Skip to main content

Soccer as a Ministry Tool?

Posted: May 31, 2011 | 

We have been running our heads off for the last week with the Bob Jones soccer ministry team. Gil Fremont and seventeen young men (including missionary kid Nathan Patefield from Rio) have been with us in Sorocaba and have been using their skills to minister. They’ve played over 90 games in the last three weeks!

One of our young men, Bruno Franco, organized a schedule that has had the team dropping into bed at night totally exhausted. They’ve been to several juvenile prisons and half-way houses to share the Gospel through soccer. They have seen nearly 50 decisions for Christ during there time with us. 

Sunday was a special treat as they spent the day at Faith. In the morning Sunday school hour we saw two teens make professions of faith. Both Gustavo and Leidy have been a part of our church for awhile but were touched by the message on Sunday.

That afternoon the team played the Habiteto team with around 300 spectators present. For some reason everyone was cheering for the American team. They did a great job after falling behind one to nothing they came back with two second half goals. However, the Habiteto team came back with two of their own and won three to two.

The Gospel was preached at half-time. Though there were many who chose not to listen there was a good group that paid close attention. We’ll see how God will use this rich seed to His glory.
Yesterday (Monday) the team again visited the prisonsystem where they played two young teams and saw eight teens make professions of faith. In the afternoon the BJ team played a semi-pro team and ended the game in a tie.

The teams leaves tonight but they have left a great impression on Sorocaba. Special thanks is in order for Coach Gil and his love for Christ and Brazil.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Abs of Steel with Glasses

Have you ever wondered why Clark Kent always took his glasses off before he turned into Superman? I hadn’t ever thought about it either until this last Saturday when I almost got sucker-punched. Wellington, one of my spunky Juniors, wanted to wrestle. He feigned a punch to my gut and I said, “Go ahead. I have abs of steel!” I think that my gym visits might be going to my head because my abs of steel are buried under a healthy layer of blubber. I have improved my six-pack but it is far from chiseled. It looks more like a quarter of a keg. Anyway, quick as a wink and with near lightening speed Wellington said, “Yeah but up here is made of glass!” as his poke went within a hair’s breadth of my glasses! I belly-laughed. His rapid reflexes and wit had caught me by surprise. And what he said was so true and funny. It was an excellent though brief lesson. I often prepare for an oncoming fray. I get ready, set and then “BLAM”! The proverbial punch comes from a totally different direction. ...

What Are You Worth?

What are you Worth?  Have you ever thought about what you are worth? In investing circles there is a term used to gauge this exact question, it's called Net Worth. You take all of your assets, like property owned, funds in your bank account, clothes, jewelry, car, etc.. You total all of these things. You then take everything you owe, like mortgage, car loan, and credit card debt, and you subtract these items from the first total. This gives you your net worth. That number represents where you are financially. Most people never stop to think about this number because they don't understand anything about it. They never have two nickels to rub together. They live from hand to mouth and know (or at least believe) nothing will ever change so, they fall into the "daily grind" mentality. Psalm 49 should be a great encouragement to such as these. The sons of Korah write about them. These sons write about all of us. They call all people everywhere to listen to their wisdom. Bo...

Urgent Prayer (part 2)

Does God ever give you a gut punch? He did that just a few days ago when I watched a missionary story from the other side of the world. It was short but poignant, and it punched me in the belly button and brought a few tears too. One thing that shook me was the final statement that the missionary made. He was questioning himself and said, I wonder if what I have done will make a difference. This question comes to a missionary's mind now and again as they ponder how vast God's world is and how tiny one’s work is. As I thought, and identified, with his sentiment, the Lord brought a verse to mind that I had used recently in a youth talk. It was this one in John 12:24, “ Very truly, I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. ” When, in Matthew, the sower sowed his seed, it was the Word of God. Here in John, Jesus indicates that the seed is the life of the servant. Jesus talked of his comi...