Spring 2023 Update
Hello friends and supporters…
Last fall was our busiest season yet in the ministry of FSI here in Michigan. We led two international teams - one to Guatemala and one to Honduras - with a "Pack the House" event in the middle, packing over 50,000 meals with CU students for IDES for Ukraine. During this time, we experienced incredible amounts of engagement in outreach and discipleship opportunities, living in the mission of being the hands, heart, and hope of Jesus through sports. We were able to encourage and deepen our partnership relationships with IDES, Hands of Grace Guatemala, and our own FSI team in Honduras.
We slowed down on travel this winter to spend time directly with discipleship on campus and follow up with the groups we worked with in the fall. Alissa and I continue to serve Relevant Church in Grand Rapids - I am a volunteer Teaching Pastor, and Alissa works in the children’s ministry. Together, we lead a Re-Engage Marriage group of five couples. We are partnering with the church on April 14th, as I will lead a Passover Seder through FSI-published Passover Haggadah. If you are interested, you can find it on Amazon here. Both Jim and I lead Passover Seders, as we deeply desire to connect those we disciple to the Hebrew roots of the faith. We have been hosting teams and are working hard on new partnerships and summer plans.
CU Women’s road Trip during the WHAC Tournament
Alissa and I joined the Women’s basketball team on a couple of road trips as they pushed into the postseason and hosted a dinner and devotional time with them towards the end of the season. We also built deeper relationships with the Men’s volleyball team through Josiah, who worked with the team. Again, we have built relationships with the coaches and athletes, traveled on their overnight road trip in the tournament, and hosted them on April 16th for their final dinner gathering of the year. I will work closely with the coach for future ministry opportunities with this team next year.
Plenty Rocks Ranch, Cody WY
We are working with Cornerstone to assist in two leadership trips for the summer. Jim King assists the CU athletic director, Aaron Sagraves, in a leadership development trip to Glen, Montana. On this trip, over 30 athletes and coaches will ascend the Gainey Ranch to go through our FSI leadership devotional. At nearly the same time, I will lead another small group of student leaders from various capacities on campus in Cody, Wyoming, at our newfound partner ranch, Plenty Rocks. This ranch is nestled in the mountains halfway between Cody, Wyoming, and the Eastern gate of Yellowstone. There, they will hike, whitewater raft, and build leadership/discipleship skills through “Empower to Lead.” Kelsey Richards, our new intern, will assist me along with FSI board member and friend Scott Huckaby. We are in the early stages of developing leadership trips at the UP of Michigan. If you would like to donate towards this trip you can do as at the following link: Click Here.
ALEC AND EMILY
With all of this, a lot of work goes into logistics, communication, bookkeeping, and organizational leadership. We have relied heavily this year on our student ministry coordinator, Alec Papale. Alec helped lead the PACK the House initiative and campus community events and assisted me on last summer's Cody leadership trip and the December Honduras trip. Alec has been a vital part of the ministry, out front in service and community and behind the scenes in booking and logistics. Alec recently got engaged to Emily Lupu-Vieru, and they plan to get married in March 2024. Alec graduates from Cornerstone in May and plans to return to Chicago in the immediate future. They will continue to be a part of FSI, and we look forward to what God has in store for them and through them in the future! Alissa and I will lead them in premarital counseling and officiate the wedding. We share this detail with you because our internship program is at the heart of what we are about. It is easy to get caught up in numbers, but we are focused heavily on using FSI to disciple leaders. Our first intern, Joel Van Dyke continues to serve in ministry to refugees here in Grand Rapids. We have added Kelsey Richards to the team as the newest student intern. She has jumped in full force, helping us get our devotionals and Passover Haggadah on Amazon, updating and managing our website, and will assist Matt this summer in Cody. Kelsey has a heart for the Lord, and we are excited to see her deepen her role with FSI in the coming year. You can learn more about Kelsey in her bio below!
Meet Kelsey:
Hi, my name is Kelsey Richards and I am finishing up my junior year at Cornerstone University. I play JV basketball and am the Spiritual Leader for the CU women's varsity basketball team. I am studying to be a high school English teacher. Even though I do not need this internship with Friendship Sports International, I am still pursuing one out of the goal to obtain more experience through the ministry field. My purpose in this life that God has given me is to not just teach students English content. He has given me this life to help grow His Kingdom, which I believe is through helping the younger generation. Having this internship will help me understand how a ministry works and I will bring those skills into how I teach.
From L to R: Alec Papale, Matt Wallace, Jim King, Kelsey Richards
We share this with you because we are starting a fundraising campaign for our Leadership/Internship program. Pouring into these student leaders, empowering them to lead and serve in their areas of giftedness, and mentoring them towards lifelong apprenticeship with Jesus is central to what we are about. Our interns are who we invest the most direct time and energy with. However, we have no budget to invest in them. We aim to increase our donations by $2,500 in our general fund to use directly with interns. If you feel compelled to give towards this campaign, you can give online (Click Here) or go on our website, click donate and designate it to “internships,” or send a check to FSI and write “internships” in the memo. We are grateful to those who financially support all we do and are prayerfully asking God to grow our ability to pour into our interns.
As you can see, our ministry goes beyond the sports team world and focuses heavily on what we describe as “Apprenticeship with Jesus.” Our trips and ministry are not just for college sports teams! Do you have a group interested in going out west or up north? Are you interested in our leadership materials? Let us know how we can partner with you!
Shalom,
Matt
UPCOMING EVENTS:
4/14 - PASSOVER SEDER
4/16 - CU MENS VOLLEYBALL DINNER AND GATHERING
5/? Potential IDES Trip
7/13-7/19 YELLOWSTONE LEADERSHIP TRIP - Plenty Rocks Ranch - Cody WY
7/15-7/22 - CU Athletics Trip to Glenn Montana