God has brought many amazing people from all different backgrounds to work in the Sports Friends ministry. This month, we are featuring Jemimah, a staff member of Sports Friends Nigeria. Fun fact about Jemimah - she was the very first full-time employee on the SF...
By Laurie Sadio, SF Senegal In Senegal, West Africa, the Sports Friends ministry is just beginning to get off the ground. Even so, we have already seen God paving the way to establish the platform of sport as a way to reach out to the Senegalese youth (mainly with...
By Shane Smith, SF Kenya At first glance, he seemed to be in the wrong place. Pastor Gona is around 60 years old and many were wondering why he was attending the Sports Friends Basic Training in Gongoni, Kenya. Pastor Gona was committed to his dwindling youth group...
By Ishaya Inuwa Durkwa, SF Nigeria “Thank you, Sports Friends. Our young people are being transformed…” Above are some of the words spoken to the staff of Sports Friends Nigeria by the president of a denomination called Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN). He spoke...
By Tripp Johnston, SF International There are currently 5 million people living in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. One of the poorest and most depressed parts of Addis is near the main garbage landfill. In this area, people forage for food and shelter in the garbage heaps....
By Ashley Sullivan, SF International Support Services, U.S. Meet John (left) and Moses. These men are my Sports Friends co-workers, and I had the awesome privilege of hanging out with them for two weeks in January while visiting their home country of Nigeria. In many...
By Tiffany Wessler, SF Zambia. Photo by Cat Edwards It’s hard to see people suffering. Many of us want to jump in, meet the need, and end the hurt in the world. But one thing we had to learn early on to survive in the mission field is that we as individuals cannot...
By John Smith, SF Kenya The church at Dalu started an ongoing sports ministry program two years ago, and a camp was recently organized for the youth of the church and the surrounding community. The church leadership decided on the theme of discipleship because they...
Coaches learn games that they can play with their teams at a Basic Training in Nigeria. Please pray for these and the thousands of SF coaches around the world as they work to make a difference in their communities for Christ through sports.
By Brian Hall, SF Ethiopia. Photos by Nicole Adams Hundreds of kids came through camp this past summer, each with a unique story. Some come from Orthodox homes, some from other religious backgrounds, some non-believing, and some from no home at all. It was “family...
By: Nicole Adams, SF Ethiopia Hate. Vandalism. Violence. Many Christians across the world face extreme persecution for their faith. As an Ethiopian boy growing up in a community where Christianity wasn’t tolerated, *Dawit knew the dangers of associating with...
By John Smith, SF Kenya We are so thankful to see what the Lord is doing in northern Kenya through church-centered sports ministry! Pastor Dan is a Kenyan missionary who lives with his wife and one child in a harsh part of northern Kenya seeking to reach the people...
By Luke Voight & Pastor Fostance Mtolo, SF Malawi The tiny village of Nyachipere is being flipped upside down through a couple small homemade soccer balls and a little church whose goal is to kick the devil in the face. In our football (soccer) and netball...
By John Smith, SF Kenya Keeping any church ministry moving forward long term takes commitment from many different parts of the church. Sports Friends has been doing ministry in Kenya for about two and a half years now, and already we have a few examples of ongoing and...
By: Nicole Adams, SF Camp Langano, Ethiopia At Camp Langano, our campers come from all walks of life - some campers arrive with a backpack full of soccer gear, while others come with only the clothes on their backs. But regardless of their socioeconomic status, they...
By John Smith, SF Kenya One of the benefits of church centered sports ministry is that it helps develop new church leaders. Coach Johnson, who has ten children and is also a farmer, is a great example of how this is true as he has developed into a leader in his...
By Moses Gyok - SF Nigeria A threefold partnership between parents, Sports Friends, and Church of Christ In Nations (COCIN) has become a great tool that God is using to shape the lives of many young people throughout Nigeria. COCIN, one of our church partners, has...
From player to coach Putting sports to work for the gospel Story by Nicole Adams, Photos by Nicole Adams & Stephanie Ross Tigist loved to play football (soccer) with her friends. Nearly every day after school she worked hard to develop her foot skills by playing...
By John Smith, SF Kenya We recently held a church based sports camp at a small village in coastal Kenya through a church has already been involved with church centered sports ministry for two years. We are thankful that 99 kids participated from several different...
By Caris Wetzel & Mia Smith Disabled girls in Ethiopia are often considered to be the lowest of the low. People think they are disabled because God doesn’t love them. Unlike other young people their age, these girls don’t herd animals or go to school because...
By John Smith, SF Kenya We are so thankful for how sports open up so many different types of opportunities to have relationships with all types of people. Whether it’s a one-on-one relationship or relationships with an entire community, sports has helped us build...
By John Smith, SF Kenya K-K, in coastal Kenya, is one of the places where the Sports Friends ministry in Kenya has been has been going the longest and where it is also having the greatest impact. From an outsider’s perspective, this is not a place where you would...
By Tiffany Wessler, SF Zambia Do you ever feel under attack? Like something or someone is out to thwart and discourage your every effort? As we prepared for our first ever Sports Friends Basic Training in Zambia, we were fairly convinced the devil was doing...
Below update is from our most recent trip to the southern villages where we have been investing much of our time and prayers. Written by Fostance Mtolo, SF Malawi Fostance: We thank God for laying the foundation of church-centered sports ministry in Malawi! From the...