The Choices We Make

Our lives are all about the choices we make. Our daughters play tennis. In Florida, tennis is an all year sport. Tournaments happen on the weekends. To advance in tennis the conventional way, you play tournaments. Saturday is not always a problem for us, but Sunday is. The ministry in which God has placed us happens on Sunday. Consequently, the girls have never participated in a tournament. Currently, Andrea is the best tennis player in the house. She has been blessed greatly in spite of our choices which are not understood by most in the tennis world. She really wanted to play in the Deerwood Fall Classic which took place this weekend. We entered her. When the draw was posted, all the 18's matches were on Sunday except one, the one Andrea was in. This was a single elimination draw and we hoped she would pass the first round and maybe play a second on Saturday. It didn't appear that that would be the case. Andrea's opponent was, we thought, Russian. She was not seeded. We had no idea what she would be up against, but I was very concerned that she would only play one match. The second round was 11 am Sunday.

When we got to the match, Jimmy and I were talking to the girls father. What an amazing story. The girl, Anastasiya Kharchenko, is actually Unkranian. She is the number one player in the Ukraine and fifth in Europe. Her "father" Scott Paschal is a pastor in Palm Coast. He heads and organization called International Christian Tennis Association. He brings in kids from all over the world and teaches them tennis. Back to Ana, he rescued her. She played tennis in the Ukraine until her parents ran out of money and they arranged for her to come to the United States. She was given to coach that abused her and eventually left her in Juarez, Mexico. This is where missionaries from Scotts organization found her and brought her to him. He eventually adopted her. She has given her life to be a missionary to the tennis world. She is a great tennis player and will probably be seen in the pros soon.

When we told Scott that this was Andrea's first tournament, he was concerned about her. He wanted to make us understand that Ana was not what she would normally meet in tournaments. She was there as a missionary and to help the local tournament. We, unlike most people, have a different prospective. This, to us, was a blessing from God. Our hearts are with missionaries of all kinds. Scott has a unique plan to get the gospel to the Godless tennis arena. He has a website that tells it all christiantennis.net. It may be an opportunity for Andrea to use her talents for God. God blessed our decisions and when we decided to enter a tournament, through divine providence we met a wonderful group of people. What a blessing, she only played one match, but that match was profitable for more than tennis.