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What makes Sports Friends different? The following priorities define and distinguish Sports Friends’ ministry approach:
Church Focus. We believe that God’s primary means of relating to and transforming the world is the Church. Sports Friends’ sole focus is equipping churches and church planters to use sports as an effective ministry tool, integrated with the church’s other ministries and supportive of its overall mission.
Church-Planting and Missions. We train and mobilize church planters and missionaries in Africa, Asia and Latin America to use sports to build relationships with difficult-to-reach people groups.
Relational Approach. Sports provide fast-track opportunities to break down relational barriers and build friendships. Sports Friends’ focus is on building relationships that allow one to share the love and word of God in a natural, non-threatening way.
Ongoing Ministry. Sustainable, local-church ministry is the foundation for relational outreach and discipleship. Sports Friends equips churches and church planters to produce change in a young person’s life through a consistent influence, over an extended period of time.
Grass Roots. Most people who enjoy sports and games will never achieve a high level of performance or become a professional athlete. Sports Friends’ ministry is focused at the grass roots level – on the vast majority who simply want to play and have fun.
Use of Any Sport. Sports preferences vary from country to country and region to region. Sports Friends trains church leaders to use virtually any sport as a bridge for building relationships and conducting effective ministry.
Leadership Development. One of Sports Friends’ highest priorities is identifying, training and supporting full-time sports ministry leaders at the denominational level.
Incarnational Model. Sports Friends pursues an incarnational model for training and leadership development. Creating passionate, well-equipped sports ministry leaders takes time. Sports Friends’ integrated training curriculum requires a greater depth of personal investment that leads to transformed lives and fruitful ministry.
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