14 Days Across America & Back

Our ICTA Global Mission Trip to the ATP Cincinnati Masters Series tournament was a success. Much hard work, dedication, and love brought our little ministry to this high profile tennis event.

This was our 2nd straight year in Cincy. Last year, our mission trip to Cincy was phenominal. God's hand was all over our movements. In 2005, we gained hundreds of ICTA members as God brought together a body of believers to unite in His name through the sport of tennis.

This year was phenominal as well. Not just in numbers, but in the quality of person joining the International Christian Tennis Association. People really wanted to sign up. They want something better, something more to be part of. Tennis is good, but tennis when focused on Christ is amazing.

Here are a few of our fantastic new members...

Don and Doris R. Wickliffe, Ohio Retired
interested in going on our cruise and attending the US Open with us!

Kris J. Aurora, Colorado Semi-Retired
interested in going on our cruise, plus the Australian open, French Open, Wimbledon, Vegas, and Cincy!

Cam and Cody Y. Columbus, Ohio Teacher/Special Ed
interested in going on our cruise and ALL our tennis tours in 2007!

Ron B. Estrander, Ohio Golf Course Owner/Retired Teacher
interested in going on our cruise and to Cincy with us!

Thomas J. Dayton, Ohio Pastor
interested in going on our cruise and to the US Open with us!

Troy F. Knoxville, TN Mortgage VP
interested in attending US Open with us!

Ruth S. St. Charles, MO Accountant
interested in attend ing Cincy with us!

Lori R Groveport, Ontario Stay at Home Mom
wants to attend the Australian Open, French Open, and US Open with us!

These are just a few who joined ICTA membership during the Cincy Masters! How amazing to have such wonderful people join ICTA membership and want to travel with us worldwide through the Scott Paschal Tennis Tours Co.!!

We drove my donated Chevy Suburban the 2500+ miles of the mission trip.

At nearly $3 a gallon for gas and only getting 17.5 mpg hwy, it was expensive. But, the 'burban did well. We stopped in Birmingham, Alabama on our way to Cincy. A great night's sleep and a morning tennis workout later, we borrowed a friend's trailor, spread out our stuff, and drove on to Cincy! cont below...

Arriving at the Cincy Masters site and preparing to unload our supplies... 100's of Bibles/Christian books, 10 different styles of ICTA T Shirts, ICTA bookmarks & balloons, Christian materiels for kids, ICTA signage...

Unpacking all the GREAT Christian materials we brought!

We had just began setting up our booth this day, yet we were loaded with interested people who wanted to join ICTA! How awesome!

again, even before we had been able to set our booth up, people flocked to learn more about our sports ministry.

Our exhibitor's booth stayed one of the busiest booths at the tournament. We spoke with hundreds of people. The International Christian Tennis Association name & our staff were seen by tens of thousands of people. This high quality name branding is great for the successful growth of ICTA.
Both Rachel and Melody have developed their leadership skills to a high level. This has helped their ministry careers. Each one feels comfortable speaking with anyone at anytime. I can see a time when Rach & Mel will be speaking inspirationally to large groups of people.

Lots of new ICTA members joined everyday! Sometimes, our booth would be surrounded for hours! ICTA is well established in the greater Cincy area.

That's me in the back on the left. Phil is next to me, then Rach on the right. In front are a bunch of really funny guys from Mexico City. Each one received a Bible or Christian book of their choice. I was so grateful to be able to reach them with our Bible outreach ministry.

Here's a pic of me and Phil signing up new ICTA members, giving away Christian books/Bibles/Tshirts, and talking with people about ICTA.

Phil is one neat guy! God is leading Phil into ministry, most likely through tennis.

Phil will be able to bring a high quality and integrity to tennis ministry. His call to ministry is authentic. I have watched God place his steps in order to lead Phil down the path to fulltime ministry.

Phil is not a competitive or insecure minister, which, for me, will be very welcome within tennis ministry worldwide.
ICTA has almost always been located next to Tennis Week at world class events. My friend and ICTA member, Gene Scott, founded Tennis Week Magazine in May of 1977. Gene joined ICTA during the 2004 Nasdaq 100 Open In Key Biscayne, Florida. Gene quickly began opening doors for ICTA throughout the tennis industry. He was always a phone call or email away.

I was with Gene for a week last December in the Bahamas where we often spoke of life after death. Gene had been seriously ill, though no one knew what exactly was wrong with him. I felt Gene was a seeker, not yet a Christian.

He wrote me a few weeks later saying he had "faith he would rally." I smiled upon reading the email and looked forward to seeing him at the 2006 Nasdaq.

Our meeting didn't happen. Gene died as the Nasdaq 100 Open began. Though I am highly sad Gene is gone, I am forever grateful God used me in Gene's life; and brought Gene to help ICTA grow to another level.

This wonderful lady became an ICTA member and is interested in traveling with ICTA to Grabd Slam tennis events!
Entire families joined the vision of ICTA! We look forward to getting to know each ICTA member. So great to see God bring so many hundreds of people into fellowship together through the efforts of our tiny sports ministry.

Four years ago, our own Rachel Snelen decided she wanted to grow out her hair so she could donate it to kids with cancer who have lost their hair.

Rach chose the Cincinnati Masters as the location she would cut her hair. Rachel partnered with Locks of Love. A local salon owner offered to come out to the tournament with a stylist to cut Rachel's hair! Right before I preached in ICTA's Church Service on Sunday morning before the Final between Andy Roddick and Juan Carlos Fererro, Rachel had 11 inches cut! cont. below
Rach and her twin, Mel, posing for media pics before Rach donates her hair! Both Rachel and Melody are newly WTA ranked after 6 years of hard work and dedication. This has opened up terrific ministry opportunities.Rachel Snelen's hair was shoulder length 4 years ago when she started!

While I was sad to see Rach cut her hair, I know she is thrilled her hair will make a huge difference in the life of a cancer victim. Four years of dedication! Dedication is truly Rachel's character. She is dedicated to Jesus, dedicated to her sister, dedicated to her mom and brother, dedicated to her ministry friends, dedicated to ICTA, dedicated to developing her tennis game, dedicated to improving herself daily....

Rachel, you are amazing! What a fantastic example of what a Christian athelete is all about! Now, Rachel has a goal to bring others to donate their hair to cancer victims. She wants to partner with Locks of Love, or similar, and have people donate their hair at all high profile tennis events ICTA attends! What an honorable goals!

Mark and I enjoyed $1 ice cream cones after the Final between Roddick and Fererro! Actually, I had two:)!

Mel with family! They came from Dayton, Ohio to visit.

A quick pic of the gang at the end of a long day! Still smiling!

ICTA held a non-denominational Church service at 10am on Sunday before the Finals! I preached on allowing Christ to live through our lives, and I challenged everyone to use their life in powerful ways for Christ.

Posing for a pic during a really HOT afternoon!

Our 2000+ mile drive was a GREAT time! Our team bonded and saw some neat places together. In fact, now that we are home we miss our time on the road together. My house is too big!

Over 150,000 attended the tournament! We enjoyed an amazing outreach.

This is a pic of the motel where we stayed one night on our trip and of Aunt Bee's restaurant where we had breakfast.

Here's a pic of me driving home from Cincy. I'm a Mountain Dew fan and look forward to their sponsorship while we are traveling. My favorite "road" drink is an AMP Tall Boy! Wow, are those good.

Our travels took us from Florida to Georgia to Alabama to Tennessee to Kentucky to Ohio! What a blessed time of bonding together. Everyone played games, such as Connect Four, read tremendous Christian books, ate all of our meals together (rare in this world), talked... so nice.

If you can guess what this is, I'll send you an ICTA Tshirt for free! Here's a hint... this is my favorite and I only know one person who can make it!

Cool pic somewhere in Kentucky.

Did I mention my Suburban was packed!? Rach is asleep, I'm driving, and Mark is laughing!

My co-pilot for the trip, Melody, writing in her journal. Mel keeps track of everything. This has proven very useful as we look back on times and events... such as the details of Julia's stay with ICTA, people we have met, places we have been...

One awesome Chic Fil A in Georgia!

The pic above really has nothing to do with Cincy, but it means a great deal to me and was taken during this trip.

My friend on the left, Francis, is a missionary from Hong Kong. He and his wife plant churches. I am honored to know Francis and am grateful for his work. I look forward to assisting Francis in Hong Kong in the near future.

Riding "piggy back" is Rudy, who is a stick of dynamite from Guatamala. Wow, does this kid have energy!

To my right is Mark. Mark's parent's live in Mexico where they plant churches. Mark is an extremely kind young man who trains with me fulltime at my Christian tennis academy is beautiful Palm Coast, Florida.

Cool bike in Truett's Diner

This litle guy loved our balloons! His Grampa owns a huge tennis megastore.

This kid loved his ICTA Serve Hard shirt!

Rach and Mel, both newly WTA ranked and with ICTA since 1999, working hard volunteering their time reaching people for Christ!

The gang went to King's Island, a huge amusement park next to the tournament. We all got in for free the whole week! Thanks King's Island!!

Word and pics can't begin to describe how blessed our mission trip was! God's hand is all over our blessed sports ministry. He has opened all doors! Our little sports ministry points to Christ. He is why we exist.

There is nothing as valuable as a relationship with our Creator.

God bless!

Scott Paschal
Ministry Director
www.christiantennis.net
386 793 0557

Home Sweet Home

We're home.

It is so good to be in my own house sitting in my comfy chair typing on my old keyboard.

I'm tired. Really tired. Tonite, after I answer a few emails, I'll sleep till I wake up. No alarm, no schedule, no meetings. Just me letting my body rest.

Then, tomorrow, I'm going to try and let my mind rest. That will be hard because we've been on the road for 2 weeks straight. My brain has been on hyper. I'm physically tired and mentally tired. Two weeks is a long time.

But, one aspect which is not tired, one major part of my life which has been grown and developed in major ways, one side of Scott Paschal which has been led to a new level... is the special place in my heart which worships the God of the universe.

I feel like I've walked with and talked to Jesus for 2 weeks straight. I've seen His hands of Grace covering me through all my mistakes, worries, fears, and inadequacies. When I said no way, he said My way. When I said I can't, He said He can. When I stumbled and fell, He picked me up and pushed me forward.

These last 2 weeks, I've been on three mission trips. One to Cincy, one with God, the other to my heart.

In Cincy, God used ICTA to share the Good News to thousands in a general way, and to a dozen or so in a personal way. In Cincy, friendships were deepened and relationships were born. In Cincy, ICTA gathered believers in a common goal. In Cincy, ICTA enjoyed it's best mission trip ever.

In my heart, God ministered to me. In my heart, God brought those people into and around my life to show me He is real and still cares. In my heart, God reminded me it's about Him, not them or me. In my heart, God said He will, when others said they won't.

Today, I spent time reaching out to the hardened places inside my soul which relentlessly push me to do better or to do more. God's patience and grace have worked in my heart and have given me the ability to say I've done a good job. That if I were to die tomorrow, He would say well done faithful servant.

That when I spend hour after hour in frustration wondering if I did enough, if I worked hard enough, if I talked to enough people, if I had enough patience, if I gave out enough Bibles, if I preached a good enough sermon, if I was enough of a friend, coach, or ministry director, if I handled all the paperwork properly enough, if I reflected Him enough... that He helped me understand that He is enough.

It's not about me, you, or them.

It's about Him. He is enough. It's about the God of the universe.

Today, I arrived home... in many ways, I am home.

Scotty

God is Good!

Tomorrow's Sunday... it's time for church!

I'm pumped to preach in the morning! Man, do I love preaching. I love telling people about Jesus.

Guess where I'm preaching. That's right! Right here on site at the largest men's ATP pro tournament in the world, the Cincinnati Masters!

How cool is that!

Last year, we did the same thing... and the largest news station in Cincinnati came out to film it, interview me, and interview folks in the congregation. We were given awesome prime time news coverage as one of the headline stories.

I preached on Mathew 28, the Great Commission. You know... go tell everyone about Jesus.

This year, I plan on throwing down some Galatians 2:22. It's about dying to the world and living for Christ.

If you are coming to the service, plan on some fireworks! I won't be sitting still much. I've spent a week talking with people most of whom haven't the foggiest idea what it means to live for Christ.

Now, I'm primed to bust out a sermon that will change lives!

Tournament missions info...

Want to hear some cool news? Alison, Freddy's mom, wrote today. She said that during a big televised match, the TV camera zoomed in on one of our awesome God is Good fans a little boy was holding!

An international audience saw our ICTA Fan Ministry! I can handle that anyday, my friend!

My God is Good fans are the best in the world. They are solid black with bold white lettering that says God is Good. On the left side of the fan is our cartoon guy hitting a Sampras overhead while pointing to the sky. One of my former students, Marek Czerwinski, who was the 2005 #1 junior in America, designed the cartoon figure for me last year.

Personally, I have no problem with an International Christian Tennis Association ministry program being seen by over 3,000,000+ people worldwide!! How amazing, huh!?

All is well with our missions team. We are tired, but doing well.

Tomorrow, will be a spectacular day. Church in the morning, missions work till 1pm, Roddick vs. Ferrero, Bob and Mike in doubs... then we'll pack everything up and start driving to Birmingham where we'll spend some time with friends before heading home to beautiful Palm Coast, Florida and taking a couple of day off.

This ICTA mission trip has been huge. Without question, the best ever. We've had some spectacular mission trips, but this is the top dog.

The ICTA name brand has been seen by tens of thousands, we've spoken to 100's, amazing contacts with top ministry & business professionals who have seen us work for the last 2 years at this event and the last 4 years at other events, top players & coaches, pastors & youth pastors, attorneys, teachers, housewives, tennis pros, college coaches, college players, junior players, USTA staff, USPTA staff, ESPN, and more new ICTA members than I ever expected from all over the state and around the country.

Your emails and prayers of support have meant so much! Thanks!

God is Good!

Scott Paschal
386 793 0557

Feeling the Mo Flow...

Phil, Rach, Mark, and I had a great time today meeting people, sharing information about our ministry, and watching God work in our lives and in the lives of others.

This pic is of a neat group of guys from Mexico. They flew to Cincy just for the tournament. We enjoyed talking and laughing with them. Mark (2nd from rt) is one of my fulltime Christian tennis academy students. He is also from Mexico! His parents are missionaries who plant churches. All of these funny guys are planning to come to our ICTA Church Service on Sunday at 10am. Will be great to have them join us.

Our missions team has really began to gel. The momentum has swung in our favor and we feel strong and on fire for God. Much like a tennis match has its own momentum, a mission trip does as well!

Planning and implementing a large scale, short-term mission trip is a big task. 100's of hours of work go into making it a success. There is truly much love we put in!

This mission trip to Cincy started out really rough. Satan was at his best (worst) to make life difficult for us. The mo began to change when we visited our ministry friends in Birmingham, Alabama on our way to Cincy. Spending time with people who love us means so much!

Plus, Brent came to see me! What an awesome suprise. Brent spent a semester with me, then earned a full college scholarship to a junior college in Bama. It is always so good to spend time with a former student who appreciates all the love and hard work I put into developing them. Brent's big hugs were the best.

Upon arrival in Cincy, our missions team began working very hard. God began blessing our work!

We felt the God of the universe using us in many special ways. Let me give you a few examples! Bibles & Christian books went out to 100's of people. Our "God is Good" fans were everywhere! A very famous tennis player showed fantastic interest in our exhibitor's booth.

Another famous player & his coach received our Christian books! Seekers found a place to see Christ reflecting off of us. Strong relationships were formed with pastors & youth pastors. My friend, Phil (next to me in pic), has seen God direct him into tennis ministry in a big way... in fact, I would say he will soon be one of the bigtime names in Christian tennis ministry.

I almost didn't bring ICTA to this event! I'm focused heavily on doing what it takes to build a tennis facility for ICTA, plus developing the Scott Paschal Tennis Tour Co. Plus, a mission trips is exhausting. Really, really exhausting.

That said, I almost didn't come. But, we did. For this God is blessing more at this event than at any other we have attended. He wanted us here for many reasons. He needed work to be done and no one else is willing to do it. So, here we are.

We have 2 more days, then back to Palm Coast after a night's rest in Birmingham. I have special students coming in from America and internationally for our Christian tennis academy's Fall 2006 Semester. That is always exciting!

God is blessing our efforts. I'm feeling the Mo and loving it!

God bless!

Scott Paschal
386 793 0557
www.christiantennis.net

"I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Paul in Galations 2:20

Lovin' My Enemies!

Can we talk?

Today, I feel I need to write something that is pretty important to me. Sure, my schedule is really packed right now as we are on a large scale International Christian Tennis Association mission trip... but, I'd really like to talk to you.

See this picture above? That's me on the left. Next is Mark from Mexico, Freddy , Melody, and Rachel. We're here in Cincy on a large scale mission trip reaching tens of thousands with the Gospel.

As I looked at this pic taken this afternoon, one main thought came to my mind...

Thank God for enemies.

Sounds weird, huh? But, it's true.

I can tell you 100% that I would not be in Cincy right now reaching tens of thousands for Christ if it hadn't been for those people in my life who would try to harm the growth and success of the International Christian Tennis Association.

Through the attempts of my "enemies" to cause trouble, I learned how to become more dependent on Christ to get things done. Instead of trusting in my abilities, I learned to trust His abilities. My "enemies" kept me on my toes making sure I was forced into situation after situation where I would have to rely on Him!

In attempts to slander, they kept pointing out flaws in my abilities which they felt needed to be "exposed" in order to prove I am not worthy of serving God... though these men are Godless! Some of their complaints made sense and actually helped! There were (ARE) areas I needed to improve in. Unknowingly, they showed me what the ICTA needed to do to be recognized internationally as a legitimate sports ministry.

Though it was not their intention, they helped skyrocket the advancement of International Christian Tennis Association. Through attacking our young ministry, we strengthened and grew well past all my expectations and well into what I had always imagined!

Without God using "my enemies" the ICTA may not have yet had a legitimate membership as my enemies claimed there were "no ICTA members", thus ICTA is just "a figment in Scott Paschal's imagination!" They were right! We needed legitimate members.

This, of course, led to my "imagination" leading us to gain new members at the most famous tennis events in the world during our new ICTA Global Mission Trips! Thanks guys! Now, we have legitimate members from over 1500 cities in 50 countries worldwide.

Plus, 1000's and 1000's of Bibles, Christian books, tracts, videos, ICTA bookmarks & balloons... have been given away to interested people. It was fun to personally see how God used my "enemies" to grow and develop this ministry in many ways.

In addition, my Christian mentors were initially attracted to helping me simply because they saw me getting picked on by a few bullies and felt God leading them to help me.

In other ways my "enemies" helped...our tournament booths would have been less bold, our clothing less creative, our tennis academy less Christ-centered. Everything would have been less, weaker, kind of boring and humdrum.

In fact, I might have quit sports ministry altogether and simply been a tennis director at a small club while teaching Sunday School at my local church!

But, seeing how Satan used his people to slander and bully me when I stood up for Jesus in tennis, and especially while I was working to help abused tennis players, lit a burning fire inside my heart to take the message of Salvation through Christ throughout the tennis world.

I dedicated myself to work 10 times harder and more focused than before! God gave me the strength, the connection & contacts, the finances, the patience (still working on it :), the supporters, the staff, and the friends needed. Oh, and he gave me the enemies!

Seeing Satan use his demons to manipulate & slander all of my efforts was awe inspiring. I actually enjoyed seeing his next move, and watching Bible promises become live action! If Satan was after me this much, I MUST be on to something BIG!!

Then, to see the God of the universe wait until I've learned lessons only persecution can bring and wait until I'm pretty beaten up until He steps in and takes over... one word... AMAZING.

I actually can't wait for more persecution. I understand what being crucified with Christ means. I get it now. It makes sense, now. Persecution is needed for a Christian to be effective for Christ.

I truly love my enemies. I understand what Jesus meant when He commanded us to love those who would do us harm. Phil, Jeff, Bob... I love you guys! You are the three musketeers Satan used allowed by God to grow and develop me while taking this ministry worldwide at a level higher than I thought was possible this soon.

Who knew!?

Jesus knows none of us are perfect. In fact, if you study the Bible at all, you know He chose flawed people to grow His Kingdom. He used both those people who followed Him, and those people who followed Satan, for His will to be done.

Something neat happened just this week. I was a bit stalled as to what to do with few upcoming projects. One project has the ability to bring ICTA a mid to high six figure profit. But, the project was too intensive for my limited abilities in that area. So, I prayed for God to take over in a big way. I could do a lot of good worldwide with $500,000.

So directly after my prayer, one of my "enemies" began another 1/2 truth smear campaign against me.

This motivated me and opened up my creative side which had been in a rut. It also brought the exact person I needed for my project to blossom!

My "enemy's" renewed persecution of me was exactly what I needed to see God more clearly, and to work 100% more focused and creatively. Things had staled and stalled in some ways... not now! Thanks! Now, I'm pumped and motivated and God is blessing.

This particular enemy, within a year, may have helped bring a mid to high six figure income into ICTA's finances, plus help ICTA travel internationally in a way that was not expected for another 5 years, if then! His recent persecution of me brought the God of the universe to bring a specifically needed group of people into my life.

Something so simple as new attack from an old enemy motivated God to motivate this friend of mine to take over and grow one of my dreams, which will take my ministry to a level I only dreamed about. The enemy God placed in my has done it again! His bully & scare tactics in a really odd way are such a blessing.

I'm going to make my three bully musketeers a deal, right here and now!

10% of all income from this ICTA dream becoming reality ministry program will be placed into the new Thanks Jeff! Thanks Phil! Thanks Bob! ICTA Tennis & College Scholarship Program for boys and girls. I would love to one day be able to provide tens of $1000's to bring kids to ICTA's Christ centered, high performance tennis academy in Florida for free! And to provide college scholarships to kids with financial needs! Awesome!

Jeff, Phil, and Bob... my three musketeer bully enemies will help terrific tennis juniors to come train with me fulltime for free! What a fun thought I look forward to sharing!

This program will bless kids worldwide as they attend ICTA's tennis academy and mission trips on a scholarship basis paid 100% by the program blessed by the slander from all of you! Plus, college! Wow!

It's amazing to see the way God makes things happen we could never have done on our own.
What an amazing mission trip week this has been. God blesses faithfulness.

Enemies can be your best friends! In fact, a fair estimate would be that all of my current mentors were attracted to supporting me by discovering the enemies Satan brought to attempt to defeat the Gospel being spread throughout the tennis world internationally!

Now, in some ways, because of you three bullies, people worldwide are discovering Christ! In an odd way... thanks!

For those of you reading this blog entry, pray for your enemies. God uses them for His very specific needs. With the God of the universe on your side, nothing will stand in your way.

Now, on to the Cincy mission trip...


Here's a pic of a couple of new ICTA Cincy members! How cute is this wonderful girl! She liked our God is Good fan a lot!


Here's a pic of our booth! Melody Snelen ( ICTA staff since 1999) is working hard signing up new members, giving away tshirts to those who provide a donation to ICTA, giving people Bibles, signing up people to travel with ICTA members on Scott Paschal Tennis Tours, telling people about our upcoming ICTA cruise on the Music Boat, and telling people about Jesus!

We're on pace to gain more new members this year that all of last year! Pastors, tennis coaches & pros, housewives, doctors, teachers... many people from all walks of life. And we have made a great new personal connection with a top ATP coach & player. Plus, a highly famous tennis player viewed our entire booth with interest & curiosity.

The International Christian Tennis Association points to Jesus. He is our focus. Every ICTA program He designs and blesses. I work hard to be less of me and more of him. And hey, as the baby of the family & a tennis pro, it's hard to not be the center of attention! But, I'm learning!

And He's patiently teaching in His timing an His ways.

Phil... Jeff... Bob... thanks guys! Thanks for being exactly who you are and doing those manipulative things you do.

For those of you currently under persecution, please focus on Christ. It could be that He is trying to get your attention to take you to the next level!

Finally, Scott C., my new friend, I love doing the new radio show with you! You are surely a talent and I look forward to many great shows reaching millions each week for Him.

God bless from beautiful Cincy at the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters!

Scott Paschal
www.christiantennis.net
386 793 0557

Cincinnati Mission Trip...

Welcome to my journal for our International Christian Tennis Association mission trip to Cincinnati, Ohio during the Cincinnati Master's Series ATP tournament. That's me on the right! I'm standing with a new ICTA member who is both a Reverend and a PH.D. and looks forward to working with us to grow God's Kingdom.

I am honored to be in this beautiful area again for the 2nd year in a row serving God as He leads.

The Cincinnati Master's is simply one of the finest managed professional tennis events in the world. Players, fans, media, and exhibitors (me!) all look forward to coming each year! If you live in the heartland of America and can attend just one event this year... I highly recommend you come here with us!

I'll locate some "blogtime" each day to keep you updated. Internet time is hard to come by with our busy schedule, but knowing our web site home page is now receiving at times up to 800 hits per day (up from 5 hits per week in 2003:)... with up to 15,000 page views per week... well, that gets me pretty excited and motivated to write in my journal.

This mission trip began months ago with financial preparation, supplies logistics, and manpower needs. 100's of hours of prep time followed by 100's of hours of volunteer work make International Christian Tennis Association mission trips happen.

We left Palm Coast last Thursday to drive to Birmingham, Alabama. Birmingham is about 1/2 way to Cincy. We all stayed the night with a ministry friend/mentor of mine. He and his wife took us out to eat and gave us a welcome night's rest in their house. After breakfast we all played tennis and had a great time before we headed back out on the road to Cincy.

On Saturday we arrived in Cincy after 3 days on the road. We stayed the night at a friend's house before checking into our hotel. Sunday, we visited the tournament site, received our credentials, checked the booth, then headed over to King's Island where everyone rode a bunch of roller coaster rides till dark! Fun time! We all are allowed in King's Island Amusement park for free while we are here.

We are all very tired, but glad we made it here safely and grateful God is using us to reach people for Him. This week will be full of very special Kingdom work and I look forward to the adventures ahead.

Please keep us in your prayers.

God bless!

Scott Paschal
Christian Tennis Nut

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Awesome Christian Tennis Camp!

We have had an amazing time here in beautiful Palm Coast, Florida at the International Christian Tennis Association's High Performance Christian Tennis Camp.

This is Scott Paschal, I run the place...

and I love tennis!

I love to coach tennis and I love to hit balls.

Tennis is the greatest sport in the world. I wish each of you could come visit me and train! I wish I had more room to bring in more players. This Christian tennis camp has been outstanding and you would love it.

Yes, I wrote Christian. Such a scandalous word these days!

But, you know what? I don't care! Jesus is the real deal. If you don't believe me, give me a call. I'll be glad to tell you all about Him, as well as answer your tough questions. I may just be a smalltime preacher, but I'm not afraid to answer the hard questions about Jesus that people need answered.

With the God of the universe on my side, how could I be afraid!? And to me, it takes more faith to be an atheist than a Christian! So, call me and let's talk.

The weather has been fantastic for our 2 a day workouts! My students have been a blast! This group was fun, and I mean fun! I keep my camps small, just 7 to 10 players total so I can really develop them. As such, we all have so much fun getting to really know each other.

Here are a few pics to let you meet everyone! I'll write more in a bit...

A quick pic during practice of ICTA Christian Tennis Campers! In this pic is Jesse, Jon, Me, Rachel,and Chris. Not in pic are Joe, Kara, Melody, and Mark.

Playing some doubles at the end of workout!

I love to cook! This night I cooked some chicken on the grill outside. We also had mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, and fresh snapped green beans. This is a pic of (lt to rt) Chris, Mark, Melody Snelen, Kara, and Rachel Snelen. We had a blast hitting balls twice today, enjoyed a great dinner, then they all went bowling in their pajamas before coming back home and destroying a delicious watermelon!

This is a pic of the kitchen in my house. I'm there in the back wearing a white sleeveless shirt. We're all hanging out spending some time with Mark's mom, Robin (rt). Robin and her husband are missionaries in Mexico. Mark (fulltime student) is seated at the table in the light blue shirt.

The gang loves to go bowling in their pajamas! Chris is THE worst bowler in the world.

Finishing lunch!

Here's a pic of Kara and Jesse playing ping pong. I love ping pong! It is amazing for hand eye coordination... and much better for teamwork and bonding than TV or the internet!

What a fantastic time I have enjoyed with a special group of Christian athletes during my tennis camp these last few weeks! We have all enjoyed an incredible experience of growing closer to Christ. I am always in awe of God working in the hearts and minds of young athletes when they are immersed in His word.

You see, I am not only passionate about world class tennis and want my students to improve way beyond their wildest expectations, which I have seen over and over, I am also passionate about Jesus! I am totally consumed with love for the God of the universe.

I wasn't always, but I am now. My life as a teen and a young adult was difficult... parent's divorce, Dad's death, sports injuries... I was heading the wrong way in a big way!

But, God used my old football coach and a pastor to keep me from giving up completely. Their positive Christian influence helped shape the life of a scared and lonely young kid named Scott Paschal! These two men of God pointed to Jesus and taught me what He looks like.

They loved me and cared about me, though I didn't see much of me that was worth their love. God reached me!

So, now I am a person who loves the Lord with all I have and I want to tell everyone about eternal Salvation through faith in Jesus! Wow, I get excited just typing this!

Ok, back to the camp! We pounded the fuzz off of those tennis balls in 2 a day workouts. Man, I love hitting tennis balls. And I love hitting twice a day!

We'd all wake up and have breakfast, enjoy a wonderful Discipleship Training, then jump on our Gary Fisher mountain bikes to ride to the courts. Everybody was stoked (oops, '80's vocab... sorry teens) to hit for the entire camp.

I get excited because I can say every single player in my camp improved every single day! How many coaches can say that and how many parents would 100% agree. I love seeing my kids get stronger, faster, more flexible, quicker, smarter!

We pounded the ball in 2 on 1 change of direction drills. We worked hard in the hot Florida sun. We had an amazing time pushing ourselves to achieve our best.

Workouts were so strong and confident I couldn't wait for the next one! Every kid improved! Every kid had a blast! Our stereo system was blasting out some tunes, the kids were pounding the ball, I'm coaching and hitting! AWESOME!

But, as fun as the tennis training was... something even better was going on. I was teaching a fantastic series on Leadership Development in our Discipleship Training after breakfast!

Kids today have little knowledge of leadership skills! You know what kids today know!? They know how to isolate themselves. They lock themselves in their own little worlds while singing the tune me-me-me. A typical top junior tennis player today looks like this...

They spend most of their day isolated and alone. They sit in front of a laptop computer for 6 to 10 hours a day. What do they do... they IM (instant message) their friends, write emails, and mindlessly surf the net. While doing this they usually have a set of headphones pumping garbage into their heads from their IPOD with at least 5000 songs on it most of which they stole of the www with Limewire. Of course their cell phone is busily ringing or dialing or taking pics or receiving messages. And during this mess they take breaks to play video games or watch TV!

Kids today are in trouble! They have learned to shut out the real world and live in a fantasy world of isolation!

To help, I speak passionately about the need for Christian kids to stand up and be different from the world. How can they lead someone to Christ if they are locked in their own little, isolated, world!? And how can they lead someone to Christ when they have no leadership skills!?

So, for this awesome Christian tennis camp we focused on Christian leadership skill development.

We studied such things as Character, Charisma, commitment, Communication, Competence, Courage, Discernment, Focus, Generosity, Initiative, Listening, Passion, Positive Attitude, Problem Solving, Relationships, Responsibility, Security, Self-Discipline, Servanthood, Teachability, and Visions.

Wow, that's great stuff! The kids ate it up! They loved it. They know they needed it and they loved how it began to rewire their way of viewing the world!

Jesus is amazing. He is so opposite of boring! Yes, the Bible is totally able to out-do the internet any day! When kids start to understand their responsibility as young Christian men and women, they begin to crave learning more about Jesus!

We had such a GREAT time together. From Ping Pong wars, to bowling in their pajamas, to board games, to swimming at the beach after workout, to Christian videos & Discipleship training, to homecooked meals, to 2 a day tennis workouts... this has been another AWESOME tennis camp.

The Fall Semester is shaping up to be just as incredible! The kids coming in are going to grow so much in their faith. The focus around here is Jesus. Everything points to Him!

Hitting tennis balls and telling people about Jesus... can life get any better!!?

God bless!

Scott Paschal
www.christiantennis.net
386 793 0557

The Birth of a Mission Trip...

God is so blessing the International Christian Tennis Association, my staff, our tennis missionary students, and me.

This is Scott Paschal, I'm the current Ministry Director of the ICTA.

This has been another one of those weeks I have been in awe of Him. The way God brings people in and out of my life for very specific reasons and seasons is amazing to personally witness.

Our upcoming mission trip to the largest men's pro tournament in the world, the Cincinnati Masters Series, reminds me of just how fun it can be to see God at work... how he used a small step in faith to do big things!

I'll try to explain. Just over a year ago, ICTA was invited to be a major sponsor of the most prestigious junior tennis tournament for 12-and-unders in the United States. We agreed and committed to a large investment of our time and finances. The blessed response from God to our faithful committment was immediate and incredible. He was making sure we knew He was there guiding our steps.

Rach, Mel, and I had arrived to the tournament hotel sign-in area late that day. We only had maybe 30 minutes to do a 1.5 hr prep job on our table. Needless to say, we didn't get everything set up before the little squirts began to arrive to sign-in. At first, we were concerned that we didn't have everything out. We wanted everyone to know what our ministry offered!

But, God had other plans. He didn't need our fancy signs! God had our table surrounded with kids within 10 minutes of the doors opening... and it stayed that way for over 3 hours! In fact, I'm not sure if the kids went to any other table. It was awesome.

At the tournament hotel where sign-in would take place, we were given a 8' table in the sign-in room. Others had tables as well. To make a long story short, our table had kids packed up to 5 to 10 deep! They surrounded us from all sides! Nearly every table was empty of kids, except ours.

These young juniors are the future of American tennis. Capriotti, Agassi, and Spadea all had previously won this tournament. Now, here was a new generation of future pros surrounding us from all sides learning about how much Jesus loves them.

I gave them all an ICTA God is Good T-Shirt. Every kid that wanted one received this gift for free!

They received Bibles, some for the first time! We had our balloons and bookmarks. Plus, they received either The Prayer of Jabez for Kids or The Secrets of the Grapevine for Kids. These two amazing books were written by Bruce Wilkenson.

I think everyone there was amazed at how God reached these kids that day. They were starving for something meaningful in their empty chase of high junior rankings. By the time sign-in was over, over 70% of the 128 girls and the 128 boys had signed up to become members of the International Christian Tennis Association! More would have, but they couldn't reach us at our table before their practice court was available.

#1, #2, #3, #5, #6, #7, #8, #10... dozens of the top girls and boys in the nation poured into the ICTA family.

It was absolutely incredible. During sign-in, kids already were wearing their new ICTA God is Good shirts everywhere! Normally cranky & competitive tennis parents were actually speaking with each other. The tournament staff was overwhelmed at the wonderful response, and were praised by the parents for not discriminating against our Christian ministry.

How can I adequately explain how amazing I felt seeing everything unfold. There aren't enough words. Parents thanked us constantly. People called friends to tell the of our tennis ministry and our many ministry programs. The impact was immediate and the ripples shot out nationwide.

Now, let me talk about the financial side. Our ministry's total financial investment value was really high... an astronomically high sponsorship fee, 200 t-shirts, 250 books/Bibles/devotionals, balloons & bookmarks, tracts, coloring books & crayons, 600 miles of travel expenses... our little ministry's total financial investment value was around $7000 for a 4hr window of opportunity to reach these kids for Christ.

Ouch! We are a volunteer driven organization with no financial backers or major donors!

We made the financial commitment before we knew if we could afford it. We're a really small ministry, and we volunteer our time to make this ministry happen. But, we just knew God was leading us to be at the junior tournament! So, we went. On faith and faith alone.

Within hours of this committment, God provided a random person who paid for the entire sponsorship fee! I'm not kidding. Rach & Mel were talking to a lady who was providing them a host home at a Pro-Am they were competing in... and the lady wanted to pay for it. Amazing.

As 200 ICTA God is Good T-Shirts made their way to their new homes nationwide, as kids began to read God-blessed books, as Bibles were studied, as ICTA bookmarks made their way into schools, as the ICTA God is Good T-Shirts were worn in tennis facilities and at top junior tennis tournaments...

as parents were forced to realize tennis is small and God is big, as tennis pros read God is Good while their star students trained on their courts, as fathers began nightly Christian devotionals with their sons and daughters with the gift books they received...

as people began asking these kids & parents who Jesus is, as people began to see Jesus, as Jesus began to become the focal point of conversation instead of tennis...

God began blessing ICTA.

How? There is not enough room in this journal entry. I would need to talk with you for hours and hours. Yet, suffice to say, that little mission trip was just a test of faith by God for me. It was Him asking me to trust His plan.

It was the Creator of the universe having patience with the guy who thought $7000 was going to be a lot of money for 4 hrs of ministry. It was about me being taught how little I know and how much He knows.

That little financial investment brought the God of the universe alongside us while He grew our ministry way past where we thought we could be at that point.

The small investment of our time turned into an uncountable number of hours of others investing back into us. Our baby steps of faith were so blessed as God taught us further how to walk with Him.

How? Well, ICTA's annual large scale mission trip to the Cincinnati Master's Series is a direct result of our short mission trip to a junior tennis tournament! Through a God sized series of events which began at that junior tennis tournament, ICTA was brought to Cincy! I get pumped just thinking about it, again!

I'm excited to drive to Cincy! This is going to be an incredible mission trip & tennis camp!

People will meet Jesus through our work. I love that thought.

I've met Jesus.

My life is a direct result of His love and grace.

Christ has so affected my life that all I want to do now is share Him with you. Some people say He isn't real. I tell them they should meet Him like I did. This is going to be an AWESOME mission trip...

Look for journal updates with pics of our wonderful missionaries, tennis camps, booth, missions, etc on the home page of our web site!

Stepping out in faith is incredible.

God bless!

Scott Paschal
www.christiantennis.net
386 793 0557

A Christian Tennis Welcome to Chris from Evert's!

Hello there!

This is Scott Paschal...

This past week has been a whirlwind of activity for my smalltown self.

I hope your week has been good and that God is busily developing your dreams and goals. He certainly will if you give Him the opportunity to come inside your life and be your guide. I'm living proof!

First, let me say how much fun I'm having with my new student, Chris!

What neat guy and a breath of fresh air to begin the new season. I've known Chris' family for over 3 years.

His mom, Susie, is a pediatrician in Miami, and his dad, Chuck, is a psychiatrist on staff at a Miami church. Both of Chris' parents are wonderful, caring supporters of the International Christian Tennis Association, and of me!

Chris had been at the Evert Tennis Academy in Boca.

Susie called me to see if I could coach Chris. I had no openings, but after a few days I really felt God calling me to work with him, so I agreed.

Chris had been on a mission trip to Cuba ministering to prostitutes, thieves, drug addicts in the streets. That was his first experience being involved heavily in street missions. The experience changed him in many ways and he wanted to continue.

Also, he wanted to take his tennis to a new level. Susie told me they didn't want Chris to go back to Evert's.

Everything led to me feeling really positive about working with Chris.

Well, Chris is here now and is thriving! His personality is wonderful; calm, low key, funny, relaxed. He loves his improvement.

Let me tell you something, I am a passionate tennis coach who loves to see my students break through barriers and plateaus.

My students never stand in lines! They never get bored. They hit and hit and they improve. I have developed very intensive workouts that work. I make my player's think and become independent.

I teach them to work hard. They learn to focus. And I instill in them the ability to have fun! Tennis is fun! It is the greatest sport in the world.

Be focused, play well, have fun.

Speaking of the greatest sport in the world, let's talk about our tennis facility project.

Yesterday, I spent 1/2 the day meeting with the two gentlemen who are interested in donating land to the International Christian Tennis Association for our use in building a tennis facility.

The meeting was such a blessing. Both of these men are so special.

Our talks went well and we are still moving forward together towards a land acquisition for ICTA.

Originally, I wanted about an acre. Enough to allow me to build a modest approx. 7 court facility and have a nice proshop. Well, they decided that 1.25 acres wouldn't be enough! So, they upped the offer to 3 acres!

Both men said if we're going to do this then let's do it right!

Their thoughts are to allow us to really build something special that would stand out in the community.

By building in phases on 3 acres, the International Christian Tennis Association could build a tennis facility with 16 tennis courts, along with a shed to hold equipment and a nice 2-story pro shop with open-air seating on the top floor for guests to watch the tennis and golf... and even a small school building for our academy students which could double as a church on Sundays.

Much work needs to be done for this to continue forward.

I'm appreciative at this opportunity. Of course, I understand it may not happen at all when everything is said and done.

God has his plans and they could be much different than mine. I have become accustomed to God leading me in many different directions. (I sometimes feel like a puppy on a leash learning to heel.)

Sometimes, God changes my plans so quickly I can seem kind of goofy! Those are the times I have learned to laugh at myself! I have certainly learned to be flexible as God teaches me to be obedient.

My nature is to do what I want to do, so God has really had to work me over and over to get me to this point!

Let's talk mission trips for a minute...

Melody Snelen is back from her mission trip to Hammond, Louisiana where she reached the WTA players for Christ during an ITF $50,000 tournament.

Her mission work went well, and she had a great time competing in the event. Plus, Mel enjoyed a fantastic time with her host family! Carol, Jack, Dobbin, Braden, Garen, Kallen... thank you so much for caring for our special missionary!

Mel won her first match. She played a gal with a ranking of WTA 832 and beat her 6-3, 6-0. Mel is recovering from a nearly 4 month injury, so it was nice for her to have a complete match with no pain!

Plus, she beat a strong, ranked opponent!

In her second match, Mel lost 6-0, 6-0!

The good news was she had game points in over half of the games, and all but one game went to deuce. The difference maker was her opponent has much more experience and didn't get nervous on big points!

Melody's opponent went on to qualify into the main draw, then she lost a close match with the #1 seed, who is ranked 130WTA! This has helped give Mel loads more confidence!

Rachel Snelen is currently flying back from her mission trip to Toronto, Canada! She, also, did well. Discipling a new Christian and spending time with a seeker, God really used rach in special ways.

Tennis-wise, Rachel played great while winning a match against a Canadian junior national champion 6-1,6-2.

Then, she lost 6-2,6-0 to a much better player.

In her loss, Rachel also had many game points. Rachel's opponent went on to split sets with the 2nd seed, who is ranked 252WTA.

I am excited to see her develop at this new WTA level. It is realistic to see Rachel and Melody gain a top 500 WTA level by next summer.

Before I log off, I'd like to share with you what an AMAZING job Student Life at the Beach did last week!

You people are incredible! What a fantastic event. Over 7000 teens invaded Daytona Beach, Florida for this powerful Christian event.

My buddy led worship, so Mel and I took off Thursday nite to watch him and listen to his music. The worship and the speaking were unbelievable. The whole event had an impact on me.

I felt myself change and improve inside.

The next day is when Melody and I drove to Daytona Beach to pick up Chris. He had attended the whole week of SL@B with 300+ members of his youth group.

We picked up Chris, then picked up my ministry buddy who had led the worship for the week.

After that, we all headed to the beautiful Florida Tennis Center to play some clay court tennis! I was given a tennis court to play on even though there was a large tournament in progress. Thanks FTC!

After our great clay court workout, we all took my Jeep Wrangler to Chic-Fil-A for lunch. What a great day with good friends in sunny Florida.

Enjoy your week this week.

Your International Christian Tennis Association is busily preparing for our large scale mission trip to Cincinnati, Ohio for the largest men's ATP pro tournament in the world, The Western & Southern Financial Group Masters.

As well as preparing our women's ICTA Pro Tennis Team to journey to Vancouver, Canada for a women's ITF $25,000 tournament.

Mission work is the best! I love telling people about Jesus!

Is there anything better!? No way!

God bless!

Scott Paschal
www.christiantennis.net