I'm Going to Honduras!!!

Dear Family & Friends,

I hope this letter finds you well and enjoying the summertime. I spent the summer (9-weeks) in Italy and in the UK working with Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) doing sports ministry and receiving missions training. Italy is absolutely beautiful—if you didn’t know that already—and it was such an amazing experience and exciting for me to go back to my roots and live among my fellow Italians. I learned so much during my time away about myself and about serving people through missions, and I’m excited about the things that God has placed on my heart.

When I got back to the States I received a phone call from a friend who works for FCA asking me if I was interested in doing a soccer missions trip with FCA in Honduras. Of course my ears perked at the words “soccer,” “missions” and “Honduras,” so I was definitely on board for the trip. Before I tell you about the trip I just want to share my heart for a minute about why this trip has tugged on my heart so strongly. Think about the things that God has placed on the inside of you that just make sense…for me, it’s athletics, and soccer in particular. Now imagine if the Body of Christ (the Church) actually used their God-given abilities and passions to win souls for Christ and bridged the gap between “their world” and “the Church”…it would be absolutely amazing. After my collegiate career was over, my direct access to the athletic realm at the university seemed to fall away, as did my influence with that athletic demographic. I believe that God has been calling my heart back to my first love—other than Jesus of course—soccer. My heart beats for being able to share my sport with kids all over the world, particularly in Latin America. To see their faces light up when you pull a ball out of a backpack is unreal. I believe that this will be a life-changing experience for the people we will work with in Honduras, for the team of people on the trip, and for me, and I sincerely look forward to being a part.

I will be going to Honduras with Women’s Professional Soccer Players and the trip will be from October 2nd-9th, 2010. I’m particularly excited about this because there will be ministry opportunities within the team as well as in Honduras, and I have been working on getting in shape to play soccer semi- or professionally again so it will be fun to jump in with the girls and play while we are there. There is also a chance that we will have an opportunity to play a women’s team from Honduras so I’m keeping my fingers crossed for that! We will hold camps for local coaches and athletes to support the sport in the Orphanages & Community. Most all of the girls in the orphanages have been sexually abused/raped, but we have the opportunity to share Christ's love with them. We are serving along with Catamas, Honduras (www.pedisan.org) which is the local Honduran church. While in Honduras, we will also spend a half-day repairing houses for families whose weekly income is around $50. The family we will help build a house for has never had their own house before so I am looking forward to being able to be a blessing to this family and the others we will serve. There may also be opportunities for me to work with some of the families in the area of business, similar to what I was able to do in South Africa with the entrepreneurs in the Townships. Many of the children in the area of which we will serve in Honduras have never heard about Christ, and most do not know the impact of Christ through sports ministry. How exciting it will be to impact the world for Jesus while playing sports that they love, and that we love!

First and foremost I want to ask you to please keep us in your prayers as we are training and preparing our hearts for this trip. Please pray for God to prepare the hearts of all the people in Honduras we will encounter so that they will be open to hearing the message of salvation and will accept Jesus into their lives. Please pray for protection and for good health as we are there and traveling, and for wisdom, safety and provision. Everyone on the team is working on raising support to be able to go on this trip, so if you can also pray for our needs to be met financially as well, we would all greatly appreciate it.

In order for me to serve with FCA in Honduras, I have been asked to raise $700 to cover the cost of airfare, lodging and food. The total cost of the trip is $1,400, but I received a $700 scholarship to apply towards the airfare so I now only have to raise $700...I obviously could not pass up this opportunity! Please consider partnering with me to minister to the children and orphans through soccer! All donations are 100% tax deductible (tax notice is given at the end of the year). You can donate online at www.atlantafca.org/soccermission. You just need to choose my name from the drop-down menu option. There isn’t a place to put what kind of card you are using, so you can just write Visa/Mastercard/Etc. in the “Special Instructions” box at the bottom of the screen. If you prefer to donate by check, they can be made payable to “The FCA Missions – Honduras” with my name on the memo line. You can send the checks to my new address: 3220 Cypress Mill, Stillwater, OK 74074.

Thank you for taking the time to read this letter and for your prayers and consideration of supporting me for this trip. If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to call me, I’d love to hear from you! My cell number is (562) 754-7021.

Changing the World in Christ,

Niccole Grimaldi