. He’s left the door open to return should a viable interest re-emerge in the future.

“It was always about presence,” Bailey shared in reflection. “Being available for conversation, support, and prayer—even informally—was meaningful, even if the chaplaincy didn’t take permanent root. Some of the other takeaways for me include the education and training and the culture of SCU — it’s a special group to be part of.”

While Josh and Soccer Chaplains United wasn’t able to establish a sustained chaplaincy, his presence brought a pastoral heart to the game, even in small ways. He gave many one-on-one encouragements as he discipled one particular athlete. Multiple attempts, too, to create a presence with the local university team were part of the vision with the strong connection between West Virginia United.

“Sometimes chaplaincy is about planting seeds,” said Rev. Brad Kenney, founder of Soccer Chaplains United. “Josh gave it a faithful try in a tough environment. Not every effort leads to permanence, but every effort matters. USL 2 is a difficult environment because there is so much change, so often.”

Bailey steps away with gratitude—for the opportunities he had, the conversations shared, and the vision he carried. Soccer Chaplains United continues to be available to develop soccer chaplaincy service in the region should interest arise again.

Packing for Peru: Pluses and Minuses

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For the recent Community Project Request from Saint Patrick’s as they prepare to head to Peru, we initiated a new process — an online, pictorial catalogue that allows teams to “shop” and “select” gear. And, with all new kinds of processes, there were a few setbacks but this week, I was able to pack out the gear for Peru. Beyond a few technical difficulties with the form and processing, Greg Aydt and the team did fill out a form with a number of item; however, their listed items only equated to one 50 lb. bag! 🤪

In total, we were able to do 2 bags — one 50 lb. and the other 48 lb. The pictures below give a little bit of a sense of some of the items that we were able to fulfill for the team.

When you financially support Soccer Chaplains United a portion of your gift automatically goes to help our community projects and requests. You can give specifically to help cover our costs by making a gift through PushPay — simply select Community Project from the selectable funds. Your financial gift helps us purchase new soccer equipment, sponsor individuals projects and organizations, and to cover associated costs of providing Bibles, soccer equipment, and other outreach tools locally and around the world!

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