Kyle's Story

I am an extremely blessed man...My life may not have many extreme overnight turnarounds like some people may, but it has been marked by several life altering turning points and one common theme through it all – God is faithful.

I was born and raised in rural Wisconsin and was truly blessed to be surrounded by a family that loves the Lord and modeled what it looks like to have an authentic Christian relationship with God. I accepted Christ into my heart at an early age and since then I’ve continued to learn what that means for my life... 

Growing up, I certainly didn’t have it all together, but overall I was a pretty good kid on the outside. Inside my heart was a different story though…there was an intense battle going on for the #1 priority in my life. The two priorities involved in the battle were God and another love of mine – sports. I was a HUGE sports kid growing up. I seemed to always be involved in sports, as I competed in football, basketball, baseball, track, and golf. I also was (and still am) a diehard Wisconsin sports junky.  The Green Bay Packers, Milwaukee Brewers, Wisconsin Badgers, Milwaukee Bucks…I could quote you player stats, schedules, team history, and any other “valuable” information that the average fan would never need to know. While this battle between my love of God and love of sports continued all the way growing up into high school, I was soon faced with a life-altering fork in the road.

My senior year of football was going amazing. Our team was playing great, I was playing well, and I was getting some good looks at achieving a dream of mine by earning a scholarship to play college football. All of this came to a screeching halt. While playing in a game on October 6th, 2000, I tore the ACL, PCL, MCL, cartilage, and meniscus in my right knee. My high school sports career was over and I was devastated.

While I still had options to rehab and pursue some of the opportunities of playing college football, God divinely used this time being injured to really reveal to me that sports had definitely become an idol for me. The priority battle that was being fought was finally over. God WON! The Lord revealed to me that I had previously made sports as my god and #1 priority in my life. With this new realization, I made a recommitment in my relationship with the Lord to really keep Him as my first love and as my top priority in life. 

As a part of my recommitment to Jesus, I felt Him leading me to give up football and pursue going to college for ministry. I particularly sensed Him leading me to use my love, knowledge, and passion for sports as an avenue to reach others with the life-changing message of Christ. This led me to attend Moody Bible Institute where I eventually graduated with a B.A. in Sports Ministry.

Upon graduating from college, I still felt that God was leading me into full-time Sports Ministry. I loved what Athletes in Action was doing as a ministry, so I was very excited to join staff in January of 2006. It was here that the Lord continued His faithfulness in my life. God continued to shape and mold me more like Himself, while also teaching me how to practically do Sports Ministry with athletes and coaches.

I completed two years of ministry training at Wright State University (Dayton, OH) and Wittenberg University (Springfield, OH). My time of training was absolutely amazing. God not only developed my ministry skills on campus, but more importantly He transformed me into a more humble, loving, servant of God. During my time of training, the biggest growth area was learning how to trust God and depend on the Holy Spirit for guiding and equipping me to live the Christian life. This continues to transform me!

While at Wright State, I was blessed to pursue a dating relationship with an amazingly attractive woman of God on my AIA staff team...her name was Jayne Boyer. Jayne and I dated for about a year and got married on July 19th, 2008. I partnered up with my new bride in ministry at The University of North Carolina and Duke University. While in Carolina, I especially enjoyed being a part of coaches Bible studies, overseeing our Student Athletes Leadership Team, doing evangelism & discipleship with athletes, and helping with chaplaincy opportunities for the Men’s Lacrosse, Baseball, and Football teams. It is such a privilege watching God change the lives of athletes and coaches.

It was just over a year into our marriage that we would welcome a new player to join Team Wenig - Anderson John (AJ). Transitioning to life as a husband, father, and still doing ministry has been quite a challenge, but it’s been amazing! I love teaming up to serve God together in ministry.

In the Spring of 2010, we sensed God leading us to take a step of faith to serve internationally with AIA. Through much prayer God showed us that He was opening up some amazing opportunities to minister for a season in Australia.

 Living in Sydney for 15 months was such a valuable experience for us and God used it to stretch us in ways that continue to impact our lives. We also had numerous opportunities to work with university students, professional athletes, new Aussie AIA staff, and we also helped launch AIA Australia’s high school ministry.

When we came home to the USA, we moved back to AIA’s headquarters in Xenia, OH. At headquarters, I worked in a short-term role in AIA’s Events department. Every year, AIA uses the platform of major sporting events such as the Super Bowl, NBA All-Star Weekend, and NCAA Final Four to honor Christian athletes that are doing it the Lord’s way and to give the thousands who attend these events a chance to hear the Gospel and say “yes” to Jesus! It was really cool to continue to see the broad scope that AIA reaches through the avenue of sport.  

After diving back into AIA’s Campus Ministry at University of Missouri for 4 years,  we’ve now been serving at the University of Wisconsin-Madison since 2017.  I count it a real privilege and a very meaningful opportunity to be back serving in my home state.  My favorite part of my job continues to be sharing Jesus with lots of coaches and athletes...and I love it! This never gets old!  

Outside my relationship with the Lord, my family is the most meaningful part of my life. Jayne is my beautiful bride & best friend and we have three amazing kids: AJ, Leisel and George. I love them all so much! We laugh a lot. My prayer is that I can keep depending on God to lead Team Wenig well.

As I reflect on God’s faithfulness, it’s very humbling to be used to share the most important message of Christ with all who I come in contact with. I still don’t come close to having it all together, but I’m striving to continue to grow and trust in God along the way. One quote that I’ve really been challenged by lately comes from the late AIA Dallas Cowboys chaplain, John Weber, who said, “Do not strive to be spectacular. Just strive to be faithful.”

As I think about the meaning of this, the thing that really stands out to me is that being spectacular quickly becomes all about me, while being faithful is all about God. One of my biggest life goals is always to put the spotlight back on God. I just want to be faithful to where He calls me and be willing to say “yes” to whatever that may look like.