| |
|
|
Mighty In Spirit
I met Jacob (not his real name) at a sports ministry training event in Nigeria. He attended a meeting of about 200 Christian leaders who were interested in learning more about church-centered sports ministry. Jacob was one of the first people to arrive for the meeting. Although Jacob arrived early with a number of other participants, he was unlike anyone else at the conference – he arrived being pulled on a small, handcrafted wooden wagon. You see, Jacob is severely handicapped.
Remember the small red wagons you used to play with as a child? That’s the sort of transportation Jacob is dependent upon every day. Jacob has a normal size head and chest, but everything else seems deformed. He has small withered arms and hands, and his torso ends at his waist with no legs. Jacob can’t sit up on his wagon – he lies in the same position day and night. I went over to meet Jacob before the conference started. I wanted to hear his story and see why he was attending a conference focused on sports ministry. I was amazed at his story!
Jacob runs a sports ministry program called Jacob’s Soccer Academy. He works with about 30 boys, ages 8 to 15. He has recruited all of the boys from around his neighborhood and has recruited an able-bodied coach to work with them. After each soccer practice session, all of the boys gather around Jacob’s wagon, and Jacob teaches them from the Word of God. As one of the boys holds the Bible in front of Jacob’s face, he teaches them of the love of God and how Christ can bring their life joy and purpose just as Christ has in Jacob’s own life. As Jacob relayed his story, I was totally overwhelmed – that this severely handicapped young man would be ministering to athletic teenagers through soccer, a sport he had never, and would never, play himself. I was touched and challenged by Jacob’s attitude – he radiated the love of God; there was no hint of anger or bitterness towards God; he lived his life to make a difference in the lives of the boys on his soccer team!
Several of us were so impressed by this young man that we went and visited him a couple of days later at the soccer field where his boys were practicing. We had the chance to observe his team, to share a message with the boys, and to encourage Jacob by presenting him with a new soccer ball. It was obvious how much the boys loved and respected him. There was even a group of younger boys (under 8, not yet old enough to be on Jacob’s team) who just gathered around his wagon as the older boys played, and talked to Jacob and held his little withered hands.
As I have thought about Jacob and his story, I have thought about how often I want to tell God that I am not qualified or able to do something he is leading me to do. I think we are all a bit like Moses. When God called Moses to lead His people out of Egypt, Moses said that he was slow of speech and tongue and to please send someone else to do this work. But God said, “Who gave man his mouth … Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”
Can you only imagine the arguments that Jacob could have used with God? God, how can I minister to athletes when I only have half a body?! Lord, I can’t even read from a Bible without someone to hold it for me! Lord, surely there is someone else better qualified and able to do this work! Yet, Jacob has fully surrendered his life to the work of the Lord and has said, “Lord, here am I; use me”. And God is using Jacob in a powerful way in the lives of these teenage boys! May we all be challenged and inspired by Jacob’s story – of how God can work through even the weakest of vessels to bring Glory to His name when that vessel is surrendered into His hands. And may we work together to develop many more sports ministers like Jacob who are passionate about using sports to transform their communities.
Back to Stories of Grace |
 |
|
