By John Smith, SF Kenya
Tony has always enjoyed sports and had a love for young people. He first became exposed to sports ministry as he interacted with two SIM short-term missionaries who went down to the coast of Kenya to explore the possibilities of sports ministry in there. In 2010 he helped host a sports retreat in his church, and 17 young men came to Christ. About 18 months ago at one of Sports Friends’ youth workers’ training meetings he again heard about the possibilities of using sports as a way of reaching out to young people and decided that he would start an ongoing sports ministry in his church. It wasn’t long after this that he called and said that two young people had already put their trust in Christ and he was organizing a soccer tournament during the next school break.
The tournament that Tony and helped host began well, but some problems crept up as the day went on. Things especially went bad when one of the boys broke his leg and all the money that had been contributed by the tournament participants had to be used to take the young man to the hospital for treatment. However, Tony believed God and shared with us later that the broken leg had given him an opportunity to get to know this young man’s family better. There were no believers in this big family, so Tony was able to use the relationship he developed with them to share the Gospel!
Later, Tony helped us organize our Sports Friends’ Basic Training in the town where he lives, and he also helped us with one of our trainings in northern Kenya. He volunteered his time and traveled more than 30 hours by bus (one way!) to participate in helping others with church centered sports ministry. He also continued to work with a large number of young people in his home town, using sports as a way of building relationships and sharing his life with young people.
Recently Tony sent us some pictures and told us that his church had baptized six of the youth who had come to Christ. He also told us that the young man who had broken his leg in the tournament over a year ago had also come to faith in Jesus Christ! Praise the Lord with us as we thank Him for people like Tony who are investing in the lives of young people and are harvesting fruit for the Kingdom.
For just $75, you can help us train more coaches like Tony to make lasting impacts for the kingdom of God! Find out more here: www.sports-friends.org/coachescampaign