Category: Wristband

Another Day of US Open Doors Preparation in Pinehurst

6/8/2014

Just one day left before U.S. Open week begins for the men.

At the Village Chapel we were hard at work making sure that we had completed every detail we could think of to make the experience for those people traveling down the "Road to Emmaus" to encounter the Lord as the Chapel and throughout the Village of Pinehurst, quite honestly. Jim Schneider, Scott Bennett and myself spent the majority of the day at the Chapel again. I continued to mark off the parking lot and we ended up with some 220+ parking spaces behind and to the side of the Chapel in order to park cars for anyone that was headed in to be as close as possible to Pinehurst #2. Once again, we are no more than a "driver's distance" away from the first tee at Pinehurst #2. In fact, while we were putting up one of the banners, a man by the name of Mark Spehar from Pittsburgh happened by and, providentially, asked if we know of where any parking may be when he arrives Monday? "Well, my friend," I told him, "You are talking to the right guy." ... and I shared our parking plan with him. "You mean I can just drive up and park?" "Yes", I said. "and pay $30 for the day". "Is that all?" he asked. To my surprise.... "Yes, sir." I said. "I'll see you all Monday, then."

However, not only did He get the good news about parking!! I shared with him the reason we were doing what we were doing and handed him two bracelets for him and his son. He said he would come back and visit us at the Chapel while he was here. Thank You, Father, for one encounter that validated why we were doing what we are doing.

For Live Text Updates
Text "OPENDOORS" to 41411

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U. S. Open Update 6-7-2014 - Preparations Being Finalized

6/7/2014

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The U.S. Open is coming up this week.

We are visiting Pinehurst in order to put the finishing touches on our Open Doors for the Open Outreach in order to present our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ's presence during this historical and enviable international event; the 2014 U.S. Open Championship conducted by the United States Golf Association (USGA).

YOU can enjoy live updates, scores and special events by texting OPENDOORS to 41411. Thanks

In Him

Bill
billpoir@growthegameofgolf.com

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What's Open Doors Purpose - Payne Stewart - Video

6/1/2014

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In 1999 Payne Stewart won the U.S. Open against Phil Mickelson in a dramatic duel on Pinehurst #2.

Those of us that are old enough to have seen it in person were emotionally impacted when a newly matured Payne Stewart responded to his win by immediately heading over to his opponent and grabbed his face in two hands to express himself to Phil at that moment as a father. You see Phil and his wife Ami were expecting a child to be born any moment and Phil, earlier in the week, had made it clear that when he got the call, he would abandon his attempt to win his first U.S. Open and rush home to support his wife and baby.

What many may have missed at that emotional and exhilarating moment for Payne and Phil was what was quite obvious to me and many others of us who are Believers in Jesus Christ. On Payne's wrist is a black wristband with the inscription WWJD which we know stands for "What Would Jesus Do?" It was at that moment that I, personally, knew what the real story was and I wanted to discover the back story. Well, I found it back then and just now was reminded of it when searching and finding the Art Stricklin Sports Spectrum article from March 2000

Text OPENDOORS to 41411 to receive regular updates during the Opens
and
Register for prizes......

Excerpts;

"To understand golfer Payne Stewart—the most public of sports figures, who died the most public of deaths last October—you have to look deeper to see what changed him over the last 18 months of his life. And the best way to do that is through the eyes of his friends and colleagues."

“I knew him when he was the perfect Frat Rat,” Ogrin says. “I played against him for three years and knew he was a genuine hard worker. At times he could be a genuine pain in the neck, but we all knew he was a genuine champion. When he talked to you, he was genuinely interested in what you had to say.”

But Ogrin, like Stewart’s many close friends, including golfer Paul Azinger, sports agent Robert Fraley, and baseball pitcher Orel Hershiser, came to see a genuine difference in the once egotistical and often sarcastic golfer.

“In the last couple of years, Payne became a genuine Christian. He had earned everything a man could earn on his own in the golf world and found that it wasn’t enough,” Ogrin adds. “To understand what finished out the man and the grasp that it held on him, you have to see what Jesus has to offer and the place He played in Payne’s life.”

The difference, according to PGA Tour chaplain Larry Moody, was that Stewart went from having a religion he could fall back on if needed, to a personal relationship with Jesus, which carried him through the highs and lows of his final months in this bunker we call “earth.”

“God used a little bit of everybody in Payne’s life,” says First Baptist associate pastor J.B. Collingsworth. “Larry Moody and Paul Azinger were factors, his kids brought it home to him daily, and he came to First Baptist Orlando, where he joined the men’s Bible study and learned many things here.”

Early in the 1999 golf season, Aaron gave his dad his WWJD bracelet, which stands for “What Would Jesus Do?” The 10-year-old proved wise beyond his years when he challenged Dad to come out of the closet and let others know about his private commitment to Christ.

Moody was one of the first to hear from Payne about his bold commitment when he encountered him on the practice range at the Shell Houston Hope in April. Seeing Stewart wearing the bracelet, Moody asked for some background information and listened as Stewart told him that God had truly changed his mind, body, and spirit.

“In the last year, I knew Payne was committed to God, but in Houston was when I found he was unashamed publicly of his commitment,” Moody says.

The rest of the sports world caught on a few months later when Stewart conquered the demanding Pinehurst No. 2 layout to win his second US Open title, capping the victory with a bracelet-encircled fist thrust into the air on the 18th green.

That photo and Stewart’s spoken, public commitment were played around the world the following day as his path from carnal, clutter-filled darkness to peaceful life became clear......

Please continue to read

By
Art Strickllin

I wish I had thought of it back then, but, it just came to me, that we should have made a WWJD bracelet just like Payne's to commemorate him, his faith in Jesus Christ and the incredible impact Payne's life had on so many. But, I didn't think of it, yet we've come up with our own bracelet as seen here.

YOU can participate with us in celebrating Christ, Payne's life and our outreach to the visitors to the 2014 U.S. Open at Pinehurst. Please click here and/or on the graphic and sign up for your very own Open Doors wristband.

In Him

Bill

Text OPENDOORS to 41411 to receive regular updates during the Opens
and
Register for prizes......

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What Will Open Doors Look Like & What is YOUR Part?

5/18/2014

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The Lawn @ the Village Chapel

Look at that image right there...... that's what it will look like before the Open.

During the Open, imagine that just to the front of this beautiful lawn is Azalea Road, a bus stop where visitors to the Open will disembark, see the beauty, the signs, the huge 10' HD Television broadcasting, people lounging and enjoying a practice session with SNAG and hundreds if not thousands of people milling around as they head to the west into the Resort (300 yds away) or into Pinehurst Village to the east (300 yds away).

We welcome all to hang out with us!!! Sit and relax, walk into the chapel, play SNAG, grab a water, and, of course, meet us all and get to know us.... this is the overall objective of this Outreach; Open Doors for the Open.

You can get additional information and a clearer picture by clicking here.

For those of us volunteering to help, participate and/or any other involvement you can think of, what is the deal? What will you have to do?

Well, mainly, "just be there"!! If you're headed to the Open we welcome you to communicate with us and just let us know you will be in town. If you are coming to "work", the primary focus of this event is to "be the men and women of God we were called to be". The image of the wristbands you see to the right will distinguish those that have joined with us and we are encouraging each person to ask for a bunch of these wristbands to wear and hand out to those the Lord places you in contact with to "tell your story"! (go here to see what that means). 

But, we do have opportunities for folks to work with us. We need volunteers to drive the vans we are using to help transport folks. We need people to be Ambassadors to hand out programs with the Ambassador team that the Village has funded to engage with visitors and great them as they arrive into the area. We need folks to hang out on the lawn and great people, hand them a water, invite them to hang out on the lawn, play SNAG, visit our golf ministry resource room inside the chapel, etc. etc. But, again, mainly, we want all to wear and distribute the wristbands and engage with the visitors.

Please contact us to further inquire into our Outreach and your part in it.....

We have lodging and tickets... enter our drawing to, possible, get free lodging and tickets or just contact us and we'll reserve lodging for you and your group for $35 per night if there is still space when you contact us ... and agree to wear the wristbands and help us out a bit.....

Thank you so much!!!

In Him

Bill

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Open Doors Marketing and Promotion

4/24/2014

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Marketing/Promotions.

The Lord has been amazing as this effort for the Open Doors continues to come together!! The basics of the opportunity are in place and an environment will be established in and around the Village Chapel of Pinehurst from June 9-22, 2014. We are overjoyed!

Now is the time to begin communicating with Christendom relative to the opportunity for those who have a passion for golf and a love for Christ to hear the message and communicate it to their network of friends.

The primary means for promoting this opportunity will be through the www.opendoorsfortheopen.com website and an "assisted" social media campaign that will grow the brand and excitement through the various media available online. This process takes the form of building a solid website that serves as a promotional tool, an informational source that will engage visitors to guide them into their place of interest and a communications tool for all to learn, grow and go!

The social media campaign must be engaged in by all of us who have a desire and passion to get the word out about this unique opportunity. The website is established and we have begun posting blogs and evangelistic information so that those who visit will have ample guidance and information about the opportunity, etc. What is essential is that all of us "post" text, audio and/or video blogs for the purpose of growing "search engine" trust which will increase the number of visitors funneled to the site. We desire that this activity get to 3-5 blogs per day by April 15th and maintain that level of activity through the end of the event, June 30, 2014. We invite YOU to submit written or video information relative to YOUR passion for this opportunity. Just let us know you would like to post something and we'll let you. Or, simply go to a blog post and post your own comment on the blog and it will be promoted.

The social media campaign consists of, still, the people involved in the planning and promotion "posting" the information on their own Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn as well as any other social media that are frequented by the members of our team. This is confusing to some people, but, it is relatively easy if you frequent ANY Social Media activity. For instance, let's say you are an infrequent Facebook participant, the simple thing for you to do is go up to the blog you are reading, click on the Title and it isolates that blog. Scroll down to the bottom of the blog and hit "Like". This will automatically add the hyper-linked small reference to the Blog on your Facebook timeline. This will automatically be shown to your friends and they will make their own decision about reading, clicking, liking and or commenting. Once they do that, it automatically goes out to their network of Facebook friends. See how easy that is?

Another example is LinkedIn. This social media site is becoming quite valuable for serious connections to your network. If you are a participant on LinkedIn, you can post to your LinkedIn timeline by clicking on the blog's URL or web address and copying the address. Go to you LinkedIn page and post to your LinkedIn page with a comment about what you read and paste the address/URL to that comment. This will post on your LinkedIn timeline and inform those who follow you that you have posted that information.

An email newsletter (eNewsletter) will be established by Open Doors for the Open and emailed weekly to an 'ever-growing' list of opt-in readers of the information distributed regarding the Open Doors. The email list for the eNewsletter will begin with the over 1,300+ names included in the Open Doors for the Open database and will grow as visitors visit the site and sign up for receipt of the eNewsletter.

Additional promotion of the www.odftopen.com website will be accomplished by asking each ministry to include a 'panel' about the ODftOpen in a primary location on their website (preferably on the first landing page and above the fold), including links to the ODftOpen site. Additionally, we ask that the ministry include the 'panel' and/or links and information about ODftOpen into all communications distributed from their ministry from April - July 1, 2014. In other words, we are asking all ministries and individuals involved to promote the Outreach in any way possible throughout their network and social media. We don't ask for a special campaign per se, just consistent inclusion of the Outreach information in all correspondence and activities from April - July.

Again, the idea is to draw visitors to the website, www.odftopen.com, to inform them, inspire their involvement in the Outreach and/or continued interest in golf ministry and gain their email address to include them in each new eNewsletter update.

Through the process above, we expect a significant growth in followers of our information, engagement as the user feels they should engage and a continued information source to help grow them and connect them to a golf or other ministry in their area.

Thanks so much. Praise Him!!!

Bill
774-212-2265
billpoir@growthegameofgolf.com

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Latest Update; Open Doors for the Open - Video

4/9/2014

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Just text OPENDOORS to 41411 and sign up to receive your wristband.

Latest Update on Open Doors for the Open.

We are making great progress, but a bit nervous about the communication piece and partnership with other golf-oriented ministries. We are praying for a closer coordination and promotion, but, not fretting just yet.

The activities at the Village Chapel are being completed each day by Jim Schneider and his network there in the Village. We have established the Village Chapel Cottage as the lodging place for our helpers and, by the way, all of you are invited to be helpers. We have several folks that have volunteered to be van drivers as well as many of the congregants at the Chapel to assist in a variety of ways.

We will have secured the Starting New at Golf (SNAG) equipment from Wally Armstrong in the next couple of days and will be setting a SNAG course up behind the chapel for kids and their parents to learn the game and fellowship with many of the missionary students from MC Foundation that will be lodging in the Chapel and working at the Resort during the two weeks of the Open. We are very excited about the SNAG events as they are really fun and create an atmosphere of competition and relationship building. We are thankful for that.

Ron Potter of the Challenge Golf Association and I will be headed to Atlanta, GA on April 17th for the LinksPlayers Evening of Champions in order to visit with Josh Nelson and, hopefully catch a day of the Greater Gwinnett Championship in Duluth, GA. We also hope to visit for a short time with Tom Lehman and Larry Nelson to personally convey the message about Open Doors for the Open and the Challenge Golf Association. Praise Him!!

There is lots of room for our helpers and for those of you who want to come to Pinehurst, assist us in some way, stay at the Cottage and, even, enjoy a day or so at the Open. Please consider that in prayer.

Lastly, we have received our wristbands and want to offer them to you for FREE!!

Just text OPENDOORS to 41411 and sign up to receive your wristband.

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<<Previous

Another Day of US Open Doors Preparation in Pinehurst

U. S. Open Update 6-7-2014 - Preparations Being Finalized

What's Open Doors Purpose - Payne Stewart - Video

What Will Open Doors Look Like & What is YOUR Part?

Open Doors Marketing and Promotion

Latest Update; Open Doors for the Open - Video

Just text OPENDOORS to 41411 and sign up to receive your wristband.

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