Skip to main content

Report from Lithuania, Russia, and Ukraine.


During the two weeks of 22 May through 4 June, 2018 I traveled to Vilnius, Lithuania; Moscow, Russia; and then to Kiev, Ukraine in service of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. I worked with FCA’s Eurasian Global Region Coordinator, Andriy Kravstov, to make connections with people who are serving in sports ministries in the Baltics, in Russia, and then for a Sports Chaplains School in Kiev.

While in Moscow, we were hosted by our colleagues of Athletes in Action and others of the sports movement in Eurasia. In particular, our friend and Eurasian sports ministry pioneer, Carl Dambman of Athletes in Action, was a gracious host and connector of people.

360 Coaches meeting in the Sports Palace – Kiev, Ukraine

During the Sports Chaplains School, Carl and I shared the days of instruction. We included lots of group discussions, role play, and other methods to help our new colleagues integrate all they were learning into their service of Ukrainian sportspeople. We were thrilled at the nature of the group that FCA Ukraine and our friend, Ruslan Muts, had gathered for the training. Many were already serving various clubs and others were preparing to engage soon.

Attendees of the Sports Chaplains School - Kiev, Ukraine

This was the fourth year in succession for this Sports Chaplains School in Kiev. We are very proud of our friends and their faithful service. I am most thankful to have the faithful and excellent partnership of Carl Dambman of Athletes in Action.



Roger Lipe – FCA and Carl Dambman - AIA

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Sport Chaplains at the Olympic Games

Today marks the official beginning of the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London with the Opening Ceremony this evening. Among the thousands of people in the Olympic Village throughout the event is a collection of our colleagues from around the globe. There are sports chaplains, carefully selected from a wide variety of ethnic, national and sport backgrounds, speaking many different languages and from both genders, who are officially recognized by the London Organizing Committee and provided uniforms and credentials. They work through the Olympic Village’s Religious Services Center and have already been in London for over a week. They will also stay beyond the Olympic Games to serve in the Paralympic Games.   Please pray for these, our colleagues and fellow-servants, as they serve our Lord and the people in sport in these days of exhilarating triumph, painful defeat and even crippling despair. Some of these people were themselves Olympic competitors in past years and are thereby...

Retirement announcement

On 30 May, I will officially retire from my service as Character Coach Director for Nations of Coaches ( https://nationsofcoaches.com/ ), a ministry to college basketball in the USA. The health challenges my wife, Sharon, is experiencing have led to this somewhat abrupt change. At this point in our soon to be 50-years of marriage, she needs me more than I need to work. The spring and summer months will reveal how strongly she will recover and that will determine if and when I can resume some level of ministry. She is my highest priority. I am contemplating making myself available to sports ministry leaders for mentorship, coaching, and consulting. I will provide more details as they become available. In the short term, I am available for chats via telephone or Zoom, if I can be of service to you. Sharon and I are moving from our home in Carbondale, Illinois to an apartment near our son’s family in Southeast Missouri. I plan to continue to produce content via blog posts, Bible studies, ...

More Reflections from the Front Lines of a Cancer Battle - Week Four as a Widower.

Week Four as a Widower. Formerly, I had to work hard, schedule well, and plan wisely to achieve some solitude. Now, retired and widowed, solitude surrounds me, all day and all night. I, the incurable and unapologetic extrovert, find myself alone…. a lot. In crowds, alone. At church, alone. Waking up in my bed, absolutely alone. I am not as emotional about my loss as I was a few weeks ago. I am more emotionally numb than anything at this point. I have enough tasks to keep me busy presently, but I know after the sale of the house is closed, the banking is completed, and I return from the Congress in Texas, a lot of open space and unoccupied time awaits me. That is worrisome. I have a number of people with whom I correspond daily. I send one set of folks battling disease scripture and prayer. Another few receive a daily prompt for devotional reading. Dozens of sports chaplains across Latin America receive a link to each day’s post of my devotional book in Spanish, which they in turn share...