Athletes In Action Global Vision

“Striving to see Christ-followers on every team, of every sport, in every nation by using the platform of sports so that everyone knows someone who truly follows Jesus.”

The universal language of sports establishes connections and open doors that are often closed to other means of evangelistic ministry.  Since its inception, the Jeff Stanley Memorial Fund has worked each year with AIA’s Global Outreach leadership to encourage national and regional AIA ministry teams to submit project proposals for potential funding support. Each year several of the projects have had some or all of the project’s expenses covered by gifts from the fund. The project proposals are submitted early in the year. Gifts from the fund are then announced at an annual AIA leadership conference in early spring so that project planning can continue with the amount of funding support known. Actual gifts from the Jeff Stanley Memorial Fund are disbursed each year to the selected projects on June 3rd – Jeff’s birthday.


For more information on the projects supported by the Jeff Stanley Memorial Fund go to Projects.

Jeff Stanley was a man who loved the Lord, his family, his country (Captain, USAF), and sports. He had a passion to see the world reached for Jesus Christ. One of the ways he expressed this passion was through his involvement with Athletes in Action (AIA).


In 2006, Jeff and his wife, Wendi, traveled to India to participate in AIA’s first South Asia Project multi-sport camp. This camp increases the skills of South Asian college students in the sports of basketball, volleyball, soccer, and track & field while teaching them about Jesus Christ.


In 2008 Jeff died as a result of a TBI (traumatic brain injury) suffered during a snowboarding accident. Jeff'’s family initiated the Jeff Stanley Memorial Fund to honor his life and commitment to AIA’s evangelistic ministry through the medium of sports.

About the Jeff Stanley Memorial Fund