LAKE WORTH, Fla. (BP)–Uruguay is a long way from the United States, even from south Florida. It costs a lot to go there as a missions volunteer.
So when Floridian Linda Kilby decided she wanted to be part of a group of volunteers going to the South American country, her biggest problem was how to come up with the $1,700 for air fare and other expenses. She found a unique solution — she promoted a golf tournament.
Kilby and her husband, Mike, longtime members of First Baptist Church, Lake Worth, were no strangers to sponsoring tournaments to raise funds for charitable purposes. They had helped promote a tournament to build a baseball field for Lake Worth.
Kilby approached her pastor, DeWitt Mathews, with her idea. His reaction: “Go for it!”
She swung into action. She used her computer to generate flyers, which she distributed both at church and in Lake Worth businesses. She lined up a county-owned course as the tournament site. Entry fee per foursome for the tournament was $200. The winning foursome would get its registration fee returned.
Kilby also sold sponsorships of holes to local businesses at $25 apiece. Some businesses also donated prizes for the tournament.
In all, 40 players signed up, providing a good contact between men of the church and other men in the community. When the event was over, Kilby had raised $1,400 for the trip to Uruguay.
Her only regret was not having thought of the tournament earlier.
The trip itself transformed Kilby, who worked with Jim Sims, associate pastor at First Baptist, along with a volunteer from Daytona Beach plus Robert and Deborah Nichols, International Mission Board missionaries in Colonia, Uruguay.
For the first time, Kilby gave her testimony to Uruguayans she met. She and the others visited house to house, prayer-walked and trained Uruguayan Baptists in the FAITH Sunday school evangelism method.
The time in Uruguay gave Kilby a new perspective on what she can do in Lake Worth.
She told her Sunday school class, “If anybody wants me to go with them to talk to someone about Christ, let’s go!”
Will she promote a golf tournament and go on another mission trip next year?
“Oh yes,” she says with shining eyes, “every year.”
