By Tripp Johnston. Photos by Jenn Brady.
Thank you for your prayers for us as we spent much of the month of October in Ethiopia. What a joy it was to be a part of celebrating the 10-year anniversary of the start of Sports Friends in Ethiopia, and to also be a part of delivering a leadership training to over 20 of our newest Sports Friends leaders (representing 9 different countries) who gathered together in Ethiopia for 3 weeks. What a great group of international leaders God has brought together, and it is a privilege for me to serve together with them in the Sports Friends ministry!
I was overcome with joy and thankfulness to God as I reflected on all that He has done in our first 10 years of ministry in Ethiopia. There are currently more than 2,000 churches currently ministering through sports ministry to more than 62,000 youth in Ethiopia! We had a wonderful celebration event in Addis Ababa as more than 150 Ethiopian church and mission leaders, sports ministry leaders and friends and supporters of Sports Friends gathered to give thanks to God for His goodness and faithfulness.
As I reflect on the past 10 years, my heart overflows with thankfulness to God for:
- SIM’s support and guidance in developing this new ministry;
- Talented and committed Sports Friends missionaries and Ethiopian staff who have faithfully served and lead the development of this ministry;
- Denominational and local-church leaders who have grasped the sports ministry vision and supported the development of the work;
- Sports ministry coordinators who have provided leadership to the sports ministry movement within their denominations;
- Thousands of volunteers serving in their local church – coaching and loving the youth God has entrusted to them;
- Supporters in the USA and other countries that have prayed, given their finances, and often times even come to serve with us in Ethiopia;
- Ultimately, God’s goodness and faithfulness through the entire journey of the last 10 years!
While we celebrated the past, we also looked to the future. We are excited and expectant as we anticipate all that God will do through church-centered sports ministry in Ethiopia, in the other 10 countries where we are working (Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Zambia, Malawi, Senegal, Peru, Thailand, and other restricted access countries in Asia), and in other places the Lord will lead us in the future! Thank you for your partnership with us over these last 10 years!