Valina Ramsey’s journey began in the sleepy little town of Sevierville, TN, where she lived, as she calls it, “a nominal Christian life growing up.” I made a lot of bad decisions in my youth and tried time after time to work my way out of disastrous situations.”

Close friends and church family continued to invest in her life and tried to point Valina  to a complete and total surrender to God.  Finally, at a point of desperation, Valina knew that she wanted to fully commit every area of her life to God and trust Him to guide her path.

A soccer player by nature, Valina knew that God created her with specific talents and interests. She began to search for some sort of ministry that would combine her love for sports and her love for Him.

One late night, as Valina surfed the internet, she came across International Sports Federation’s website.  This was it! She had found something that totally excited her!  Could it be? Could there really be an organization that sends sports teams on mission projects?  This was sounding too good to be true!  But there it was, the ISF project list, including an opportunity to go to Kenya and play soccer and tell people about Jesus.  She was hooked!

Traveling overseas was an eye-opening experience for Valina.  She saw things she had never seen before and God began to give her a worldview and a heart for the nations.

During this time,  a desire to study medicine also began to take root in Valina’s heart. So, she began a course in emergency medicine.  Upon completing her Emergency Medical Technician certification, she was certain that God was directing her to continue her education to  eventually become a nurse.

While serving on the ISF Medical project to Senegal, West Africa this past fall, Valina knew that she had finally found her home!  She returned with a sound resolve to eventually serve overseas as a medical missionary; specifically as a pediatric nurse.

Valina currently lives in Atlanta, GA, working as an EMT-I for Puckett EMS/Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta while continuing her path to nursing.  It took her a journey around the world to find her home in medical/sports missions.

Have you found your home yet?

—story by Cheryl Wolfinger

A boy had made a ball from plastic bag scraps and threw it to me. I threw it back to him and asked if he had made it.  He smiled shyly, face turned down, the way Kenyans do, and answered “yes.” I asked him if he would teach me to make one later that week.

A couple of days later, I was surprised by a tap on my arm.  A boy looked up at me and said, “teacher, can we go make the ball today?” I was puzzled as I looked down into his hands full of plastic trash and a little bit of brown twine.  Then I remembered and smiled as I was led into the classroom, followed by dozens of curious children.

I sat down at two desks that had been pulled together alongside three 5th grade boys and they showed me how to make one of the balls they play with.  It took about ten minutes, and while I was watching what he was meticulously making, I also looked around the room at the children who were excited just to watch.  The ball was wonderful, made with blue plastic on the outside for looks and tightly bound with twine for structural stability.  As it was proudly presented to me as a gift (my favorite possession from Kenya by far), I asked them, “what are your names? I want to write them  down so I can remember you and tell my family and friends at home in America all about you.”  Immediately I was bombarded with a massive influx of names from every child in the room and even from some that were outside.  “Peter! Timothy! Collins! Kevin! Dominique! Ova! Austin! Jesse! Ayub! Cynthia!

I could not possibly write down all the names as they flew at me.  My pen could not move that fast and the back of my nametag did not have that much room. I finally managed to thank them and put the pen back in my camera bag before more children arrived in the room.  It hit me all of a sudden as I was transcribing the names of the children on my nametag, “they just want to be remembered,” and tears rushed into my eyes.

They just want to be remembered.  They just want to be spoken of.  They just want to be prayed for. They just want to be loved.

Everything in their world was okay except that they thought I might forget about them.  They thought I might forget their name when I told my friends in America about my time in Kenya. They thought I might not consider them in my prayers because they were too small or their voice wasn’t loud enough or they were not good at soccer.  They thought I wouldn’t love them when I left.

At the core of it all, isn’t that what we all want? To be loved and  valued and remembered? To be beautiful worthwhile and considered?

Christie Saucier is a sophomore at the University of Alabama and she took time this summer to spend a couple weeks in Africa with ISF.

Written by Cheryl Wolfinger, ISF President:

My first thought was indignation. “Is that what you think I do?” It is not as if I sleep away my days in a drunken stupor or stand at an intersection in tattered clothes hoping that my desperate appearance and a cardboard sign will evoke enough compassion from passersby to land a few dollars in my pocket.

But, then I thought about what the word “beg” actually means. According to the dictionary “to beg” is to “ask with emotion.” Turns out, “begging” is exactly what I do.

I “ask with emotion” for people to join with ISF and invest in a cause much larger than ourselves. God has called us to be His hands and feet and that requires resources.

I “ask with emotion” on behalf of the hundreds of orphans and needy children being cared for through our partnerships in Kenya and Uganda. I “ask with emotion” on behalf of the millions of children in central Asia, like the boy pictured above, who depend on the mobilization of volunteers to bring the good news of the Gospel to his religiously restricted home country. I “ask with emotion” on behalf of the 200 volunteers that we will mobilize in the next year. I “ask with emotion” for the 20 missionaries and Christian nationals we will support next year with volunteer teams and financial aid.

Now back to the original question. “Do I ever get tired of it?” You better believe I do! It is exhausting to have the constant feeling that the needs will always outweigh the resources. It is exhausting to think about the fact that every 30 seconds a child dies from the lack of clean water and food. It is exhausting to have my experiences and first-hand knowledge of people with no access to healthcare or safe drinking water in other countries while I live in a place where we mindlessly march on in our wasteful ways living the American dream.

So, the bottom line is this; yes, I get tired of “begging for money.” But, until there is no need for advocacy for the lost, hurting and hungry, I WILL NOT STOP. I may grow weary, but I will not stop “asking with emotion.”

It is my prayer that you will hear the voices of those whom we serve and be compelled to join us and see what God would do through you and your generosity!

Haiti has been in desperate need in many ways for many years. This recent tragedy has only brought their plight to center stage.  The question is…what can we do to help?

At ISF our desire is to make the most of our sphere of influence and devise a long term plan that will impart the most good for those in need.  Our immediate plan is to mobilize a team to travel to Haiti to perform an initial assessment of the situation as soon as it is safe and we will not be a burden to those already in need. We are already in contact with three different groups there. Once we determine their greatest needs we will map out a three year plan to mobilize volunteer teams to assist in helping rebuild orphanages, conduct sports clinics, build soccer fields and/or basketball courts, and anything else we can do to help.  We know that the humanitarian needs will be great. But, we also understand that children need to play.  No matter how dire the situation, children and adults alike need the opportunity for recreation.

So, for now we are going to try to raise as much money as possible for our work in Haiti.  As I said, we will develop a three-year plan to mobilize volunteers, provide financial support and help them rebuild.  To donate just click here and indicate you would like to support Haiti.  You can be certain that your donations will be used for this specific effort.

Our first volunteer team is headed out June 29 and will return July 15. More trips will be added as the plan develops.  If you would like to join our June team, please email Sara Beth at sarabeth@sportsmissions.com and let her know you want to help.