By Luke Voight, SF Malawi. Photos by Jenn Brady, SF ISS
We recently got back from a three-week intensive International Leadership Training with leaders from Zambia, Malawi, Ghana, Senegal, USA, England, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Thailand, Peru, and Kenya. The training was an incredible time of fellowship, fun, and learning with these brothers and sisters from around the world!
We arrived in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and spent a joyous night of praising Jesus with our fellow Sports Friends national leaders from all around the world as they arrived before we all jammed into a few minibuses and headed four hours south to Camp Langano for the training.
We began on October 1st and ended on October 19th. Through this training we have been equipped with the knowledge and wisdom from leaders who are effectively doing sports ministry throughout Africa and around the world. For the first time in many areas, churches are seeing that they need to reach out to their youth in relevant ways with the Gospel and disciple the next generation into biblical maturity.
The first week was spent learning from each other in open discussion about what is going on in each of our countries. We discussed and prayed over the struggles that we are facing, encouragements God has given, and much more. Then we learned about how we can strategically and effectively cast this impacting vision of church-based sports ministry within the churches where we’re serving. We also had the opportunity of learning some hilarious games that will be great to play with our kids (that also helped break up the long sessions of learning in the classroom). Each Sunday we had the privilege of worshiping with the vibrant Ethiopian churches that have been planted through Sports Friends’ work. It was a beautiful picture of the impact of this ministry.
Week two took an in-depth look at how to deliver a Basic Training in a powerful way. The third week was full of planning for the future, how to most effectively follow-up and disciple those we’ve already trained, and then learning how to run Sports Friends in our local areas for the glory of Christ. We will never forget this week. God really spoke to us through our friend from Nigeria as he charged us with God’s Word on the final day of the training. He praised God for the amazing once-in-a-lifetime experience we had all just had, but then he challenged us to not get caught up in the busyness of ministry and to remember that we are nothing without Him. It’s all about Jesus, and Satan wants to get our eyes focused on the amount of paperwork, planning, meetings, trainings, etc., rather than taking time to sit at the feet of the Lord and gain our power and vision from Him.
All this to say, we are convinced now more than ever that this is the ministry God has called us to. Please pray for us as we have many key meetings with mission and church leaders in the next few months to try to make big strides with God moving forward for His fame in Malawi. Will you please pray that He’ll call out more leaders from the church in Malawi and beyond who are passionate about Christ and sports ministry? In John 7:37-38 Jesus says, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” May we all continue to seek His face more than the day before and be filled with His streams of Living Water!