By Bec Oakley, SF Thailand
Most mission agencies have some variation on a “Pray, Give, Go” slogan somewhere on their websites or in their literature. It’s a constant challenge to keep people engaged in the praying and giving, but an even greater challenge to mobilize people to go.
As the Sports Friends ministry grows here across the Asia region, we are feeling the weight of having such a small missionary team. Our national staff are great, but they need support as they minister in contexts hostile to the gospel and as they seek to train and empower a church that is small and lacking depth.
What we most urgently need are pastoral people. We need biblically-grounded people to walk alongside the national staff and volunteers, training, mentoring, and discipling them and helping them think through how to reach out to youth and grow the church in their contexts. We need people who are not afraid to talk about the hard stuff, about discipleship, ownership, accountability, and finances. We need people who are willing to embrace the messiness that is cross-cultural service.
Sports ministry is often seen as a ministry for doers – young, enthusiastic people who just want to be outside loving kids. To be honest, the people we need don’t even have to be sporty as long as they appreciate the value of sport as a tool for building the kind of relationships where discipleship is possible.
We love that Sports Friends’ vision is not to run football leagues and produce great footballers, but to build capacity in the church and produce leaders with a heart for youth. We need more leaders who understand what discipleship looks like, and who are brave and creative in building those kind of relationships.
Check out our SF openings here.
