July turned out to be a busy month as Joel traveled to Massachusetts for a student leadership conference, spoke multiple camps and preached at two churches. At the same time, both Joel and Ryan geared up for a new school year.
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Each year, Football University, the host of the annual Army All-American Bowl, holds dozens of "invite only" camps around the US for elite middle school and high school football players. The top 10% of players from these regional camps are invited to attend the annual Top Gun camp. This year Joel was honored to be a keynote speaker at the Top Gun! He spoke to gymnasium packed with more than 1,000 athletes and their families on the importance of keeping commitments. Joel's personal story of his journey as a uncoordinated, young athlete from a small town to playing college football for the Buckeyes seemed to be the perfect message for the crowd. When he was done, he had a line of people, more than one hundred deep, wanting to meet him and buy a copy of his book, "Stand Your Ground." When Joel finally got through the line of people and headed for the door, he noticed a woman reading his book. Seeing that she was nearly half of the way through the book, Joel asked "Do you like it?" She replied, "This will be the first book I've read in five years. I love it!" Joel thanked her and gave her a copy of his newest book, "Seven Lies Almost Every Teen Believes," which is all about the Gospel. Please join us in praying that this woman will respond with even greater enthusiasm to the message of Christ!
Gearing Up
Football University
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.jpg)
Each year, Football University, the host of the annual Army All-American Bowl, holds dozens of "invite only" camps around the US for elite middle school and high school football players. The top 10% of players from these regional camps are invited to attend the annual Top Gun camp. This year Joel was honored to be a keynote speaker at the Top Gun! He spoke to gymnasium packed with more than 1,000 athletes and their families on the importance of keeping commitments. Joel's personal story of his journey as a uncoordinated, young athlete from a small town to playing college football for the Buckeyes seemed to be the perfect message for the crowd. When he was done, he had a line of people, more than one hundred deep, wanting to meet him and buy a copy of his book, "Stand Your Ground." When Joel finally got through the line of people and headed for the door, he noticed a woman reading his book. Seeing that she was nearly half of the way through the book, Joel asked "Do you like it?" She replied, "This will be the first book I've read in five years. I love it!" Joel thanked her and gave her a copy of his newest book, "Seven Lies Almost Every Teen Believes," which is all about the Gospel. Please join us in praying that this woman will respond with even greater enthusiasm to the message of Christ!
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Joel and Ryan seem to be moving 100mph as they prepare for the upcoming school year. It is amazing how many details go into planning a year on the road - testing a/v equipment, making sure the van and trailer are road-ready, coordinating dates with interested schools, marketing to other schools, stocking books and other giveaway materials, and the list goes on. During this flurry of activity, we were so excited to update the most important weapon in our arsenal of marketing to schools across the country: the school assembly demo video. Our good friend and incredibly talented music video director, Nathan Lundquist (http://nathanwilliam.net), was kind enough to spend a day on the road with Joel and Ryan last year to put together and amazing video. So far the response to the video from schools has been incredible and we pray that it will help us reach into more schools with the Gospel. Below is a 1-minute trailer version of the new video.
Until Next Month,
Bethany Penton
