February 2012

Anatomy of a Gospel Trick Shot Tour—GTS ASIA by Steve Lillis

This morning I was reading an article by Dr. David Jeremiah on being a World Christian and taking personal responsibility for “The Great Commission” and missions. So in this article I would like to encourage you to get involved in what God is doing around the world by sharing with you the nuts and bolts of how God has been putting together our Gospel Trick Shot Tour to Asia for the summer of 2012. In 2003 God placed me back on the pro tour in the USA and shortly thereafter I began to rise in the professional rankings. In 2004 I was invited to represent the United States with 12 other U.S. players in the WPA World 9 Ball Championships in Taipei City, Taiwan. There was a total of 128 players representing dozens of countries from around the world. While competing I quickly realized that the Filipinos were the best players in the world and there were many invited to that event. In the final analysis they dominated the final rounds of the world championship and I began to befriend many of them. I was so fascinated with their apparent Godly behavior on the pool table and wondered why. I soon learned that they are a very superstitious people and treat people the way they would want to be treated for fear that unsportsmanlike conduct would come back to haunt them. My interest in the Filipino players and their country peaked in 2008 when I met some sports missionaries working with FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) at the annual Christian Sports and Recreation Ministry (CSRM) Summit in Phoenix, AZ. They were excited that I was using pool/billiard as a means of evangelizing and shared with me how they noticed pool tables everywhere in the Philippines. So a date was set for late summer 2008 to work with FCA in the Philippines doing Gospel Trick Shot. However the birth of my first grandchild kept me home in 2008 and with the blessing of FCA we postponed the trip sensing that God had something bigger in mind. Indeed the Lord did have something bigger as in the summer of 2011 I was introduced to two missionaries who work in the Philippines, Rob Boswell with World Intent Ministries headquartered out of North Carolina and Jonathan Abraham with Word of Life headquartered out of Schroon Lake, NY. Both were excited to hear about GTS and offered to host outreach events. Now for the final pieces to the proverbial puzzle! My dear friends and World Artistic Pool Champions Tom “Dr. Cue” Rossman and Mike Massey joined with me in an outreach show in Orlando, FL at the end of the summer of 2011. Both indicated they would like to do more outreach with GTS. In 2010 Tom went to Egypt and in 2011 Mike went to Egypt as I could not accept the invitations to do Gospel Trick Shot at a youth festival with some 15,000 Egyptian young people. Both Tom and Mike came back from their outreaches in Egypt supercharged with the Holy Spirit and wanting to do more. I invited Tom and Mike to join me in the Philippines and now the dates are set for June 8 through July 10, 2012. All three of us use McDermott Cue Sticks and that company offered to buy us plane tickets. Now with news spreading of our tour to Asia we have two other countries interested in hosting us, Japan and China. We need prayer as we are as of this writing undecided about the other two countries. Do we focus on the Philippines or do we take advantage of the opportunity of being in Asia and sharing Christ in two other nations. One more request that is absolutely essential is that we need a security person as there will be crowds, shopping mall shows, TV cameras, and other venues. Scott Pruiksma has agreed to go with us and needs $3,500. Scott has served with us in Albania twice and other venues in the USA. Scott is a great fit as he is a fireman, town councilman, trainer for disaster relief, and will be able to watch out for our equipment and personal effects. Scott plans to visit local firehouses and offer to share disaster relief training. If you feel led to share and help Scott please make checks payable to GTS and write Scott Pruiksma in the memo section. Thanks and God bless as you consider what God would have you do for “The Great Commission” and missions.           

Pictured on the top is a planning meeting with Gary Vistacion of FCA and Rob Boswell of World Intent. Meeting took place on the Island of Cebu this month. Picture on the bottom is a Christian owned shopping mall in the Philippines where we will do one of our Gospel Trick Shot presentations.Please pray for them!

 Steve and Camille Renewal of Vows and 30th!

In a small and intimate gathering at the Ringwood Baptist Church in Ringwood, NJ, Steve and Camille Lillis celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary with a renewal of vows. The picture on the right was taken months after they were married in 1980. Steve and Camille traveled for 7 years as professional pool players before settling down and having their children Amanda and Sarah who stood in for them at their renewal ceremony on Sunday April 25, 2010. The Ringwood Baptist Church is the home church of daughter Amanda DuMont whose husband Tim serves there as the youth leader. Daughter Sarah will be getting married on May 7th to Kenny Fuehring of Haskell. NJ. The renewal ceremony followed the morning service and took about 15 minutes complete with vows and ring exchanges. Following the ceremony guests were invited downstairs to the church reception hall for lunch and cake. Daughter Amanda DuMont, her mother-in-law Louise, father-in-law John, and sister Sarah handled the set-up of pan Lasagna, salad, Italian bread, horse dives, drinks, and a cake. Special thanks goes to all and especially to the good people of the Ringwood Baptist Church and their Pastor Jack Peters and his wife Dottie. Thanks for all your prayers and support for many years!    

Africa GTS Mission Trip Update!

 What an exciting GTS trip the Lord is planning to Africa. On the first leg of the journey Steve will rendezvous with John Bandstra and David Schuit of the Hawthorne Gospel Church to hold various sport competitions including billiards and GTS shows on islands in Lake Victoria, Tanzania. Then Steve will meet up with teams from various organizations to do a series of GTS shows, teaching clinics, and challenge matches in and around Nairobi, Kenya where that country has selected billiards to launch a “Sport 4 Good” campaign. This is similar to what was done in the USA 100 years ago as pool tables where placed in YMCAs, Boys and Girls Clubs, schools and colleges, and churches to allow young people to enjoy the grand old sport of billiards in positive environments. Steve has been asked to be a spokesperson for the campaign while he networks with local ministries to share the love of Christ in Kenya. We have part of our support for this trip and we still need an additional $2,800 to meet all expenses. Thanks for your prayers and support! Have a blessed Easter!    

Salvation Bracelet Story—One of Steve’s favorite GTS shots is the Salvation Bracelet Shot which he performs and then hands out the bracelets. Thousands have been given out over the past few years and the ladies of Serving Hands at Hawthorne Gospel Church keep GTS well stocked! Well in Phoenix Steve trained an entire Bible study group how to share with the bracelet and then trained a Christian pool player to do the shot.    

International Update!

We recently received permission from African Inland Mission (AIM) to have a Thomas Aaron pool table placed in a shipping container out of Pearl River, NY bound for Mombasa, Kenya with final destination being Nairobi, Kenya. This pool table will be used by Steve and the GTS Team next summer to do a series of Gospel Trick Shot Shows in and around Nairobi as pool is one of the fastest growing sports among young people in that area. The picture to the right has a group of young people participating in a soccer camp run by sports pastor Kennedy Salano of Kenya who Steve met in Phoenix, AZ earlier this year at the Christian Sports and Recreation Ministry Summit. They will be working together next summer sharing Christ using billiards.

Go to www.cbn.com/700club and click on the "Media Center" tab on the left side of homepage. Then when the "Media Center" page opens type in the white textbox area "Steve Lillis". Then click on the "video" button and enjoy the broadcast.

Steve Lillis was featured in a news article written by the Billiard Congress of America in October 2006. Please go to the following link to read more about his life as a pool player, educator, and minister:
http://www.bca-pool.com/industry/membership/06updates/update_v3n19.shtml