This week our Uncommon Sports Group team is headed to Nairobi, Kenya with seven of our members for a 13 day mission trip. The group will begin traveling this Friday and will land in Nairobi on Saturday at 2 PM CST. Our staff team is excited to be on this journey with our members and having the opportunity to serve internationally!
What will our team be doing?
Our team will be doing a wide variety of activities and service opportunities during our time in Kenya. We will be hosting sports camps with the students at the Huduma school. These camps are a great opportunity to provide sports equipment to the school, as well as giving the students at Huduma an exciting break from class! Our members and staff will teach sports like basketball, American football, and volleyball over the course of the first four days of our time in Kenya.
Our group will also have the opportunity to do street evangelism in the Kawangware slum. This is an exciting opportunity for our group to share the good news with the impoverished people of that slum community. The people of the Kawangware community live on less than one American dollar a day, which is a level of poverty that our group is unfamiliar with. There is a definite need for the good news of Jesus Christ for those people, and our team is ecstatic to have the opportunity to share!
We will also have the opportunity to host a coaches clinic for 85 Kenyan youth sports coaches. The clinic will be focused on teaching Christ-centered leadership to the participating coaches. Our staff will lead two sessions over two days, and our members will have the opportunity to lead conversations in breakout sessions during the clinic!
Who is on our team?
Our Kenya group consists of seven members and three staff members:
Seth Ralston, Ministry Operations and Events Manager at Uncommon Sports Group
Michael “Mikey” Carpenter, Senior Engagement Associate at Uncommon Sports Group
Noah Weiss, Engagement Associate at Uncommon Sports Group
Samantha Williams, Assistant Athletic Advisor at the University of Missouri Kansas City
Thomas Doran, Assistant Men’s Basketball Coach at SUNY Oneonta
Conrad Chow, Basketball Analyst at Pro Insight
Emma Prillaman, Women’s Basketball Manager at the University of Virginia
Ian Keiderling, Women’s Basketball Student Assistant at Graceland University
Garrett Sons, Student Equipment Manager for Football at the University of Oklahoma
Erin Couwenhoven, Customer Service Manager at Uncommon Sports Group
What do we need prayers for?
Our team would greatly appreciate prayers for our trip to Kenya! Below are some of the items that we need prayers for during our travels and our trip:
Negative COVID-19 tests for all our staff and participants prior to traveling on Friday and prior to our flights back home.
Safe travels for our group to Nairobi and back, as we have about 16 hours of flying time both ways!
Physical health and avoiding sickness during our time in Kenya.
The hearts of the Kenyan people and students at the Huduma school that we will come into contact with.
The street evangelism opportunity at the Kawangware slum and that the gospel will penetrate the hearts of the individuals the Lord brings us into contact with.
The hearts of our group, both staff and members, and that the Lord will encourage and take away anxieties that will be present.
Follow us throughout the trip!
If you want to stay up to date with our team’s trip to Kenya, click this link and sign up for the daily newsletter that will be going out!