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Sports Ministry Church Planting
When Addy (not her real name) first attended our sports ministry training in 2001, she was a sceptic. Though she had been a very good athlete as a young woman, like many Ethiopian church leaders she believed that such interests were evil and a waste of time for one seeking to serve the Lord. By the end of the 3-day conference she had discovered that sports, if used for God’s glory, can be a powerful platform for sharing the love of Christ with those who don’t know him. Addy was committed to using sport as an outreach tool in her denomination.
After experimenting with sports ministry in Addis Ababa, Addy and her husband, Aaron, went on to plant over 80 new churches in south-central Ethiopia, and sports ministry has played an important role in the birth and growth of many of these churches. Sports Friends has trained over 100 sports ministers working with Addy and Aaron. Thousands of youth have become followers of Jesus as a result of these sports ministry outreaches. Many adults, the family, friends and neighbours of the youth involved in the sports programs, also first heard the Gospel as they gathered around at the churches’ sport activities. What a privilege to see communities transformed by the love of Jesus!
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