July 2020 Newsletter

“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”

James 1:22

Summer greetings! The month of July always looks a little different for us, as it’s the time of year when we typically take a few weeks of vacation to see our families. This year is no different as we were able to spend a wonderful week with Colby’s extended family earlier this month splashing around Lake Michigan, climbing sand dunes, competing against each other in badminton and cornhole, and just really enjoying each other’s company. This week we will road trip to Minnesota to see my family for some more fun on the lake and cherished memories made! I keep telling our kids that they don’t know how blessed they are to have both sets of their grandparents living on lakes! While July looks the same for us this year with our vacations, it understandably looks a lot different with ministry. We are still unable to see the students face-to-face, so whereas we used to love our summer weekly student meetings and discipleship, we continue to creatively do them on zoom. Earlier this month we wrapped up our weekly core group meetings with our student leaders. We spent the spring studying the book of James together and it was so good to be challenged by the Scriptures to really live out our faith. Many of our core leaders were also able to keep their discipleship groups going throughout quarantine, so we were encouraged to know God’s Word was going out to their peers, as well. In the place of weekly core leadership meetings, we are now opening the weekly zoom call up to all of our AIA movement at Michigan. We look forward to seeing how God will use those times to shape and trans-form hearts with His message of grace and truth. Thank you for your continued, faithful partnership with us to reach these students for Christ!

Colby and Sarah Keefer 4695 Sycamore Dr. Ypsilanti, MI 48197

Colby—(937) 902-1767 Colby.Keefer@athletesinaction.org

Sarah— (937) 681-6533 Sarah.Keefer@athletesinaction.org

Our view after making it to the end of a hike near Sleeping Bear Dunes. Gorgeous!

Colby’s hometown neighborhood had a little 4th of July parade we took part in with the cousins...fun memories!

We could not be more grateful for YOU and all the ways you partner with us in bringing the gospel to these students! God bless!

Please pray… ...for our weekly big group zoom calls. Pray students would feel a sense of community on them, and that God would use them to build momentum for the fall. ...for opportunities to connect with new students. Pray for the new lacrosse player who has a heart to reach out to God. ...for wisdom as we try to plan for ministry this next year, especially with all the unknowns due to the virus. ...for rest and refreshment as we take a week of vacation with Sarah’s family in Minnesota. ...for God to speak to our kids and draw them to Himself as we continue with family devotions and church in our home. ...for continued unity in our marriage.

New Laborer! About a year ago Colby received a call from a man named Edgar. Edgar is a retired business owner who lives in Ann Arbor and who felt the Lord tugging on his heart to volunteer with a campus ministry. Sport ministry in particular fit Edgar’s passion, as he had been a college basketball player himself at Duke (but we won’t hold that against him!). After hearing his story, Colby invited Edgar to be a part of our staff meetings and to get to know the students involved in AIA at Michigan. He has been SUCH a blessing, lending his wis-dom and support to what God is doing here. The Lord has uniquely used Edgar in so many of our lives over the past few months with all of the racial tension in our country. His stories of experiencing and enduring racism as a Black man in America, as well as his trust in God through it all are so inspiring to me, and propels me to listen and understand all the more the experiences of my brothers and sisters of color. We are excited to see Edgar continue to invest his wis-dom and passion for the Lord, specifically prayer, into the lives

Here’s a crazy picture of our Michigan AIA staff team taken last summer: Edgar, Colby, Me, Shaina, Steve and Blake down in front.

Not sure if you can see the crown on her head, but this is how Mia came downstairs the day of her 9th birth-day. We joyfully celebrated with her!

Sitting on Grandpa’s lap driv-ing the boat has been a rite of passage for all of our kids. This day it was Jairus’ turn!

Unexpected Opportunities In March, when students were sent home from campus, I (Colby) thought it would be very unlikely that I would have the opportunity to meet any new athletes interested in exploring God. I am glad that God had other plans. This past fall, a freshman water polo player at Michigan began to get involved with AIA. She was excited to grow in her faith and quickly jumped in a discipleship group and joined us on a couple of Saturday trips to Detroit to engage with our MACC Development friends. Unknown to me during that time, a freshman men’s lacrosse player began to take an interest in her. So when quaran-tine hit, he continued to reach out to her and she began to share with him about her faith. Sarah encouraged her to ask him if he would be willing to chat with me (Colby). He was, so we began a zoom friendship. He had a slight church background and had gone to a Catholic High School, but was not sure what it might look like to know God. So he and I began to talk through the details of the Gospel and it was so fun to watch as God moved in his heart and he began to grasp the concept of Grace! He was “overwhelmed” with the truth that God loved him apart from what he did or how he performed. It was so exciting for me because I could relate to that feeling of being overwhelmed by God’s grace. We continue to meet weekly for discipleship!