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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.

Cheesman Climbing the Chaplaincy Summit

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Soccer Chaplains United is excited to welcome Lis Cheesman as the inaugural volunteer co-chaplain for NWSL’s Denver Summit FC which is begins play in 2026. Cheesman will serve as a co-chaplain and brings several years of pastoral experience, a deep love and many years of experience in soccer, as well as a passion for people into this new role.

This role feels like the kind of assignment you don’t force, it’s the natural convergence of what you’ve carried for years. I’ve loved the game for a long time, and I’ve also loved helping people become whole. Chaplaincy lets those loves live in the same place…My hope as chaplain is to be a steady, non-anxious presence, someone who cares for the whole person. I want players and staff to know they’re seen, supported, and not alone, on the best days and the hardest ones.

Cheesman, on her hopes upon entering this new role as volunteer chaplain

Lis and I (Brad) met a number of years ago through my time as a volunteer chaplain with Valor Christian High School. Lis was a coach for the girls soccer program and we met and worked together during the combined boys and girls soccer program mission trip to Costa Rica in 2018.

Lis (neon green top with white headband) and I (back middle, navy blue) pose with the students and leaders for the Valor Christian High School 2018 mission trip in Costa Rica.

Lis’ played soccer for Gordon College in Wenham, MA and upon graduation she served as the assistant Women’s Soccer Coach for the team from 2012-2013. Upon moving to Colorado to attend Denver Seminary, Lis was a volunteer assistant coach for Colorado Christian University’s women’s soccer team (2014-2015) and also a coach with Valor for seven seasons (2014-2021).

Coaching shaped me. It taught me how to lead with clarity and care, and it taught me that culture matters. I’ve seen how one healthy voice, one safe relationship, can change the way someone carries pressure. I hope to provide this for staff and players as I step into this new role.

During this same time, Lis was a pastoral resident at Southeast Christian Church before working to plant Cross Culture Church. She became a campus pastor at LifeGate Denver in 2020 and her role and work with the church has continued to expand ever since.

I love the local church, and I love this city. For me, this is simply another way to serve Denver, to bring encouragement and care into the places where people spend so much of their life and energy.

Cheesman, on her love for the church and people in soccer

We are excited to welcome Lis to the team. Soccer Chaplains United asks our supporters to pray for her work with the team beginning their inaugural season this year.

Soccer Chaplains United is non-profit, 501(c)3 and depends upon the financial support of individuals and partners to carry out our work of discovering, developing, and deploying chaplains across all levels of soccer. Please consider making a contribution today. Click the PushPay link below to make a gift or check out our Donate page for different giving options.

Kicking Off Hope: CCPC returns to Iglesia Maranatha, Juárez

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For nearly four decades, Cherry Creek Presbyterian Church (CCPC) in Denver, Colorado has carried a simple conviction: friendship in Christ is meant to be lived across borders. This spring break, that conviction is taking shape once again as a multigenerational team prepares to travel to Juárez, Mexico, to serve alongside their longtime partners at Iglesia Maranatha Presbyteriano.

The team departs Saturday, beginning a week of ministry in the Felipe Ángeles neighborhood. Their days will be full—hosting Vacation Bible School for neighborhood children, helping with work projects around the church, and spending time with families who have become dear friends over the years. Laughter, prayer, meals, and shared stories will fill the spaces between the work.

This trip carries special meaning. The last large group from CCPC visited in October of 2022. In the years since, the church chose a different rhythm of care because of the health struggles of Pastor Jorge. Rather than sending large teams, smaller groups traveled between 2023 and 2025 simply to visit, encourage, pray, and stand alongside him and the congregation during seasons of illness and adversity. Those quiet visits deepened a relationship already rooted in 38 years of shared faith.

Now, the church is returning and for the first time during spring break team instead of the usual fall trip. It will be the 29th family mission visit in the partnership’s long history—a reminder that faithful relationships are built one trip, one prayer, and one act of service at a time.

This year, the team will also carry with them soccer gear and equipment. In a neighborhood where soccer is a common language, these simple tools will help Iglesia Maranatha continue its ministry with children and families.

Because sometimes a soccer ball can open a door—
and a long friendship can keep it open. ⚽

Members of the 2021 CCPC Team pause from playing soccer in the park to take a photo with church members.

Remember, when you 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 from the selectable funds. Your financial gift helps us purchase new soccer equipment, sponsor individuals or organizations, and cover associated costs of providing Bibles, soccer equipment, and other outreach tools locally and around the world!

New Life Chaplaincy Makes Community Project Request

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Joseph Levi is the founder of a non-profit group in Nairobi, Kenya called the Uhuru Sports Club. The aim of the non profit and the Uhuru Youth Soccer (UYS) is to offer opportunities to the disadvantaged youth of Kenya urban slums through football (soccer) and education. The club reaches out to many orphaned boys and girls in Nairobi to help them play and learn, and also to share about Jesus. Recently, Joseph reached out to us to ask for help.

Dear Soccer Chaplains,
I am writing on behalf of our chaplaincy team based in Nairobi, Kenya, to formally request your support for our youth outreach program. We have long admired your work and have been significantly encouraged by the impact you are making.
Our community utilizes soccer as a primary vehicle to foster community among local youth and provide them with spiritual guidance and a path toward salvation. While our program has seen substantial growth, we currently face a shortage of essential equipment and
resources.
To continue our soccer team effectively, we are seeking donations of the following items, whether new or gently used:

Soccer balls and uniforms.
Training equipment, including cones and cleats.

Copies of the Holy Bible for our youth participants.

Your generous contribution would play a vital role in keeping our youth engaged and supported. We would be honored to discuss how we might acknowledge your support within our team and community.
Thank you for your time and for considering this request. We look forward to the possibility of partnering with you.
Sincerely,
Joseph

Joseph and his group are soon to head to a remote part of Ashura, Tanzania in April to do further mission work. We are currently looking at different options to try and get any soccer gear or equipment to them.

If you, someone you know, or a group that you know about it heading to or through Nairobi, Kenya and are able to take a few bags of soccer gear from Denver, Colorado, USA please reach out to us via email at info@soccerchaplainsunited.org.

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!

Grace FC El Paso Community Project Update

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Iglesia Cristiana Bethel in El Paso, Texas received soccer gear last fall as part of their community project request. We were able to send two bags with about 50 lbs, gear including several winter coats and pants, jerseys, shin guards, and several compression shirts and shorts.

Pastor Pablo and Natalie Mata who have helped lead and develop the team for the past few months and they recently shared a few photos and videos with us including the one below. It’s amazing to see the joy on the children’s faces!

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!

Federal Tax Policy Changes for 2026 Impact Charitable Giving

black Android smartphone near ballpoint pen, tax withholding certificate on top of white folder

There are several changes that have come for 2026 that will have an impact on donor giving for 2026 and we want to share some of these with you as you make plans for your charitable gifts this year! Please note: this should not be considered tax advice and you ought to consult with someone to better understand these impacts to your giving for the year.

Universal Charitable Deduction (UCD)

Back for 2026, anyone filing a tax return will be able to deduct $1,000 (single filer) or $2,000 (married, filing jointly). The UCD was part of tax policy until about 1986. It returned during COVID for a couple years where someone could deduct $300/$600 (respective of single or married filing jointly) even if a person didn’t itemize. Again, this applies to all donors at any level and the amounts are higher for 2026.

New “Ceiling” and new “Floor” as it relates to charitable giving

The way that the new ceiling works is that anyone who is at the top federal tax rate of 37% can now itemize as if they were at the 35% level. The floor means that people who are not in that 37% cannot deduct the first 1/2 of 1% of their adjusted gross income (AGI). Essentially, the ceiling and floor only apply to individuals making around $650k and married filing jointly at $725k.

2025’s SALT (State and Local Tax) Deduction

Lat year, there was a change to the State and Local Tax deduction whereby in 2017 the limit went down to $10,000. That limit changed last year to $40,000. The Fundraising School’s research shows that charitable giving is strongly linked to itemization. Essentially, the more people are able to itemize, the more that they give to charities.

Business Sector Giving

There are additional rule changes to business sector giving. Soccer Chaplains United does not currently have business sector donors, so suffice it to say if this area is a topic of interest, you might want to research it.

A helpful podcast that is less than 15 minutes long can be found here and most of this information in this post has been derived from this podcast.

Thank you as you consider your donations and support of Soccer Chaplains United for 2026. Please let us know if you have any questions.

You can give a safe, secure, electronic, tax-deductible gift via PushPay by clicking the button below or by texting soccerchaplains to 77977. You can also mail a donation to Soccer Chaplains United, PO Box 102081, Denver, CO 80250. Soccer Chaplains United is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization

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Keizer joins the Board; Brings USL Experience and Faith-Driven Leadership

I first met Simon Keizer in 2009 in a church in Dallas, Texas. A mutual friend, Jon Burns, the volunteer chaplain for Sunderland, called a number of his friends and connections to Dallas to share that God had placed a vision for creating a new ministry called Lionsraw. Simon served as the global engagement manager for the charity in 2010 for the FIFA World Cup in South Africa.

Simon’s journey though in combining life, ministry, and football didn’t begin in 2010, though, it began much earlier. Born in England, Simon grew up bouncing a football at an all-boys prep school. As a young teenager, his world drastically changed as he moved to the U.S.. His unchurched, ethnically Jewish family moved from Berkhamsted, England to Arlington, Texas and he launched into his new life.

America was different. Texas was different. For Simon, he saw that church had a place in many of his friend’s lives. He recalls God grabbing his heart over a period of time, leading to a testimony service following youth camp on a Sunday night where returning church youth were sharing and affirming their faith in Jesus.. One of those campers was Simon’s brother. And at the tender age of 13, he gave his life to Jesus.

Simon surrendered his life to ministry at age 17 and believed that he would lead a worship ministry, but God had other plans. He ended up as a walk-on Division III soccer player but ended up getting hurt and stepping into coaching and pastoring. This led to him coaching a private school varsity team for  13 years and working to minister to the families and students throughout his many years. That experience led him to scale more regional camps and clinics in the North Texas region. Simon then went on a mission trip in 2008 and met Jon who invited him to that 20010 meeting.

Simon pursued several relationships and built on his relationship with FC Dallas and Lionsraw to continue growing legacy ministries long after the World Cup was over. This ignited his passion to see soccer used as a vehicle for change in the world. From 1997  to 2017, he served on pastoral staff before spending the last several years in business, with a brief stint in Virginia Beach before returning back to Texas. Fast forward a few years and in 2022, he began laying the groundwork for the USL Texoma FC franchise which successfully launched into League 1 in 2025.

Simon and wife Heather pose during the launch event in 2024 for Texoma FC. Texoma played in 2025 in League 1 and will be a USL 2 team in 2026.

My love for the sport is second, really third, in what’s most important. For me, it’s paramount to love and follow Jesus…my second is my family…but I’ve seen soccer, specifically I like to say ‘the ball,’ take us places where we couldn’t go in any other fashion. I’ve seen it break down language barriers working with Zulu tribal kids and so many other places around the globe…

Simon, on the place of his passion for soccer

Simon finds himself leading in both contexts as a consultant for a soccer franchise, and as an executive leader in a church as a sort of a “Pastor of Entrepreneurship. He is father of four children and has been married to his wife, Heather, since 2003.

If you would like to learn more about Soccer Chaplains United and opportunities to serve on our Board of Directors, please send an email to info@soccerchaplainsunited.org.

Soccer Chaplains United is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that relies on the generous support of individual donors and church partners to carry out its work of chaplaincy in soccer. You can give a safe, secure, electronic, tax-deductible gift via PushPay by clicking the button below or by texting soccerchaplains to 77977. You can also mail a donation to Soccer Chaplains United, PO Box 102081, Denver, CO 80250.

It’s ColoradoGives Day! Help Support Soccer Chaplains United!

ColoradoGives represents a helpful opportunity to give. Since our non-profit is based in Colorado we are eligible to participate in ColoradoGives Day (today, December 9). This year, we are hoping to raise $15k during this day to help us with our end-of-year fundraising.

Make a ColoradoGives Day contribution

There are some opportunities for donor generosity to be multiplied on ColoradoGives Day. One such way is through an incentivized “Power Hour.” Non-profits who donate during a certain hour can be granted an extra $2,000!

We are encouraging our donors to give between 10:00-11:00 pm if it’s convenient for them to.

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. To give in so other ways, simply click the PushPay logo below to make a secure, online, tax-deductible gift, or mail a donation to Soccer Chaplains United, PO Box 102081, Denver, CO 80250.

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.

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