COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. /Christian Newswire/ — Excited fans on both sides of the Atlantic will gather to watch the Ghana-U.S. World Cup soccer match on Saturday. Ghana, the final African team remaining in the World Cup, beat the U.S. team 2-0 in the 2006 games and hopes to repeat history.

Is the World Cup a [...]]]> COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. /Christian Newswire/ — Excited fans on both sides of the Atlantic will gather to watch the Ghana-U.S. World Cup soccer match on Saturday. Ghana, the final African team remaining in the World Cup, beat the U.S. team 2-0 in the 2006 games and hopes to repeat history.

Is the World Cup a big deal? You bet. But soccer games and mini-tournaments throughout Africa, although less-well-attended, could have a far greater and lasting impact.

Biblica is partnering with international soccer ministry Ubabalo eAfrica to bring 1,000 disadvantaged children and teens the excitement and fun of their own soccer tournaments, along with the gospel message and valuable character-building lessons. Biblica is also conducting soccer ministry with another 14,000 children and teens in Gambia, Kenya, Liberia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and South Africa.

World Cup fanaticism runs deep and wide, with children and adults alike cheering on home teams for what is arguably the world’s most popular sport. With South Africa hosting the immensely popular games, children in many African nations have been given extended school holidays. Soccer ministry gives kids exercise, a constructive way to use out-of-classroom time, and access to God’s Word and character-building lessons. Biblica provides the soccer balls, Scripture resources, and training for volunteer coaches.

In Kenya, Biblica and Ubabalo soccer ministry is bringing Muslims and Christians together for games and the gospel message. In Senegal, kids from rival youth gangs put aside longstanding hostilities and learn to cooperate and work together. In South Africa, youth in impoverished rural areas are gathering to play soccer and staying for Biblica’s Scripture-based HIV/AIDS prevention programs and discussion groups.

Lives changed, lives saved, the gospel proclaimed and received. It’s a winning combination for everyone.

About Biblica
Celebrating more than 200 years in ministry, Biblica provides God’s Word to people through translation, publishing, and Bible engagement. Biblica’s ministry extends worldwide, with outreach in 55 countries. Biblica has translated the Bible in more than 100 languages and is the translation sponsor and ministry publisher of the New International Version® (NIV®) of the Bible, the most widely read and trusted contemporary English translation. Through its worldwide reach, Biblica engages people with God’s Word so lives are transformed through a relationship with Jesus Christ. For more information, visit www.Biblica.com.

USATF Media has not responded to emails asking for details on why a press pass for the USA Championships was denied. The meet will [...]]]> MADISON, Wisc. /Christian Newswire/ — For the first time in eight years, USA Track and Field (USATF) has denied Steve McConkey, President of 4 WINDS, a press pass to the USA Championships.

USATF Media has not responded to emails asking for details on why a press pass for the USA Championships was denied. The meet will be held in Des Moines, Iowa on June 23-27.

Recently, 4 WINDS worked on the following:

4 WINDS put 27 USA athlete testimonies into the underground Chinese church, 100 million strong, before and during the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Four Olympians who had testimonies distributed into the underground church won 3 golds and 2 silvers. Only two of those athletes were predicted to win medals. All athletes were updated periodically on the status of their testimonies months before and during the Olympics. Only one athlete complained and that athlete’s testimony was removed immediately.

Initially, the testimonies of the athletes were on the ministry website. They were free to be used by Christians throughout the world. Three Christian organizations asked to take them into China. 4 WINDS allowed all organizations or youth groups to use the testimonies. Some of the testimonies are currently on the BeyondTheUltimate.org site sponsored by Athletes in Action.

Also, Christian testimonies of athletes were given to various publications throughout the world for eight years. 4 WINDS has never charged money for the testimonies. Last month, 4 WINDS provided a major Christian publication with 1972 800m gold medalist Dave Wottle’s testimony.

In 2003, ChristianInvestigator.com, the news-apologetics website of 4 WINDS, was the only organization that protested the IOC decision to allow transgender athletes in the Olympics. The debate was re-ignited after Caster Semenya (South Africa) won the 2009 World Championships 800m for women. The case is currently being decided by the International Association of Athletic Federations.

During fall 2009, ChristianInvestigator.com protested that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) was working closely with the United Nations (UN) in promoting political causes, after the UN gave the IOC observer status. During that time, the IOC urged athletes to speak up for global warming despite questionable science practices. Again, ChristianInvestigator.com was the only organization that protested. The IOC should be neutral in politics, but history shows this has not always been the case.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. /Christian Newswire/ — Proving that space flight is not the highest calling for a pilot, astronaut Patrick Forrester is taking a bit of missionary history onboard space shuttle “Discovery,” which is scheduled for liftoff from Kennedy Space Center in the early morning hours of Aug. 25. The aim of [...]]]>

Astronaut Patrick Forrester

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. /Christian Newswire/ — Proving that space flight is not the highest calling for a pilot, astronaut Patrick Forrester is taking a bit of missionary history onboard space shuttle “Discovery,” which is scheduled for liftoff from Kennedy Space Center in the early morning hours of Aug. 25. The aim of the two-week orbital mission is to equip the International Space Station.

The item comes from martyred missionary pilot Nate Saint’s Piper PA-14, which is on display at the headquarters of MAF (Mission Aviation Fellowship) in Nampa, Idaho. Saint and four other missionaries were martyred on a sandbar in Ecuador on Jan. 8, 1956, by a tribe of Waodani Indians.

The incident sparked international news coverage and renewed interest in missionary service. Several of the tribesmen that killed Saint and the others were later converted to Christianity by relatives of the slain missionaries.

“Bringing attention to and renewing interest in missions would be a great result of this experience,” said Forrester, who was born in El Paso, Texas, the year after the martyrdoms. “My deepest intent is to honor Nate Saint, the Saint family and all missionaries around the world.”

The piece is from the Piper’s battery box and has received approval for the flight from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) after conforming to strict size and weight restrictions.

Forrester, who will be making his third shuttle flight, has logged more than 4,500 hours in more than 50 different aircraft and has been with NASA 16 years. In addition to his time at NASA, he spent over 26 years as an Army aviator. Yet his dream has been to assist with the high calling of missionary aviation.

“I’ve always had a heart for missions,” Forrester said. “When I visualize what I might do after I end my career at NASA, always in the back of my mind is going into the mission field in some way. If I could go tomorrow and be a pilot with an organization like MAF, I think that’s what I’d do.”

Whether you are an astronaut, a missionary or something else, Forrester has a simple approach to discovering what career journey you should take. “There are so many needs out there,” Forrester said. “People need to figure out where their passion and their talents intersect with God’s plan for the world.”

Forrester heard about Saint and the other four missionary martyrs while attending a Steven Curtis Chapman concert. “He told the story of the missionaries who had gone down and had lost their lives,” Forrester recalled. “That story just fascinated me, and through that I heard of the book ‘Through the Gates of Splendor.’ That’s when I really first understood about MAF.”

Forrester asked MAF to provide a part of Saint’s plane for the shuttle mission. When the mission is completed, Forrester will return the piece to MAF, providing a certificate confirming its presence on the space flight. MAF plans to display the battery box part and certificate at its headquarters. Forrester noted that Saint “could have never imagined that we would have the opportunity to take it to a space station.”

As for himself, Forrester sees missions in his career flight plan. “We are all called to serve God in some manner,” Forrester said. “I have had the opportunity to participate in several short-term mission trips to Uganda, Canada, Puerto Rico and South Africa. Each time I have developed a heart for the people we served. I believe my wife and I will continue to serve in the mission field for the rest of our lives – whether it is at home or overseas, short-term or full-time.”

Founded in the U.S. in 1945, MAF (www.maf.org) missionary teams of aviation, communications, technology and education specialists overcome barriers in remote areas, transform lives and build God’s Kingdom by enabling the work of more than 1,000 organizations in isolated areas of the world. With its fleet of 130 bush aircraft, MAF serves in 55 countries, with an average of 242 flights daily across Africa, Asia, Eurasia and Latin America. MAF pilots transport missionaries, medical personnel, medicines and relief supplies, as well as conduct thousands of emergency medical evacuations in remote areas. MAF also provides telecommunications services, such as satellite Internet access, high frequency radios, electronic mail and other wireless systems.