Chase Pami - US Olympic Wrestling

Watch a great video of Chase Pami as he talks about the upcoming Olympic Trials and his training. Chase is part of the Bible Study at the Olympic Training Center!!

Devotional #1

Thought it would be fun to start an online devotional as part of our blog. It is great way for people to share their insights and learn more about God's word. Here is an example....

James 4:17 "So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin."

I have had the pleasure to meet with a man, Ross from our church, each week for breakfast to learn from him and go through the book The Good and Beautiful Life by James Bryan Smith. One of the many pieces of wisdom I have picked up from this time with Ross is the phrase "Do what is right and let God take care of the rest!"

This phrase has changed the way I look at everything from life, marriage, even to wrestling. All I am asked to do is what God is calling me to do....the right thing! Such as: Should I make this or that purchase? As a coach and competitor am I  doing what is ethical and right? How should I treat this or that person? How should I handle a situation? All of these can be answered by doing what is right, they may not have the most positive "worldly" outcome, but God is in charge and the world is under his control. He will work things out for us!

Wrestling is growing on the western coast of Africa

From CNN

Dakar, Senegal (CNN) -- In most of Africa, football reigns supreme among sports, but in Senegal wrestling challenges it for popularity. It provides entertainment and exercise, and offers young men dreams of fame and fortune.

Wrestling's popularity in Senegal makes it big business. For the sport's superstars the rewards can be huge, with the biggest names earning up to $200,000 per contest. In a country where unemployment is pushing 50%, some young men see it as a way out of poverty.

Gris Bordeaux is a star in Senegal, a wrestling champion who also teaches at a wrestling school in the capital Dakar.

He says wrestling is a mental, as well as physical, discipline and that reaching the top of his profession takes dedication.

"It's all about making sacrifices," says Bordeaux. "It requires training and meditation; your mindset is important. You have to educate yourself well.

"Not all wrestlers get to realize their dreams, because on the bigger level it is few that get to where I am. You need to be focused on the sport -- like over 5,000 wrestlers you will get only 10 that make it."

See also: Senegal island exposes horrors of the slave trade

Bordeaux credits wrestling with changing his life, bringing him success and wealth.

"What I do know is that it has given me a lot of opportunities," he says. "It has opened doors for me because I am able to take care of myself and my family and especially to help the young people in the community."

It's perhaps a desire to emulate the likes of Bordeaux -- as well as a desire to keep fit -- that motivates young Senegalese men to work out on the beaches of Dakar.

Wrestlers fight to unite world's newest nation

Lacking the money to use a proper gym, some men have built a makeshift gym of their own. On the city's public beaches they have set up workout benches, using whatever materials they can -- be it car tires or wheel rims loaded with rocks to make them heavier.

Some of those training at Bordeaux's school and pumping iron on the beach may one day make it onto the professional wrestling circuit, earning the right to wear the wrestler's traditional pre-fight regalia.

Bordeaux describes the costumes as art. He says: "The way we dress is to show harmony -- we dress for the fight and we become different. When we wear the full attire for a fight, you won't recognize me!"

To the South, Ohio, and congrats to Burak Boys

Exciting news we are on our last 10% of support and have just booked tickets to what we are hoping is our last big support trip to Texas and Oklahoma March 20th to the 29th, and Ohio raising funds and looking at housing from March 29th to April 3rd. Please be praying for the details of the trip, that we could find people to meet with who are open to the possibility of partnering with us, AND that we would be able to get an idea of where God would have us live in or near Xenia, Ohio and the AIA HQ!!!




Also congrats to both Gabe and Micah Burak(son's of Steve Burak AIA Wrestling Camp Director)

who qualified for the NCAA tournament in St. Louis March 15th to 17th. Both boys were a match away from All-American status last year and we are praying for strength and that they would continue to honor God as the compete. They are such great examples!

Northern Colorado wrestler's Faith is key to his drive

"Faith" is the word that best describes UNC senior wrestler Gabe Burak.

Burak, who won three Colorado high school state championships at Coronado High School in Colorado Springs, transferred to the University of Northern Colorado for his fifth and final year of wrestling from the University of Pennsylvania, and the move influenced the Bears' wrestling room from day one.

"Gabe is a quality guy," UNC head coach Ben Cherrington said. "He practices what he preaches in every walk of life. That's the type of person you need in a leadership role. We are very fortunate to have him on our team, even just for one year. He has made a huge impact on our young guys."

Redshirt freshman Charlie McMartin, Burak's roommate, said Burak challenges people around him to have big goals.

Burak, who was raised with a strong faith in God, has applied that faith to every facet of life, fueling the fire that propels him to succeed. Belief is one thing that Burak said will always sit inside him.

"My faith is the most important thing in my life," Burak said. "It allowed me to seek and guide every aspect of my life."

Burak has gone 19-2 for the Bears this season, which is not surprising considering how athletic his family is.

His father wrestled at Muhlenberg College in Pennsylvania, his mother was a gymnast at the University of Minnesota and his two little brothers both wrestle. A devout religious family, the Buraks were taught to know God personally. Burak attributes his successes in life and athletics to the Lord.

His teammates and peers easily notice that belief.

"Gabe is a guy who cares a lot about people," McMartin said. "The qualities of the people around him are enhanced when he is around them. He doesn't domineer or overshadow them but encourages them to be who they are."

With teammates and coaches, and much of his family and friends, watching, it is difficult for Burak to please everyone, although he said would like to. But Burak said he looks to please more than just them.

"When you're just living to serve and please those around you, if no one is watching then you might not give your best," he said. "I still struggle with that, but I know that God is with me wherever I'm at, so I want to seek to give my very best, to have a passion, whether that's here in the wrestling room, doing school, whatever area it's in, to do my very best that is done to the Lord. As I'm doing that, I do hope that others see a difference and it affects my teammates."

Burak will look to earn All-American honors at the end of this season, a distinction he's fallen just short of in years past. Cherrington found himself in the same position as Burak at Boise State but managed to earn the status in his senior year. Burak looks to follow in Cherrington's footsteps.

"This is his last chance, and he is going to throw all the cards on the table," Cherrington said.

With high goals for not only himself but also everyone around him, Burak heads into the upcoming Western Wrestling Conference Championships with few worries.

"He's is not a guy that is afraid, or (shies) away from the hard things in life," McMartin said. "He'll face those head on.

Oregon State Wrestling Tournament

This weekend I had the pleasure of attending the Wrestling State Championships inside Portland's Memorial Coliseum. The state tournament is filled with peaks and valleys as young men, coaches, and families spend 2 days battling it out to see who is the best in the state. I had the pleasure of watching some young men I have know since they were in diapers compete, as well as a few of the guys I have been able to coach the last 3 years. It is hard to see young men lose after years of hard work and not accomplish their goals. I saw coaches with broken noses, cauliflower ears, and broad shoulders visibly moved when their athletes won, and shed tears with them as they lost. Wrestling is unlike any other sport, coaches and wrestlers bond in ways that are often hard to describe, shedding blood, sweat and tears for 4 years or more together.

As I watched this amazing event, I couldn’t help but think(with some great advice from my wife) of what God sees as all this goes on. I think God sees a field ripe for the harvest as we talked about in our news letter last June. I was able to talk with wrestlers and coaches alike about God’s love for them, about God’s plan for them, and about what God is doing through the sport of wrestling. One conversation was with a coach from Hillsboro high school who mentioned a former wrestler now competing at North Idaho(NIC) Junior College who was the first of his family to go to college and needed to leave town to get away from the area to break some friendships that were not having a positive effect on his life. I don’t think either the coach or the wrestler have a relationship with Christ, but I was able to offer 2 resources to him and his wrestler. One is a church in Coeur de Lane(where NIC is located) whose head pastor is a former All-American, and the other was Trevor Prangley a wrestler who is featured in our AIA DVD(and a past newsletter!) who lives and owns a gym there in town. Praying that this young man will take advantages of these opportunities and the Lord would be able to use them in his life.

There were so many, many more conversations from this weekend I would love to share. It offered me yet another glimpse of how God is using wrestling, and how we can be a small part of it. It is exciting that God loves us and reaches out to us in personal ways even through a sport such as wrestling! THANK YOU again for all your love, prayers, partnerships, and support in this journey. We are on the final 10% of support and are excited for what is ahead!

Seasons of Waiting Feb 2012

In seasons of waiting, it is so easy to become discouraged, but there is great HOPE & encouragement when we take our eyes off our situation, look to God & invite His presence into our waiting. Just as when light begins to break through a dark storm a beautiful rainbow becomes visible. So it is also true with the storms of our lives, as the light of Christ shines in, we begin to see the beauty He has for us right in the middle of our circumstances. We are finding this to be true as we continue to live in a season of waiting. We have asked the Lord to shine into our circumstances & He has given us many opportunities right here in Salem to share His love & life with those around us.

One of these opportunities is volunteering at South Salem High School (SSHS) with their wrestling program, as time allows. As Rob’s role has moved from teacher & coach to missionary & coach, day to day life conversations have come up where he has been able to share stories from the Bible as well as stories from his life. Recently one of the wrestlers asked Rob how he prepared for matches. Rob was able to share with him that as a young wrestler he was very stressed, always worrying about winning & losing, and that after becoming a Christian his focus was on competing to honor God. In turning his life over to God he did not become a better wrestler automatically. It was a journey of casting his cares on the Lord & knowing that his self worth was not wrapped up in winning, rather in living his life for Christ & competing as a testimony to God’s love. As his faith grew so did his wrestling.

Recently Rob has been able to have these types of conversations with two particular athletes, Dan & Jorge. Both sophomores when Rob started coaching; now seniors.
We asked Dan to speak about how God is using wrestling in his life during one of our ministry presentations at church. Dan has grown up in a split family, where neither of his parents are very involved in his life. He invited Christ into his life his sophomore year through the ministry of Young Life. Dan talked about how he was skeptical of the new coaching staff his first year, they had an intensity & passion for wrestling that had not been present at SSHS in the past. Dan said as he grew in his faith & learned more about the coaches he was not surprised to learn that they all have a relationship with Jesus. “The coaches have passion to make us into the best wrestlers we can be but also a passion for us to be the best men we can be.” Dan also said he had never had a group of men build into him the way our coaching staff has.

Just before his first match almost 3 years ago the coaches were told that Jorge was academically ineligible, having passed just one class as a freshman. Rob & the other coaches sat down with him & set out a plan to get him caught up & on track. They wanted to let him know that being a good wrestler was important to them, but so was his life & graduating was key. This year Jorge has over a 3.0 grade point average and is 21-6 this season, 3 of his losses were to #1 ranked wrestlers in our division. Rob has been able to share with Jorge the AIA DVD “Unfading Glory” & have many conversations about his relationship with Christ.
We are continually reminded of how God is using wrestling & our lives to grow people in their relationship with him. To Him be all the Glory!

Please continue to pray that he would have more opportunities to share with Dan, Jorge and the other guys on the team.

Pray too that the Lord would continue to open our eyes to see what He has for us in Oregon while we continue to wait to report to our assignment in Ohio. We are praying for a moving date by March!