WTA Player: A New Christian

Hello!


I have been in fulltime Christian ministry since 1999. My love is to share my love of Jesus through speaking, writing, coaching, and directing the daily aspects of the ICTA.

Feel free to use this article as a Christian tract to give to people at tennis tournaments.

International Christian Tennis Association women's pro team rocks!

Rachel Snelen forehand

Go ICTA Women's Pro Tennis Team!

Mission Trip: Baltimore, Maryland

(Pics are of ICTA Pro Team, and friends on the pro tour.)

To say this has been a fabulous week would be an understatement. God is so good. Can I share with you my favorite part of what has happened in my life recently?

A few days ago, Rachel Snelen called me from the mission field to tell me about how she and Mel led a really special girl to Salvation through acceptance of Jesus as her Lord and Savior! I was so grateful to receive that phone call.

God has blessed their Baltimore mission trip in many, many ways. In a world full of selfish people, I am awed at the unselfishness of our International Christian Tennis Association twins, Rachel and Melody Snelen!

This phone call from rach was one of the greatest I'd received all year.

Rach Snelen and her twin sister, Melody Snelen, are Christian tennis missionaries. The ITF & WTA pro tours are their main mission fields. Rachel is a newly ranked WTA Tour player, and Mel has a WTA point with a strong possibility to earn her WTA ranking this year.

Neither girl is interested in trying to earn a living as a professional tennis player. They know players ranked below 50 WTA barely earn a profit after expenses!

The goal for Rach and Mel Snelen was simply to learn to achieve a seemingly impossible dream... become skilled enough to earn a rare WTA Tour ranking. Rach has done this, and Mel will soon.

Now because of their long term dedication to excellence, the WTA Tour is a mission field for them in ways previously unaccessable! And God is blessing their efforts.

To help further their personal ministry, I am busily at work studying ways to send Rachel and Melody worldwide while they lead the International Christian Tennis Association Women's Pro Tennis Team's mission trips.

Properly organized and financed, it is realistic for ICTA to send these two incredible tennis missionaries to 30 tournaments over a 12 month period. Currently, well over 1/2 of these expenses are covered. I'm sure God will bring about the rest of the needed expenses.

Many years ago, I had a dream in my heart to send Christian missionaries into the tennis world, particularly to tennis tournaments, in order to share the Gospel. Tennis is such a Godless sport. Selfishness & hatefulness abound unchecked.

To know a young, teenage WTA ranked player has just accepted Christ Jesus as her Lord and Savior after hearing the Good News through the efforts of International Christian Tennis Association missionaries is something that dramatically impacted me this week.

This young lady, this new Christian!, has the potential to reach many people in her own sphere of influence... parents, coach, peers. As her WTA ranking reaches the top, God may use her in new ways to reach a vast audience.

Along the way, I look forward to watching God work in her life to show her a sense of real purpose, and to reach others for Him.

ICTA's Womens Pro Tennis Team will travel to Hamilton, Canada soon for a mission trip to an ITF $25,000 tournament.

The missions team for this mission trip will be Rach and Mel. Please keep these girls in your prayers that they will reach others for Him.

God bless,

Scott Paschal
www.christiantennis.net

ICTA Pro Tennis Team

July is kicking off with a bang as the International Christian Tennis Association has sent a team of missionaries to Baltimore, Maryland!

This is Scott Paschal...

The ICTA Women's Pro Tennis Team, led by Rach (pictured left), is journeying to an International Tennis Federation, ITF, women's $75,000 tournament.

The ITF provides professional tennis tournaments for tennis players to compete in so they can earn WTA (for women) or ATP (for men) points, as well as a small income to help cover expenses. These points are used to build a players professional WTA or ATP ranking.

ICTA offers a Christian ministry at ITF events such as this one.

Tennis facilities worldwide have amazing people who host ITF events. This is great! The more opportunity players have to develop their skills, the higher their level of play can become. Plus, it is terrific for the reputation of a tennis facility as well as the city where it resides!

The ICTA Women's Pro Tennis Team is competing in the tournament today, as I write. Yet, more importantly, they are meeting new friends and establishing new friendships.

As an example of this, yesterday, Rach hit with a WTA ranked teen entered in the tournament she met soon after arriving at The Tennis Center at College Park, where the tournament is being held.

They established a friendship!

This is great! From this new friendship, two ICTA Pro Tennis Team members received host housing.

How?

Well, Rachel's new friend was rooming with another WTA ranked teen in a host home. They had room for two more! How great is that!? Strong bonds of friendship are forming!

This is really exciting. Rach has already met two new world class WTA ranked players who have become her friends... and new little sisters!

She has received host housing for her time at the FNMC National City Classic ITF $75,000. Plus, she has received a WTA point by being accepted into the qualying draw, which nearly doubled her point total and will raise her WTA ranking by nearly 100 spots. Plus, Rach has earned $160 (minus taxes and entry) to help cover her expenses for this mission trip and for some of her next one!

Each day will bring new friendships and new opportunity for the ICTA Pro Tennis Team. An ITF 75K is the highest level ITF tournament before WTA Tier 3 events.

The competitors in this event are phenomenal! Camile Pin in the main draw is ranked 98 WTA!

And Story Tweedy Yates in the qualifier is ranked 352 WTA! The ICTA Women's Pro Tennis Team will make many frienships with the other players.

Through these contacts and friendships, players from around the world will come to know Christ deeper, or maybe for the first time.

From this, also, the ICTA Tennis Academy will gain new students who will come and train for tennis, for Christian missions, and for further discipleship in Christ.

Players who have been abused will be offered shelter and safety. Young players and their families will receive guidance and support for further success on the pro tour.

Rach first started playing tennis at 12 years of age with her mom, dad, twin sis, and brother at a local park. At 14 years, Rach and her twin, Mel, started hitting on their own wherever they could find a court.

The tennis courts became their home away from home! She had her first tennis lesson at 16, then began training fulltime at the ICTA Tennis Academy shortly after. A

s a beginning level player at 16 year of age, the possibility of her gaining a WTA ranking and playing professional was, well, impossible.

Yet, she did it!

Rach did the impossible!

And her twin sister, Mel, is following right behind her... as always.

Both Rach and Mel are becoming known in the Christian world, as well as the tennis world, as dedicated women who love the Lord with all their hearts. God is blessing them.

What started out as an seemingly impossible dream for a couple of 16 year old twins beginning to take tennis seriously ... to earn a WTA ranking and play pro tennis... has turned into a Christian ministry for both Rach and Mel.

The struggles along this 6+ year journey have been difficult, yet they have overcome every obstacle with class as they have achieved their goal! Both are stronger mentally, emotionally, and spiritually than ever...

Now, God is taking them further than they could have ever dreamed possible... again.

God is using their dream for His ministry.... I'm so proud of them.

Serve hard, gals!

Coach Scotty