When we were getting ready to make our decision to move to Haiti, we got together with Torrey and Heather Babb, founders of The Mission Ball, at my parents house. At the time my mom was on the board of director's for The Mission Ball and my sister and I had even taken the balls ourselves to Haiti on the last trip we went on. Torrey and Heather gave us great advice, talked about life in Haiti, and really just encouraged us in homeschooling and spiritual practices to stay healthy while in the mission field. They really have poured so much of their lives into missions; missions in so many ways is their life. For that reason, God is at work through the Mission Ball, but he has also been so actively at work in their lives and in their marriage and in the past fe months I have been so privileged to be in their sphere of influence and witness the ways that God is moving!
I am sure many of you are asking, "Well, what is the Mission Ball?"
(from www.themissionball.com)
The Mission Ball is simply a soccer ball covered with Biblical text. It includes the 10 Commandments, God’s simple plan of Salvation, and selected Scripture. The text can be viewed in its entirety here. The Mission Ball is made of quality materials and is durable enough for normal soccer play. The Mission Ball is hand stitched for better quality and a longer life. The text is silk screened onto the leather and will not easily rub off during play on rough surfaces. The ball is currently available in 21 languages.
Torrey with a group of children in Guatemala
Torrey sharing the gospel using the Mission Ball
One of the other things I support about the Mission Ball...The Mission Ball family truly has a desire to prepare people for mission trips and go into areas around the world with a purpose, prepared not only to "Go and make disciples of all nations" but also ready and willing to take that to the next verse where Christ says, "teaching them to observe all that I commanded you..." (Mathew 28:19-20) Torrey recently made a video series that can be viewed here. This series is currently made up of 30 videos that walk someone who is interested in going on a mission trip, either in their backyard or internationally, through the different steps and aspects of missions in order to prepare their hearts to serve outside of their comfort zones. This resonates with me so much! We have seen a gamer of volunteers come and go here in our short time and it is so evident when people come into our gates not for their own purposes and agendas; not because of the color of their skin, their education, or what they think they know and how they think they can help, but rather with open hearts, the word or God on their lips and a moldable and willing spirit to serve "the least of these". If you are wanting to know more about missions, maybe you are prompted to go or maybe you just don't know much about them in general, Torrey's video series is a GREAT place to start gaining knowledge.
(Another AMAZING resource that we have used with our teams, in regards to short term mission trips, is Bob Lupton's 'Letter to a Short-Term Missionary'. You can read that here.
Another aspect of the Babb's mission has developed just in the past few months and is headed up by Heather and is called, Heather Babb Designs. A few years ago Heather started making scarves and flowers out of old t-shirts and old clothes. She mainly did this for family and friends, but has since found her products to be on high demand. She started selling them more often to raise money for the Mission Ball and from there her business has just taken off like wild fire. She travels around the midwest area to craft shows with her products not just selling her handmade crafts but promoting the Mission Ball and the gospel as well. You can check out her Facebook page here. And a variety of her products are often available at The Blessed Door in Sioux Falls, SD, through contacting Heather directly, or even by hosting a home party. All proceeds from Heather Babb Designs go towards The Mission Ball.
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