One of the values I learned from my mentor,
Fred Bishop, is to maintain long-term relationships, even across the globe and
for decades. He did it by making long trips by car and by writing post cards by
hand. He has since graduated to email and social media. I have marveled at the
way he was able to stay in touch with people, to pray for them, to encourage
them, and to be encouraged by their development as men and women who love
Christ Jesus. Below are the ways I have found to do this and the results I
receive.
I maintain relationships with former players
(college football, basketball, baseball, softball, professional baseball) via a
number of channels:
·
Email – I have near 900 people on my weekly devotion
list and send them out each Monday morning.
·
Text messages – I send a daily verse from the Proverbs
to baseball players who have come through our club.
·
Social media – I employ both Twitter and
Facebook, with a strategic approach, in maintaining contact with players from
the past. On Twitter, I post links to our daily devotional site, in English and
in Spanish. I also tweet or retweet items I believe could be of interest to
those in my Twitter network of 1,300+.
·
Face to face meetings – Collegiate sports
programs have occasional events like homecoming that welcome former players
back to the university and these are perfect for reconnecting with players from
past years. These face to face meetings deepen the relationships that can be
further maintained at a distance.
I stay connected with coaches in similar ways:
·
Email – many coaches who have come through our
university are also on my Monday devotion list.
·
Text messages – During the college football
season, I send messages to dozens of coaches for whom I have numbers. I send a
prayer, an encouragement, a scripture, a congratulatory note for a big win, or
a conciliatory note after a bitter defeat. I always aim to encourage and to
inspire.
·
Social media – A number of the coaches from our
network also follow us on social media.
·
Face to face meetings – The American Football
Coaches Association holds an annual convention and I have attended it each year
since 2005. I attend not because I am a football coach, but because thousands
of them are there. Rather than chasing all over the USA to see them, I can meet
them at this event and reconnect very well. There is a similar event in
Champaign, Illinois for high school football coaches and there are doubtless
similar events for coaches of most other sports. Find a way to get there and to
engage the coaches.
I stay in touch with sports chaplains around the
nation and the world as well:
·
Email – this weekly email is my primary attempt
to share what I am learning and often the excellent strategies, methods, and
ideas of others.
·
Text messages – I have a group of numbers in my
phone that are for college and high school football chaplains. I text message
these weekly with scripture, prayer, and/or encouragement. I will also send
individuals a text message related to particular situations, crises, or
opportunities. I also use text messages to promote monthly conference calls for
sports chaplains and character coaches.
·
Social media – I promote the monthly sports
chaplain conference calls via Twitter, and each one is automatically repeated
on Facebook.
·
Face to face meetings – Events like the PowerUp
Sports Ministry conferences, FCA’s annual Sports Chaplains Conference, the AFCA
convention (for American Football), and other events are excellent
opportunities to see a number of our colleagues, to share a cup of coffee, a
meal, and to compare notes.
I firmly believe that the Lord puts people in
our lives for specific purposes and that our responsibility to Him for them
does not end simply because their career paths have led them away from our communities.
Especially now, when our communities can be held in our hands, electronically,
via our smart phones. We can maintain
influential, redemptive relationships with countless individuals by very simple
and time efficient methods. Please join me in extending the Lord Jesus’ love,
encouragement, challenge, and instruction by any and every means at your hand.
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