The group connects and shares the “Word” in many different ways with these women including a 10-15 minute message an hour before their games start. Since the chaplains do not travel with the team, whenever they have a home game, both teams will come in to receive the message. Anyone is welcome to attend from any faith background and hear the message that is rooted in Jesus’ Word.
Before the pandemic, Michelle would also have Bible studies in the player’s apartments, but now a lot of that is done over Zoom. She also texts a lot to remain in contact with the women as they travel not only nationally but internationally. For these professional basketball players, a lot of money can be made overseas, so it is common for players to go overseas to play in other countries including Italy, Turkey, and even Russia. Michelle asks that anyone reading this article to please pray for Brittney Griner, who has been detained in Russia since February.
For Michelle, trust is key when building relationships with these women. Since they are professional athletes, a lot of things are asked of them. Most people ask for autographs, photos, speaking engagements, and other things. Michelle reflects on her first time meeting the team: she made clear that she was there to serve them. She would not ask anything from them, she was only there to serve.
This trust then builds a lifelong relationship that is spanning through multiple seasons and people. Recently during the NCAA Women’s Final Four, Michelle met up with a former member of the Minnesota Lynx, Monica Wright-Rogers. Monica went on after her time with the Lynx to be an assistant coach at Liberty University and for The Virginia Cavaliers women’s basketball and took Michelle’s example into her own career and began to build relationships with her own players.
Monica let Michelle know that she will always know her as her chaplain and pointed out that one of her own players, who was at the Final Four, could be like Michelle’s spiritual granddaughter! Michelle commented “The beautiful thing about the Christian sisterhood [is that] it becomes the tightest relationship where an older Christian reaches out to a younger Christian in their faith. They then become older and they become friends.” Michelle hopes that this cycle of discipleship will continue and that multiplication will never stop.
In one of her recent messages that Michelle likes to share, she asks the players to open up to Acts 29. Readers of this article are encouraged to open up their own bible and search for it themselves…
Once you turn to Acts, you will notice that there is a problem with Michelle’s request. There are only 28 chapters in Acts. So what is Michelle asking? Michelle points out that the book of Acts is about the acts of the disciples and the church after Jesus Christ rose from the dead. She argues that Acts 29 is the book that God writes through us, symbolizing that discipleship never ends. “I am humbled and honored that He [God] has chosen to put me in this position to work with these athletes so they can go out and be used in their long Acts 29 chapters.”
Michelle is also the founder of the Savvy U, LLC, which is a human development and leadership organization. It focuses on “teaching timeless truths to transform lives”. She does keynote speaking and trains many business and leaders in addition to college and professional sports teams throughout the world in both secular and Christian arenas. You can find her at the
savvyu.com.
