Sport Ministries

Apparently, 80% of us are involved in some way in sport! If in no other way, we often enjoy watching some on TV.I suppose you might be too snobbish to like soccer, but how about tennis or horse jumping? It's fun, it's relaxing to let the professionals do it and, usually, it's far less violent than the alternatives on the box. But for younger people it means far more than that, which is why a few, far too few evangelicals are taking sport seriously as a medium for reaching out to today's youth.

Several ministries, particularly Athletes in Action, have bases in Spain. Not only that, but due to the arrival of Brazilian players in particular, over the past decade top level Spanish sport has had more than its fair share of evangelical players. Among the best known have been Baltasar and Donato, who arrived more or less at the same time to play for Atlético de Madrid and did their part to help the club to glorious hights which it now hankers for again. Others have been/are: Silvinho, Valerón (Spaniard!) Doriva, Giovanella, Turner, Wood, Glorie Alozie, Gancedo, Helder... etc.. Pray for those who are using their testimony in the changing rooms, in front of cameras and wherever they are, but also for less well known people who are working among kids out of local churches, special ministries, and so on. Together they will have a positive impact on the youth of this generation, to keep them from harmful activities such as drugs and giving them the opportunity to consider the Gospel as an option, (and of course the best if not only one for most readers!) something not even available really to most.

Agape Europe (Campus Crusade) has a sport ministry in Malaga (Athletes in Action). <http://www.agape.org/en/ministry/Sport_+.php|More here.>