Sports Ministry

When I think of ministering through sports to reach a people, what usually comes to mind is starting with teens or preteens and beginning to teach sports that are familiar and taking the opportunity through sport to teach about Jesus.  It may develop into a team and possibly a league or it may stay simple while teaching multiple sports.  This tends to be the usual route taken.  God has really surprised us in Rwanda.

First of all He gave us opportunities to be involved in sports that aren’t very familiar to Rwandans and then He has put us into the highest levels of sport in general for the entire nation.  For example, we began the Taekwondo program in 2009 and just two years later I found myself coaching at the All Africa Games in Maputo, Mozambique and the London Olympics Qualification Tournament in Cairo, Egypt in January!  And now I am coaching my own son to play on behalf of Rwanda in the World Junior Championships in Egypt in April. I don’t think we could have ever seen any of that coming!

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Another example of this “random” opportunity happened in November 2011 with a sport I didn’t even know existed, Sitting Volleyball for the Disabled.  This Paralympic sport allows amputees or those with leg mobility loss to compete in volleyball with a shorter net and a smaller court.  Rwanda hosted the qualification tournament for the 2012 Paralympics in London for Africa and I was selected to be the manager of the venue, i.e. Rwanda National Arena.  It was a very daunting and difficult role, especially as I was notified only one week before the tournament that my responsibilities included court preparation, venue security, equipment management and security as well as venue maintenance.  Talk about an insane week!

What does all this mean for our work in Rwanda?  First of all, God has blessed us to receive a great deal of positive publicity for our non-profit here in Rwanda called A.T.N. (remember this is how we get our visas to work here and it is regulated annually by the government).  Secondly it has given us a way to build many trusting relationships in all levels of society.  We are quickly figuring out that we need to wear our seatbelts at all times when God is driving the work, because there is no telling where He is going to take it!