And the 16-year NFL veteran has had his share of lows, in being benched and cut at Jacksonville and then Washington.

But Brunell never lost his faith in Jesus Christ's plan for his life, and now he has earned a new title, Super Bowl champion.

While his New Orleans teammates skipped around the locker room in celebration of their 31-17 upset win over the Indianapolis Colts, Brunell sat back at his locker to ponder God's blessings.

"It's amazing how God used me in this team with a great group of believers," Brunell said. "It's been a long time with so many ups and downs, but I'm so glad God let me be a part of this."

While Brunell came to New Orleans to back up fellow Christian Drew Brees, he said his new title as NFL champion would be a platform to glorify God in the future.

"You are a Super Bowl champion forever. Regardless of if we won or lost, I know God has blessed me so much."

Brees, named the MVP of Super Bowl XLIV for throwing two touchdown passes and setting a new accuracy record of 32-for-39 for 288 yards, called the victory God's blessing.

"What can I say? We've been blessed with so much, it's unbelievable," Brees said.

Cast off from San Diego in 2006 after an injury, Brees said his arrival in New Orleans and now his Super Bowl victory were part of God's plan for his life, even if he couldn't see it at the time.

"I feel like coming to New Orleans was sort of God putting you in a position for a reason. At the time, you may ask yourself, 'You know, I'm not sure, but I trust You.'

"I know this: Coming to New Orleans and having that opportunity, there is a calling."

While some of his Saints teammates were talking about partying on South Beach in Miami late Sunday night, Brunell scrolled through his phone to look at messages of support from his church, Southpoint Community Church in Jacksonville.

"I had so many people praying for me."

Heath Evans stood on the Saints sidelines during the victory due to a season-ending knee injury earlier in the year. But the fullback said he will be happy for an enlarged platform to share his faith.

"To be world champions, you have to give God the glory for this," said Heath, a member of First Baptist Church in West Palm Beach, Fla.

Evans suffered a huge disappointment when his former team, the New England Patriots, came into the Super Bowl as a heavy favorite in 2008, only to lose to the New York Giants in the last seconds.

This year, it was the Saints who garnered a victory with 15 fourth-quarter points.

"It's His timing not mine," Evans smiled. Even if he finds himself on the sidelines again, he added "hopefully this is the first of many for us."

David Thomas, a Christian leader for the University of Texas Longhorns when they won the 2005 national championship, said the Saints victory will provide an even greater platform, "because for the rest of my life I will be a Super Bowl champion. And for the Lord to bring me here for this reason is just amazing."

"We have a lot of great character guys, a lot of strong Christian guys and maybe God brought us here for this purpose," Thomas said.

At Tuesday's media day, Saints All-Pro right tackle Jon Stinchcomb called his Christian faith a platform with a purpose.

In Sunday night's crowded and rowdy locker room, Stinchcomb began to take advantage of his new status, saying, "We give all glory to Him."

Similar to a ministry through which Southern Baptists provided in-home care kits for AIDS patients in Africa, Buckets of Hope are filled with necessities like rice, beans and flour. Disaster Relief officials are asking that each bucket also include a $10 cash contribution (taped on top of the lid) to cover shipping costs.

For more information about Buckets of Hope, including specific instructions about what to purchase and how to assemble a bucket, go to namb.net/bucketsofhope. All buckets must be delivered to Disaster Relief leaders by March 21-25, depending on the collection site in your area.

• Northern Illinois | Buckets can be dropped off at Streator Baptist Camp from now until March 21, between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.
• Central Illinois | Buckets can be delivered to the Baptist Building in Springfield on March 23-24 (these two days only), between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.
• Southern Illinois | Williamson County Baptist Association will accept buckets March 22-25, between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.

Some local associations are arranging collection sites where buckets can be dropped off and then taken to one of the three regional drop-off locations. For more information, contact your local director of missions.

The first wave of Southern Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers also arrived in Haiti this week, as medical teams worked in clinics to provide care for people injured in the January earthquake.

An assessment team of leaders from NAMB, IMB, Baptist Global Response and state disaster relief coordinators met January 26 to plan for initial and long-term responses. They reported that housing, transportation and security are still major obstacles for volunteers and relief supplies. Haiti’s main airport still is closed to commercial flights, so all Southern Baptist volunteers will fly into Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and then make the seven-hour journey into Port-au-Prince.

In their initial meeting, the team also discussed plans for additional housing and transportation for volunteers, securing warehouse space for a rice shipment, and how to support a larger mobilization of Disaster Relief supplies in the coming weeks and months.

Shelby urges Illinois Baptists to continue to respond by praying, giving and preparing:

Pray. Pray for the medical teams going into Haiti this week, that they will have strength and wisdom as they assess needs and treat patients, and for their safety as they travel into and through the country. Pray for those affected by the earthquake, both in Haiti and in the United States, as families continue to struggle with the loss of loved ones.

Give. Along with Buckets of Hope, financial gifts are an effective way to help in Haiti. Gifts to IBSA for "Haiti relief" will be used to support Illinois ministries to Haiti and may be sent to: IBSA, P.O. Box 19247, Springfield, IL62794-9247.

Donations also can be made online through NAMB (namb.net), IMB (imb.org), Baptist Global Response (gobgr.org) and the Florida Baptist Convention (flbaptist.org). Gifts given toward relief in Haiti (donated after January 11 and before March 1) may be claimed as a deduction on 2009 tax returns. For more information, go to irs.gov.

Prepare. Disaster Relief trained volunteers from Illinois likely will be mobilized to go into Haiti in May and June, Shelby said. For now, volunteers can prepare by making sure they have appropriate credentials and vaccinations, including DPT, tetanus and typhoid. Cholera and hepatitis vaccinations, as well as malaria medications, may be required for some workers.

Disaster Relief team leaders should e-mail names of team members, passport numbers, birth dates, and dates they’re available to go to Shelby at jmshelby1@yahoo.com.

There is an urgent need for chaplains and medical personnel in Haiti. Disaster Relief chaplains that are trained and endorsed by NAMB should contact Dan Lovin at chaplaindanlovin@yahoo.com or (618) 214-2718. Medical personnel (even those who are not trained in Disaster Relief) can contact Shelby at jmshelby1@yahoo.com or (217) 585-3485.

The next IBSA Disaster Relief training sessions will be held May 7-8 at Carlinville Southern Baptist Church, and May 14-15 at Streator Baptist Camp. To register for training, or for more information, contact Linda Darden at (217) 391-3137 or lindadarden@IBSA.org.

The Feb. 5 letter asks the president "that you do everything within the authority of your office to secure a safe return home for these brothers and sisters in Christ as soon as possible."

The Baptist leaders affirmed "the diplomatic negotiations currently under way between your Administration and the Haitian government to resolve this matter … to bring about a solution that respects the rule of law, honors international agreements, and ensures the best possible care and full legal representation for these Baptist mission volunteers."

The letter was sent to President Obama by the president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Executive Committee, Morris H. Chapman; the SBC's president, Johnny Hunt; and the SBC's immediate past president, Frank Page, who is a member of the president's Council on Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.

"We have closely monitored news reports that these Baptist mission volunteers have been arrested, detained, and charged by the Haitian government on allegations of child kidnapping," the Baptist leaders wrote to the president. "It is our understanding that these mission volunteers were attempting to transport 33 Haitian children into the Dominican Republic for humanitarian purposes. We do not know all of the facts of this case, but we are concerned that the continued detainment and possible conviction of these Baptist mission volunteers will distract the world's attention and undermine the relief efforts so desperately needed by the Haitian people....

"It is possible that the Baptist mission volunteers currently detained in Haiti have acted with the noblest of intentions in a desperate situation to meet an immediate need. We pray that is the case."

Sharing the love of Jesus "is never more apparent than during times of crisis, and that is why Southern Baptists have committed to work alongside other humanitarian organizations to meet the needs of millions of people living in Haiti," the Baptist leaders noted.

"We cannot speak authoritatively about the motives and actions of this particular group of mission volunteers," the leaders wrote to the president. "What we can assure you of, however, is that many Southern Baptists are currently in Haiti -- and elsewhere around the world -- for the sole purpose of doing whatever is necessary to meet the physical and spiritual needs of the poor, the hungry, and the oppressed."

Setting forth specific requests to President Obama concerning the 10 Baptist volunteers being detained in Haiti, the three SBC leaders wrote: "The trauma of this entire ordeal is surely affecting the emotional, physical, and spiritual well-being of the detained mission volunteers. We ask, therefore, that you use all means necessary to secure for these mission volunteers the medical treatment and spiritual counsel that they need while imprisoned, and that you arrange for a representative from their churches or from the Southern Baptist Convention, or both, to visit them in Haiti as soon as possible. Upon their release, we also ask that those representatives be allowed to accompany them home to provide pastoral care and spiritual encouragement."

The Baptist leaders expressed to the president "our sincere appreciation and prayerful support of your efforts to direct the compassionate resources of the American people to help Haiti recover from the recent earthquake. Our hearts are deeply burdened for the people of Haiti, and our hands are ready to work with you to begin the healing process for our neighbors, who are among the poorest of the Western Hemisphere." They committed to pray for the president "as you seek to lead an international effort in this hour of tragic loss and cataclysmic destruction."

“It just blew me away,” Augenstein said of how God worked through the team frLiving Faith Baptist Church in Sherman. “If you make yourself available, God can use you.”

This year, thousands of Illinois Baptists will travel to hundreds of destinations to make themselves available. Whether it’s through Vacation Bible School, door-to-door evangelism, construction projects or campus ministry, opportunities abound to make a difference in Illinois, the United States and around the world. But good planning is a key component of any missions experience, said IBSA Missions Awareness Director Mark Emerson. He offers these suggestions to churches and

Make prayer a priority. “Missions is a spiritual work done with spiritual tools,” Emerson said. “Prayer needs to permeate every part of the mission trip, from the planning stages to the evaluations after the project is completed.”

Prior to his trip to Jamaica, Augenstein had the opportunity to preach at Living Faith. He outlined seven specific ways to pray for missionaries, and asked that the congregation would pray for the team to be able to speak boldly about the clear message of the Gospel.

“There were a lot of prayers answered over a two-week period,” Augenstein said, remembering how God met physical and spiritual needs in Jamaica. “We felt that prayer at work.”

Identify the place and purpose. The bulk of the planning process is dedicated to deciding where and how a mission team will serve. IBSA’s missions team is prepared to help churches find specific missions opportunities; for a list of projects, go to IBSA.org.

Churches also can use natural connections within the congregation to decide where to go. Last summer, Smith Grove Baptist Church in Greenville worked with a ministry in Greeley, Colorado, to host outreach events in a low-income community. They made contacts on the field in Colorado through their pastor, Tommy Chapman, who served with the Colorado Baptist Convention before he came to Smith Grove.

Along with IBSA’s missions team, the North American Mission Board (namb.net) and International Mission Board (imb.org) provide logistical help for mission teams, including budgeting, role overviews for team leaders and team members, and guidelines for handling cultural differences.

No matter the location or the activity, Emerson said sharing the Gospel through words and deeds should be the ultimate purpose for any mission trip.

“If we don’t keep this purpose at the forefront, we will get caught up in meeting temporary needs, instead of eternal needs.”

Establish partnerships. Over the past year, Woodland Baptist Church in Peoria has built relationships with more than 90 new families just a few miles from the church building. Two Saturdays a month, they visit neighbors, carrying with them loaves of homemade bread and a willingness to do chores like picking up trash and raking leaves. They also assess the needs of each family, noting when someone needs clothing or kitchen appliances.

Woodland’s outreach grew out of a partnership with Peoria’s South Side Mission. Their adopt-a-block program challenges churches to embrace a house-by-house approach to meeting needs and sharing the Gospel in Peoria’s impoverished south side. At the beginning of Woodland’s involvement with the program, South Side’s director shared about the project during a Sunday morning service, and personnel from the mission joined Woodland volunteers for the first several Saturday morning visits.

Ministry partnerships like the relationship between Woodland and South Side Mission foster continuous ministry in a community, even after a mission team goes home or takes on another project, Emerson said. As one half of a partnership, a mission team is not only part of a working strategy, but also benefits from the counsel of those who are already on the field.

Cast the vision. “Mission trips are church projects, not individual projects,” Emerson said. “Steps need to be taken to communicate the vision of the project to every member of the church.”

Every year, Woodland devotes a Sunday to celebrating missions, which allows church members who participated in a variety of projects to report on their experiences. Emerson said a church that shares its vision for missions is better able to mobilize people to participate.

“This not only allows others to feel like part of the project, but it may also open up opportunities for others to be involved in the future.”

Prepare your team. Matt Mendenhall, youth pastor at Smith Grove, knew his team would face a different challenge during their trip to Colorado than they had encountered on previous trips to Juarez, Mexico. Even though many of the students had participated in missions before, Mendenhall said they hadn’t been in a position to minister to kids who have grown up in a similar setting to them.

“These are going to be kids who you can talk to, who are a lot more similar to who you are,” Mendenhall told his students before the trip. When they got back to Greenville, that preparation helped members of the mission team make connections between the ministry they did in Colorado, and the ways they’re called to minister at home, Mendenhall said.

Flexibility is key. “Rarely does a mission trip happen as planned,” Emerson said. “Being open, moldable and useable is extremely important. Be sure to rely on the Lord for His guidance. He may be altering your plans to match his own.”

Augenstein said he was required to adjust to an unexpected role when he found himself staying behind in the kitchen while everyone else on his team ministered to people in Jamaica. Eventually, he asked each person to give him one prayer request every day, so he could pray while they were working. “I was blessed because I realized I didn’t have to sit on the sidelines.”

His experience in Jamaica has opened Augenstein’s eyes to the importance of participating in missions, whether as an evangelist, intercessor, teacher or cook. He said he can’t wait for his next opportunity, no matter where it leads.

“Whether it’s in Jamaica or the Dominican Republic or Ohio, I plan on making myself available for mission work.”

For more information on planning a mission trip, contact IBSA’s missions team at (217) 391-3138 or e-mail marshajohnson@IBSA.org.

Disaster has a way of bringing out whatever is inside us.  It reveals who we are, and asks what we can offer to help.  And so for Christians, regardless of our specializations, this Haitian earthquake asks us, because of our faith and values, for the same things that Hurricane Katrina, or the Southern Illinois ice storms, or the Tsunami of 2004 asked of us.  

- Will we pray?  While many speak of prayer during times of large-scale disaster, those of us who truly know God personally through Jesus Christ have a unique and powerful responsibility.  For some, “prayer” simply amounts to empathetic thoughts or well wishes toward the victims of disaster.  But those of us whose lives are literally inhabited by the Spirit of God have a supernatural power available to us in prayer.  Even if our words or emotions can’t adequately grieve the death of 200,000 or the homelessness of 1.5 million, the Holy Spirit who indwells us can groan our intercession to God.  

- Will we give?  I’ve been amazed at how easy it has become to donate money in the immediate wake of a disaster, and by how many avenues there are.  From ten-dollar text donations to multi-million dollar telethons, it should encourage us that so many are so generous so quickly.  But as Christians we again have a unique responsibility.  We are not just donors, we are stewards, and we should give with spiritual discernment and spiritual objectives.  I’m really glad for all those who donate to secular relief organizations and for the provision of the physical necessities of medical supplies and food.  But my giving has gone and will go through my church to the Southern Baptist relief channels I know carry the gospel along with their physical relief efforts.  

- Will we prepare to go?  One of the surprising things I learned during my eight years at the North American Mission Board was that every major disaster is complicated by the well-intentioned but problematic presence of untrained volunteers.  “I’m here, what can I do?” may sound like a welcome offer in the church kitchen, but in the aftermath of a huge natural disaster it’s just one more problem to solve.  I’m so grateful that our Illinois Disaster Relief ministry already has more than 2,000 trained volunteers, and that training events for new volunteers are already planned in May for both Southern and Northern Illinois (for more information call Linda Darden at (217) 391-3137 or e-mail lindadarden@IBSA.org).  Many of us can prepare to go to Haiti, and all of us can help someone else prepare to go.  The question again is simply, will we?

But there is one more response to disaster that we should all consider, whether or not we make our way to the earthquake zone.  You see, earthquakes and hurricanes are not the only natural disasters, and the rescue of the perishing is not just needed in Haiti.  Right here in Illinois, right in our own communities, the disaster of sin is wreaking tragic results on its victims every day.  Oh that we would learn to respond to that disaster with the same urgency.  

Just this morning I watched a news report of a woman who was trapped in rubble by the quake.  Undiscovered for twelve days, she cried out alone, in apparently hopeless isolation.  

But someone who loved her kept looking, and then found her.  He marshaled others to the scene, where they first delivered life-giving water, then labored for three hours to release her from her bondage, and would-be tomb.  As they finally pulled her from the darkness into the light, she gratefully sang a song of praise to God through tears of relief and joy.  And I thought to myself, if we could only learn to see those perishing in sin the same way, perhaps our willingness to rush them the Gospel would be just as heroic.