YEAR IN REVIEW 2014 - 2015
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“A SEASON OF TRAINING FOR A LIFETIME OF SERVICE” Dear Friends, MAI’s mission is to “glorify God and see lives transformed by communicating the message of Jesus Christ through the global environment of soccer.” This comes from our recognition of four Core Principles: • Everyone’s life needs to be transformed through a relationship with Jesus Christ • The best time to impact someone’s life spiritually is before age 18 • One of the most influential people in a young person’s life is a coach • Soccer is one of the most powerful forces impacting culture
LETTER FROM MAI’S PRESIDENT
MAI’s approach to ministry has always been to create an environment where people can experience how they can use the sport of soccer to build a relational bridge with another person in order to share the life-giving message of the gospel. We impart this training through our Sports Ministry Training process to players on the 17 teams that we operate in the USA as well as through international training conferences. Internationally, we have trained over 270 coaches in the past two years who are now engaged in ministering to over 5000 youth. The people doing this ministry work of sharing the gospel here in the USA and internationally are primarily young people, age 17 to 26, and for most of them, this is their first experience using sports as a platform for sharing their faith. We provide opportunities to put that training into practice through our summer soccer camps and international outreach trips. This year, over 2500 youth heard the gospel at our soccer camps and over 150 accepted Christ as their savior. Another 125 participated in our international outreach trips to Brazil, Czech Republic, Japan, and Mexico. Our urban ministry has expanded and now touches the lives of over 200 youth living in at-risk neighborhoods in Charlotte, Chicago and Los Angeles area. Over 15 of our staff are living in the same neighborhoods as the youth that they are coaching so that they can increase the depth of their relationships. We want to thank you for supporting our ministry through prayer, volunteer service and financial support which has allowed us to impact the lives of over 11,000 people during the last two years. With gratitude,
Patrick Stewart President/C.E.O.
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MAI BY THE NUMBERS 2014 - 2015
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MINISTRY LOCATIONS
Charlotte Eagles (PDL) Charlotte Lady Eagles (W-League) Charlotte Urban Eagles Chicago Eagles Summer Academy Chicago Urban Eagles Southern California Seahorses (PDL) 17 TEAMS 377 PLAYERS
Charlotte Youth (Brazil 2014 & 2015) Chicago Academy (Brazil 2014 & 2015) Southern Cal. Seahorses (Japan 2014 & 2015) Southern Cal. Seahorses (Mexico 2014 & 2015) Southern Cal. Seahorses (Czech Republic) 14 TOURS* 263 PLAYERS SENT
65 CAMPS 217 COACHES 4800 CAMPERS
5477 PLAYERS
CULTIVATED
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SPORTS MINISTRY TOURS
10
COACHING CONFERENCES
82
CAMPS CONDUCTED
5379
CAMPERS SERVED
Kenya Ukraine Peru Japan*
267 TEAMS 5100 PLAYERS
Coach Training Conferences: Brazil Kenya Peru* 10 CONFERENCES 279 COACHES TRAINED
Ukraine Czech Republic Germany Japan 17 CAMPS 30 COACHES 579 CAMPERS
,382 526 11 SPORTS MINISTRY LIVES
COACHES TRAINED
* Two countries visited are counted but not listed due to security concerns. ** ”Lives Inspired” counts players, coaches and campers directly touched by MAI’s ministry, not included are the hundreds of parents, fans, opposing teams and church congregations who also benefitted.
INSPIRED
**
MAI BY THE NUMBERS 2014 - 2015
Youth Recreational & Elite Camps Urban Eagles Camps ASD Spectrum Camp
284
MINISTRY TEAMS
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The faces of MISSIONARY ATHLETES INTERNATIONAL YOUTH CAMPS (AGES 4-15) MAI’s influence often begins early in a young person’s life when they first arrive at one of MAI’s micro-mini, basic, elite, neighborhood academy, Urban Eagles or special needs soccer camps. MAI has been operating camps since 1984 with a dual purpose of influencing youth while training camp coaches (ages 16-30) how to model their Christian faith in a soccer sports ministry environment. In the last 30 years, over 55,500 kids have participated in MAI camps in America and overseas. Approximately 5,500 kids attending MAI camps have made first-time decisions for Christ. This is part of MAI’s strategy of “providing opportunities for participants [of MAI teams] to live out what they have learned by loving and serving others through the sport of soccer.” In the process of loving and serving campers, hundreds of MAI’s team players have become transformational coaches who can positively influence the lives of youth through their example and testimony. This is one way that an MAI “season of training” becomes “a lifetime of service.”
“Even youths grow tired and weary and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, walk and not be faint.” - Isaiah 40:30-31
THE FACES OF MAI
MAI TEAMS (AGES 18-30) MAI’s strategy for transforming the lives of an ever-growing number of young people requires the formation of excellent soccer teams. These teams provide the role models for youth to emulate and the “seed beds” from which MAI can cultivate the growing number of transformational sports ministry coaches. Through their “season” of team-based sports ministry training, MAI’s team players have life-changing opportunities to discern their vocations while impacting lives through soccer both on and off the field. Players are trained in skills development, spiritual formation, camp coaching, cross-cultural sports ministry, highly competitive league play, and team coaching experiences that better equip them to love and serve others. These coaches not only coach MAI’s teams and at MAI’s camps, but many go on (sometimes after a professional soccer career) to become transformational coaches for club, scholastic, collegiate and professional soccer teams, impacting players all over the world. Some become MAI missionaries, but whatever God calls them to be and do, all remain “sports ministers” for the rest of their lives.
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INTERNATIONAL OUTREACH Since 1985, MAI has organized and sent over 200 teams of youth and adults to 36 countries. In the past two years, MAI sent 14 such missions teams to 4 countries involving a total of 263 players. MAI also sent sports ministry coaches to 4 countries to train pastors and coaches in soccer skills, coaching, and sports ministry best practices. As a result, more than 270 coaches have been trained – often in the context of their church’s ministry to the community. These local churches, in turn, have trained other coaches and teams resulting in thousands of soccer players using the skills and sports ministry best practices MAI has planted in their countries to see lives changed.
URBAN MINISTRY Founded in 2010, MAI’s Urban Ministry program uses soccer as a means to build long-term mentoring relationships with inner city youths who often lack such essential relationships. The program currently serves 210 youth in seven at-risk high-poverty neighborhoods in Charlotte, West Chicago and Placentia, CA. The primary objective is to help the young people in these neighborhoods escape the trap of generational poverty, poor education and dysfunctional families. Each of our neighborhood leaders makes a four-year commitment to live in one of these at-risk neighborhoods and serve as both soccer coaches and role models. These “life coaches” help youth in their neighborhood with character development, conflict reconciliation skills, school work, ESL classes, family needs and emergency assistance. Once established, MAI’s neighborhood leader(s), interns and volunteers develop soccer teams through which these community relationships, services and youth development can grow.
“And he has given us this command: those who love God must also love one another.” - 1 John 4:21
THE FACES OF MAI
Youth are integrated into culturally diverse teams that train together and compete in local recreational leagues and regional tournaments. This approach allows the MAI staff and volunteer coaches to use MAI’s sports ministry training materials to teach values such as respect for authority, integrity, and unity based on biblical principles.
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INSPIRING TEAMS INTENTIONAL TRAINING INFLUENTIAL COACHING
MAI’S VISION FOR THE FUTURE
MAI’S VISION FOR THE FUTURE MAI’s vision is to “generate teams of influential players and coaches who inspire people to flourish in and for Christ wherever they are planted.” Why teams? We have found that a team environment is the best place to cultivate relationships through an authentic community that yields transformed lives. We use terms like “generate”, “flourish” and “planted” because teams are a greenhouse for spiritual growth. After a season of sports ministry training – a sports season or a season of life – we send them with Jesus’ admonition: “I have chosen you and I have appointed and placed and purposefully planted you, so that you would go and bear fruit and keep on bearing, and that your fruit will remain and be lasting” (John 15:16 Amplified version). We want to recruit, train and equip soccer coaches all over the world to use their position of influence to inspire people, especially youth from the youngest ages, to live for Christ. Our goal is to seek out and prepare hundreds of coaches and players to use a soccer field to sow seeds that produce a harvest “a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” In sum, we envision every soccer field as a “resurrection park” where life in God’s Kingdom can be sown and flourish.
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FINANCIALS 2014
TOTAL INCOME: $3,509,723
TOTAL EXPENSES: $3,326,714
For the fiscal year ending December, 31st *All figures in US dollars
TOTAL INCOME:
$3,509,723
Staff Support*
$1,522,520
Tours
$360,170
Teams
$166,462
General
$303,649
Contributed Services
$78,094
Camps & Clinics
$370,645
Team Revenue
$232,619
Special Events
$81,783
Sale of Rights
$382,500
Other
$11,281
TOTAL EXPENSES:
$3,326,714
Tours
$543,505
Camps and Clinics
$972,967
Teams
$1,118,188
Management & General
$453,201
Fundraising
$238,853
MAI is an accredited member in good standing of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. * "Staff Support" is the tax-deductible charitable financial contributions that all MAI missionaries raise to fund their salaries, benefits and missions expenses.
FINANCIALS 2014
CHANGE IN NET ASSETS +$183,009
1020 Crews Road, Suite N, Matthews, North Carolina 28105 704.841.8644 | 704.841.8652 (fax) pstewart@maisoccer.com | www.maisoccer.com Donations may also be directly mailed to: MAI P.O. Box 1889, La Mirada, CA 90637-1889