March 2023 – Surge Update

HU + Bolivia + Vienna + Togo + Vienna + Liberia + Zambia “Learn to do what is right. Promote justice. Give the oppressed reason to celebrate. Take up the cause of the orphan. Defend the rights of thewidow.” Isaiah 1:17 “With the success of our Liberia project, we will be using the same teaching curriculum with the leaders there. We will be partnering with MASY ministries as they have a newly acquired 15 acres in a remote Zambian village. On this property, they will be building a church, school, hospital, …

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Soccer opens door for healing

Through the connection of the world’s sport, soccer, Surge Soccer connects with people around the world. We then assess the needs and look for solutions, even those not in our area of expertise.  From George, our Liberian colleague and Billy Graham scholar at Wheaton College – to –  Roy Reed, long time friend and former Surge board member.  Roy’s wife Roberta, also a former Surge Board member, is already leading the development of education in Liberia with Ollie White.  Topic: WE HAVE HOPE-HEALING FOR CHILDREN & YOUTH IN POST-WAR LIBERIA …

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Thanks to You, Surge Alumni Soar – Nate, Jorge & Josh / Merry Christmas

One has planted a church and written a book, another one was named Distinguished Citizen and the third developed a prison ministry in South Africa and is now preparing to help develop a ministry model in a small Zambian village. Your prayers and gifts have helped us launch them into their own ministries in Austria, Indonesia and USA/Africa see more, with photos in attachment. Merry Christmas,Dave  PS- And you have helped us launch Surge Soccer Liberia this year My first year in ministry I flew 60,000 miles. I was actually deathly …

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Lotz November Update – Liberia trip 

Thank you for praying for Al’s recent trip to Liberia. Looking at our prayer requests, I’m happy to report answered prayer forall: Safety in travel Good health Clarity in teaching Open hearts However, there were still a few snags on the trip that made it fairly stressful. Al was writing things out as it was happening in order to have documentation for our dealings with the airline, so I’ll copy and paste some of that here.

Liberia – November 2022

We are so grateful to be working in Liberia and for our Liberian friends, but we have found it hard to get to Liberia.  On November 8th this was our note “Please pray for my friend & colleague Al Lotz as he is stranded in Ghana. He was on his was to teach at a conference in Liberia. He flew from Atlanta to New York to Accra, Ghana and is now stranded due to a strike. No word on when he can get out! On our four trips we have experienced multiple flight cancelations & delays! “ But …

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40 30 70

So blessed to have been sent out 40 years ago by Trinity Presbyerian Church (Santa Ana, CA) as one of the first soccer “missionaries.” So grateful to be celebrating the 30th anniversary of founding Surge International. See below for 70 and brief message:

Liberia update and things to pray about (Visit with Amos Gayflor)

Good morning! Thank you for praying for Liberia and for the Liberian people. Please pray specifically for Ollie at this time. Her older brother died this past week. Here is an encouraging, inspirational, and thoughtful video of Amos Gayflor, chief of one of the Liberian tribes, and dedicated to spreading the word of God throughout Africa. What amazing people we met in Liberia, and now you can meet them through the videos! The new technology made a huge difference in our second Cross-Cultural Professional Learning Community meeting! Thank you! It …

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September 21, 2022 – Al’s Trip to Peru

Thank you for praying for Al and his recent trip to Peru. It was not uneventful! He was prepared to teach 10 days straight, but… Almost immediately upon arrival he felt a bit sick – but attributed it to trip stress and lack of sleep. However, symptoms progressed and though he was unable to have an actual test, and they all pointed to Covid. Possibly. We’ll never know. It could have just been a really bad cold. But just to be safe, following CDC guidelines, he isolated himself until the …

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Al Lotz – September 2022 Trip to Peru

[6:01 AM, 9/11/2022] Al Lotz: It reminded me of the movie “Planes, Trains and Automobiles”. This trip has been one of my more difficult adventures when it comes to ministry trips overseas. After a couple days of traveling I arrive in the heat and humidity, set up screen tent and bed, take my standard bucket bath and get to bed. From the beginning I had not felt 100% but figured it was just general stress and tiredness. I managed to teach the first two days as planned but my symptoms …

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Simon’s update from Egypt

Hope you are doing well! I decided to start writing update letters to family and friends to keep people informed about my time and work here in Egypt. I moved about a month and a half ago, and a lot has happened ever since! Please feel free to reach back out to me and let’s keep in touch! Greetings, Simon

Beautiful Beginnings School & Darius

Good morning and best wishes as you head into the Labor Day weekend. Thank you for your continued prayers for Liberia and for Beautiful Beginnings School. Monday, September 5, is the first day of the new school year with students! Such an exciting time of possibilities. Here is Ollie with the 2022/2023 PTO Board. The two modems have been purchased and installed, so our next Cross-Cultural Professional Learning Community meeting on Friday, September 9, should have better connectivity. Thank you. Ollie has been traveling and leading back to back professional …

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 Endings and Beginnings (Roberta #5 of 5)

Ya hello-o! (A greeting to you all in Liberian Koloqua) Saturday’s professional learning session at the Deborah Kaye Moore Foundation had a challenging start. The generator broke, so we got a 30-minute late start. The technology did not function well, which pushed the start time back even later. We worked our way through three projectors before we found one that successfully connected with Ollie’s computer. It was very very hot (though I was the only one who seemed bothered by it). By many standards, the day should have fallen flat …

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Welcome Global Ambassador Simon Wieschemann

Simon, originally from Germany, came in touch with SURGE for the first time in Austria. As part of SRS, a German sports missionary organization, he helped to run refugee / kids soccer camps. He then went on to play College soccer at Mid-America Christian University in Oklahoma City. Early on there, Simon became a captain and discovered his passion to use a leadership position to influence other people’s lives positively. Over the years Simon went back to Austria and Greece to similar refugee camps, to share, mostly on the soccer …

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Beautiful Beginnings School (Roberta’s Story #4 of 5)

Happy day after Independence Day! We have so much to be thankful for, and one of the things I am thankful for is you and your prayers for Liberia. In this penultimate email, I hope to give you a glimpse into Beautiful Beginnings School. Ollie had invited me to spend the day observing in classrooms, providing feedback, and listening to teachers. She picked me up in the morning and we made the hour-long drive out to Harbel. The gas situation is challenging. There is no gas available at gas stations …

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Laughter and Tears (Roberta’s Story #3 of 5)

Thank you for your prayers. We awoke after another sleepless night. George had been feeling poorly the night before, so he, Dave, Roy, and I did self-tests. Three of us tested negative, and one of us did not. Dave, Ollie, and I headed off to meet with the Minister of Education. Roy did not. Along the coast of Liberia, rainfall exceeds 118″ a year. In Monrovia, rainfall can reach as high as 198” a year. June (when we were there) is the rainy month, with rain falling an average of …

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Charity Soccer Match in Tecate. USA v Mexico Saturday September 10

Charity Soccer Event Saturday September 10Encino Park Tecate Baja California USA 50 V MEXICO 50 and USA 65 V MEXICO 65All proceeds helpingSan Juan Bosco Orphanage We are excited for you to join us in support of San Juan Bosco Orphanage located in Tecate, Mexico. The Orphanage receives no government support and lovingly raises needy orphaned children. On Saturday September 10 at 12:00 the 55+ game will begin followed by the 65+ game at 2:00. Followed by a Carne Asada Feast and your favorite beverages. $150 donation request for each …

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It wasn’t the most dangerous road I have ever been on!

Dear Friends, We have completed our second trip to Liberia with a wild ride on the second most dangerous road I have traveled (open attachment for #1, #3, and #4). I also walked across the bridge into Sierra Leone that the rebels used to launch the civil war many years ago. More importantly we have established SURGE SOCCER LIBERIA and are working with our Liberian colleagues on educational, leadership, discipleship initiatives and sports ministry training.So much more in the attachment and on our website – www.surgesoccer.org.   And on our website read the …

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Sustained by Prayer (Roberta’s Story #2 of 5)

Good morning. This was the second email I sent out as I attempted to let our American prayer partners see the beauty, surprises, and challenges we saw in Liberia. Thank you for allowing us to serve together on His team. Thank you for your prayers. They sustained us. After the first night, we were able to move into the hotel that had originally been reserved for us. While the view was terrific, some of the other amenities such as running water and toilet paper were difficult to come by. We …

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Arriving in Liberia (Roberta’s Story #1 of 5)

Here are the promised pictures and a bit of explanation of what they depict. Let me start again with a thank you for your prayers. Arrived!We arrived in Liberia the evening of June 6, and met Ollie, Amos, George, and Darius in person for the first time. It was everything I ever could have hoped for and more. A wild hour’s ride over deeply rutted dirt roads with no illumination and a river running over the road (this is the main highway and under construction) brought us to our hotel, …

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