Athletes for Christ Website

More information about Athletes for Christ can be found at our new website:

www.athletesforchrist.net

Athletes for Christ Soccer Team

Athletes for Christ u8 Girl's Soccer Team won their first game of the season today with a 6 - 5 victory. It was a back-and-forth game with each team having a two goal lead at some point of the match. Even though our girls were down 4 - 2 at halftime, they fought hard to come back in the second half. The sixth goal was scored with just a couple of minutes left in the contest. Congratulations, girls, on a well played game.

Practice is scheduled for Tuesday at 4:00 at Bethany's MPR.

Next game scheduled is for January 10 at 1:00.

Make-up game from December 20th is TBD by the Turff Club.

2009 Year in Review

Wow! What can I say? God has blessed this ministry far beyond anything that we could have ever imagined. Please read below about some of the highlights that took place this past year.

1. Some members of the cycling club rode over 2,500 miles this year all in an effort to bring others into a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ.

2. The soccer program competed in two different leagues. Two u7 girl's teams and one u8 girl's team competed against PASC. Two u8 boy's teams, one u8 girl's team, and one u10 girl's team played against LMYA.

3. The basketball program saw competition in three leagues this past year. We competed in LMYA, NYAA, and the City of Allentown's Recreation Department's Summer League.

4. The flag football program played teams from the local CYO.

5. Over 120 ladies take Zumba Fitness Classes each week at Bethany Church's Campus.

6. Ten ladies are taking yoga classes each week at Bethany Church's Campus.

7. The Men's Softball Program took home championships in the EPC UMM Modified Fast-Pitch Tournament, the Lehigh Valley Church Softball League, and the North Whitehall Church Softball League.

People are being drawn closer to Christ each and everytime they participate in one of these activities.

The biggest highlights of the year are as follows:
1. One young lady who plays on our u8 Girl's Soccer Team accepted Jesus Christ as her Saviour.

2. A lady said her marriage is being restored because she heard some devotions in her yoga class.

3. A man from the softball program said that he now finds more purpose in his life since he started playing softball with a bunch of Christians. He, too, became saved during the softball season.

4. More families are hearing the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

Praise God as we look forward to 2010.

Bethany Maroon Wins Again

The Bethany Maroon Softball Team won the Lehigh Valley Church Softball League for the fifth time in the last ten years on Tuesday Evening beating Calvary Wesleyan in a rematch from last year.  The Bethany Maroon team won four consecutive championships from 2000 - 2003, and they finally got one for the thumb.  It was a great rematch of last year's final where Calvary Wesleyan beat Bethany 8 - 7 in their last at bat.

This Championship puts an end to the unbelievable run that the softball ministry had this summer.  The Bethany Softball Ministry has now won three championships over the past five weeks.  The first one came at the EPC UMM Modified Tournament in Upper Dublin on July 18 where the Bethany Maroon team won in only it's second year in the tournament.  The Bethany White Team won their championship tournament by going an impressive 17 - 5 on the season to win their second consecutive championship, and the Bethany Maroon Team added the third championship for the ministry by winning on Tuesday 6 - 2.

The Bethany Maroon Team started the season 0 - 2, and found themselves below the .500 mark for the first time in 18 years.  The team finished the season (tournament record included) an impressive 28 - 4, and they won 21 of their last 22 games (tournament record included).  The only loss over that stretch was in the EPC UMM Tournament.

The Bethany Blue Team played great in their divisional playoff bracket as well.  They finished in the Final Four, and lost a defensive struggle against Church of God which made it to the championship game.

Congratulations to the Bethany Softball Ministry.  You all deserved the honors you got, not because you played well, not because you had the best defense in the league, not because you had all the right hits at all the right times, but congratulations, because you made this ministry feel like a family where Christ was the center.

Bethany Softball Wins North Whitehall Church League Tournament

The Bethany Softball Program notched another Championship today winning it's second consecutive North Whitehall Church Softball League Tournament.  Bethany was invited to play in this league last year, and in their first year won the Championship.  This makes this team the first team to repeat as Champions of their league since the 2000 - 2003 Bethany Softball Team of the Lehigh Valley Church Softball League

This year, they entered the tournament as the second seed.  Bethany went 3 - 0 on the first day of the tournament with wins over Union Lutheran 13 - 4, Hope Lutheran 6 - 4, and the tournament's number one seed St. John's.  That meant Bethany had to be beat twice in the Championship Round.

St. John's came out of the loser's bracket to face Bethany in the Championship Game.  The game was a defensive one with teams trading zeros for the first couple of innings.  Bethany got on the board with two runs in the third, but St. John's came right back with one of their own in the bottom of the inning.  

Bethany got two more runs in the top of the fourth inning, and again St. John's scored in their half to make the score 4 - 2.

Bethany was held scoreless for the remainder of the game, but St. John's was far from finished.  Down to their last at bat, their leadoff batter hit a triple.  The next batter knocked him in with a sacrifice fly.  St. John's put the next two men on base.  The next batter made a productive out sending the man on second to third.  With two out and men on first and third, St. John's final batter of the year smashed a line drive to Bethany's third baseman ending a great defensive game.

Congratulations to the Bethany Softball Program on their 2nd Championship in the last three weeks. 

Best wishes to the Bethany Blue and Bethany Maroon teams on the rest of their season as they, too, are looking for championships in their respective playoffs.

Bethany Softball Wins EPC UMM Softball Tournament

Sixteen years ago, Jarrettown UM Church, hosted it's first ever Eastern Pennsylvania Conference United Methodist Men (EPC UMM) Softball Tournament.  Last year, Bethany was invited for the first time.  We came in 5th last year.  The guys who played in it begged for us to play in the tournament again this year.  I am so glad we did.

The day started off with a great time of devotion and worship to God.  Pastor Mike Johnson gave a sermon on the body of Christ and all the parts play a vital role for the Body to work.  It was a great sermon on how we as believers each play a role in spreading God's Kingdom.

In Round 1, Bethany played Conshohocken UM Church.  Bethany played a great ball game both at bat and in the field.  We were 1 - 0 after that game.

In Round 2, we had to play the defending champions.  As daunting as that task was, we again played another solid game, and we came a way with a close victory.  We were 2 - 0 after that game.

In Round 3, we had to play last year's runners-up.  Hope played a great game.  They jumped on Bethany early, and we played catch up for the rest of the game.  We went down in defeat, and we were eager to have a chance to play them again.  

We had to win Round 4 in order to get a rematch with Hope, and we did what we had to do against a scrappy team from Grove UM Church.

To win the championship, we had to beat Hope twice.  Hope beat Bethany earlier in the day, but we were up for the challenge.  Bethany's Softball Motto is that we do not give up.  Never give up, because we do not know what is going to happen.

In Game 1 of the Championship Series, we jumped up on Hope right away, and never trailed at any point.  We played a fantastic game which we knew would propel us into Game 2.

Hope got out to an early 3 - 0 lead on us in Game 2.  Although we were losing to a great team, we did not give up.  We got on the scoreboard with a hit up the middle, but we were still losing 3 - 1 after three innings.  Our bats came to life in the fourth where we got three more runs to take a one run lead.  Hope scored two runs in the top of the fifth to go up by one run.  Bethany had a huge 5th inning scoring eight runs to take a lead that Hope just could not come back from.

The game results from the tournament were as follows:

Round 1 Bethany 22 Conshohocken UM Church 3

Round 2 Bethany 7 New Hanover UM Church 3

Round 3 Bethany 11 Hope UM Church 18

Round 4 Bethany 18 Grove UM Church 8

Championship Round

Game 1 Bethany 13 Hope UM Church 5

Game 2 Bethany 13 Hope UM Church 8

Congrats to the Bethany Softball Team on this great accomplishment.  Not only did you win the Championship, but your witness and testimony on the field was that of Christ.  There were times you could have gotten down and been defeated, but it was at those times, that you came together as a team, and rose to victory.

Well done, and I hope that you have as much success next year as you did this year.

Psalm 119:105 and Abandoned Turnpike Tunnels

Rumor has it that there is a section of the Pennsylvania Turnpike that was abandoned in 1968 due to the heavy volume of traffic that was trying to fit its way through two long tunnels in the side of a mountain between Breezewood and Sideling Hill.

Curiosity got the better of two people from the cycling ministry, and we had to see if these tunnels are what people say they are. The research that was done prior to our trip said to bring a head light, an extra flash light, a cell phone, a fellow rider, and to not let the "creepies" settle in as you ride over 2 miles in the dark. Dark was an understatement as it was difficult to see your hand in front of your face even with fresh batteries in the head light.

I had to totally trust my cycling abilities and believe what I thought was smooth pavement in front of me. It reminded me of the scripture in Psalms where the psalmist wrote, "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path."

My path on November 7 was dark, very dark. My head light was a lamp unto my front tire, and I had to rely completely on feel for my bike. I had to put my trust in my abilities.

I began to think to myself how often I allow myself to be surrounded by complete darkness. Even then, my Savior is right there beside me leading me with a lamp bright enough for my feet, and just a little bit more of a glow to show me my path right in front of me. We rode just over two miles in darkness, but I could never see more than six feet in front of me. I never doubted though that we were going to reach our destination - the light at the end of the tunnel.

My friend and I made it through those 2.2 miles of darkness. We never stopped talking to each other, and I was not about to stop to see if I could make friends with the darkness, or whatever was looming inside.

One of the amazing things about God is that He knew that in 1968 that section of the turnpike was going to be shut down. He also knew that two guys would ride that road 40 years later. He also knew that the darkness of those tunnels would remind me that God is all we need to get through the darkest most lonely times of our lives. I only hope that whoever reads this report from the cycling ministry will find hope that God's Word is there to be a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path (Psalm 119:105).

More information about the abandoned section of the Pennsylvania Turnpike can be found at www.pike2bike.org