The Dallas / Ft. Worth Airport Marriott Grand Ballroom was alive with the love of Christ on March 18th. Dozens of young men and women from high schools all over Texas arrived, along with their families and friends, to be honored at Lay Witnesses for Christ’s 24th Annual Christian Athlete of the Year Awards.

As always, Lewis Johnson, our Master of Ceremonies, did an outstanding job hosting the program. In 2012, Lewis was named one of the best sideline reporters by SportsIllustrated.com. We are ever-thankful for the time and dedication he gives to LWFCI blessing us with his talent.

Our female finalists for the 2012-13 school year were: Brooklyn Billner, Taylor Cash, Jessica Dornak, Kylie Ducat, Shelby Drews, Hunter Jarvis, Elise Landers, Falon Little, Kelly Powell, Aishiana Thomas.

Our male finalists for the 2012-13 school year were: Rudy Aleman, Morgan Cooper, Kyle Crow, Curtis Emery, James Felderhoff, Kyle Harper, Jun Ho-Koh, Trey Jackson, Dane McKittrick, Josh Truelove

CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS

Special Awards were given out to several deserving young athletes and LWFCI supporters:

Tyler Jackson – The Wayne and Avon Langston Courage Award

Jun Ho-Koh – The Lewis Johnson Paying it Forward Award

Antoinette Iroko – The Richard Bucknor Maximizing Your Potential Award

Samantha Villarreal – The Ruth and Calvin Brundrett Jeremiah 29:11 Award

Ty Harvey – The Carl Lewis Inspiration Award

Coach Mark Larriba – Coach of the Year Award

Founders Award Recipients:

Dr. Paul Pitts, Matt & Chelsea Robberson, Pastor Dave Soesbee, Frank Shelton, Chris Stephens, Mark & Kathleen Melton

Ty Harvey

Carl Lewis, Olympian of the Century, was on hand to personally give each semi-finalist a medal and to inspire us all with words from his heart. Other athletes who joined us to celebrate the evening include Olympian Richard Bucknor, NBA Basketball World Champion DJ Mbenga, Former Harlem Globetrotter Andre Bryant, Rufus Lewis, Javier Alvarez, Kim Thrasher, last year’s winners Janelle Jenkins and Sheldon Neuse, and many fabulous former coaches and LWFCI team members. We are so blessed by their support.

Special music was provided by Dr. Paul Pitts and also by Carlye & Joseph Mings. It was a moving time of worship for everyone.

Next year we will celebrate our 25th Anniversary of the Christian Athlete of the Year Awards. It is a special year and we anticipate many great things. Please sign up to receive our updates with your email address so you don’t miss out on the information to come.

*If you have your own photos from the evening that you’d like to share with us, please email them to kim@laywitnesses.com.

Janelle Jenkins and Sheldon Neuse - Winners of the 23rd Awards presented in March 2012 in Dallas, TX.

Nominations are now being accepted for the Christian Athlete of the Year Awards for the 2012-2013 school year.

Texas Coaches, parents, teachers — you can nominate up to 3 male and 3 female high school student-athletes. Athletes includes the team managers, cheerleaders, drill team, and sports competitors. We are not necessarily looking for the best athletes — but students who show all around character in their pursuit of their faith and academics as well as sport.

Please visit our website to submit your nominations:

http://www.laywitnesses.com/christian/online-nomination-form-caoty/

We don’t know about your athletes if you don’t nominate them. There are a lot of amazing students whose integrity should be celebrated.

If you have any questions or know of any businesses who would like to sponsor the Christian Athlete of the Year award to help us reduce the costs of the awards banquet for the children, please contact Sam Mings at sam.mings@lwfci.com

7 days before our first outreach event in London, our prayer team is committed to praying and we invite you to join us.

July 20 has been declared LWFCI International Day of Prayer.

We want to cover the day in prayer for the UK Bridging the Gap 2012 Outreach!

One Scripture verse that is strong in our hearts is:

“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
- 2 Chronicles 7:14

Will you join us in a call for holiness? There are 3 ways you can join:

1. Sign up to lead prayer for a time slot. Our webpage: http://www.laywitnesses.com/olympic-outreach/international-prayer-day/ has the updated list of time slots needed.

2. If you cannot commit to leading for an hour, simply call in anytime between 12 am – 12 noon Pacific Standard Time and simply pray with the prayer leaders on the line for as long as you are able to.

3. From wherever you are, gather with other friends, family and Believers to intentionally pray for Christ to be glorified in London this summer during the Olympics and specifically during the LWFCI UK Outreach programs.

Our prayer directors are: Shelly McInnis and Roberta Currier. Once you sign up to lead a prayer time, they will contact you with instructions.

TELEPHONE NUMBER TO CALL IN TO PRAY AS A LEADER OR TO JOIN IN:

Dial (country code if calling from outside US) (712) 432-0232 access code: 384069#

Times – 12 am PST – 12 pm PST

Blessings!

Our first church focus is on Kingsway International Christian Centre. Led by Pastor Matthew Ashimolow, the KICC will be the location of many events for LWFCI during our outreach.

It will also be the location for our Command Centre and LWFCI Athlete’s Hospitality Centre.

LWFCI is praising God for the partnership of KICC. We invite you to read this in-depth article on Pastor Ashimolow and the KICC partnership, posted in Christian Today News.

Don’t forget to sign up to receive our blog delivered directly to your inbox and follow us on Twitter. We will be posting, tweeting and in many cases streaming our events live during the Olympics.

Carl Lewis, Jenna Hawkins-Gomez and Luis Gomez

There are many of the Lord’s servants working out in front and behind the scenes to keep Lay Witnesses for Christ International running smoothly and thinking ahead to our next step.

One of those great people is Luis Gomez.

Luis is our International Operations Director — and Dr. Sam’s right-hand man.

We welcome you to read this article on Christian Today’s website about Luis and get to know him!

http://tinyurl.com/6nl866k

The awards were presented in Dallas, Texas on Monday, March 19, 2012. Of the potential 2 1/2 million athletes eligible, we received thousands of entries and our judging committee narrowed the entries to 40 male and 40 female contestants.

Nominees were selected based upon their commitment to excellence in athletics, academics, and demonstrating integrity in their Christian faith. Students were not chosen because they were necessarily the “best” athletes or students but because they showed a high quality of character as individuals who make a difference in the lives of others.

From all of the submissions, 10 male finalists and 10 female finalists were selected. The finalists were:
Females
Brooklyn Billner – Richland H.S., Katie Black – Abernathy H.S., Callie Bland – Mildred H.S., Shelby Drews – Decatur H.S., Erica Hilliard – Trinity H.S., Janelle Jenkins – Carroll H.S., Katie Reilly – Concordia Lutheran H.S., Kiersten Shivers – Faith Christian School, Macie Walker – Hutto H.S., and Madison Young – Birdville H.S..

Males
Austin Black – Sonlight Homeschool Program, Johnny Brown – Calvary Christian Academy, Wesley Chatham – Faith Christian School, Mitch Freeman – Prestonwood Christian Academy, Logan Lewis – Cisco H.S., Darien McLemore – Carroll H.S., Tanner Moore – Seminole H.S., Sheldon Neuse – Fossil Ridge H.S., Tobechi Oleru – McKinney Boyd H.S., Sam Spradlin – Bishop Lynch Catholic H.S.

In addition, there were several special awards given. Josh Truelove of Bangs H.S. received the Richard Bucknor Courage Award.  Stephen Gomez of Birdville H.S. received the Lewis Johnson Paying It Forward Award. Dane McKittrick of Richland H.S. received the Joe DeLoach Maximizing His Potential Award. Hunter Bradley of Austin Hyde Park Baptist School received the Jeremiah 29:11 Award. Hannah Everitt of Seminole H.S. received the Carl Lewis Inspiration Award.

Thank you to all of the athletes for inspiring us with your stories of courage, dedication, and for being living examples of your faith. Dr. Sam and Sharon Mings (Founders) would like to say thank you and congratulations to you all.

Over the next couple of weeks, we will be sharing specific stories about the athletes, providing pictures from the awards banquet and sending out words of thanks to the wonderful Olympians, musicians and team members who were part of the banquet.

We are seeking to recruit even more Christ-followers who wish to use their gifts to serve during the time of the Olympics.

Individuals, small teams and even entire church choirs will be there! This is an opportunity like none other to serve the world and bring glory to Christ.

If you are interested, visit our WEBSITE and click on The Witness Choir page as soon as possible!

Please, pass this email on to your pastor, denomination leaders and anyone who might want to be part of an amazing adventure.

Blessings to you!

This is an aspect of our ministry that honors Christian youth for commitment to excellence in their faith as they pursue sports endeavors. It is not necessarily for the “best” athletes – it is for young people with courage, dedication and who exhibit solid values.

We have contacted our semi-finalists. We are awaiting return of their information packets. All semi-finalists are invited to our awards banquet on March 19, 2012 at the Grand Ballroom of the Dallas Fort Worth Airport Marriott North.

IMPORTANT BANQUET SEATING INFORMATION:
Semi-finalists: As soon as possible, please email your name and the name of your guest(s) to: sam.mings@lwfci.com. Provide us with your phone number to confirm and the best time to call.

RESERVED seats at table rounds of 10 are available at $50 each seat for the elegant awards banquet.

Bringing more than 1 guest? Tables seat 10 people. Should you purchase 1 ticket to accompany your semi-finalist, there will be 8 seats left at your table. We will hold those 8 seats for 10 days following your purchase, wherein other family or friends can purchase a ticket and be seated with you. This is a most Christ-honoring event that honors the entire body of individuals who have impacted our semi-finalists so profoundly.

You must send us an email with your RSVP information and you may complete your ticket purchase through our website PayPal option. CLICK HERE for online payment. Your purchase qualifies for a charitable donation per IRS guidelines.

We also want to extend our thanks to Janis and Gary Robberson. Janis and Gary work tirelessly to ensure that the details of the evening are covered. Thank you Janis and Gary for your dedication.

If you would like to make a financial contribution to the work of LWFCI or specifically to covering the expenses for the Christian Athlete of the Year awards, please use the donation button on our website. LWFCI relies on our sponsors to help cover the cost of honoring Christian Youth and encouraging them in their faith.

Thank you for your generosity.

Australian appointed to advise Olympic Ministry in London

Lay Witnesses for Christ International (LWFCI) in planning their ministry at its eighth Summer Olympic Outreach ‘Bridging the Gap 2012 London’ has appointed Australia’s Dr Mark Tronson as the Advisor to the ministry’s Executive Directors Dr Sam and Sharon Mings, who made this recommendation to its Executive Board… (continued)

Click here to read the full article

http://au.christiantoday.com/article/Carlos-Malone-Sr-joins-LWFCI-2012-Team-in-London-in-key-godly-leadership-position/12310.htm

We will be posting an updated leadership listing soon of all of our USA and UK team leadership. Stay tuned!