2013 Sports Evangelism Mission Trip Day Four Update May 29th Colby Kanode At 7:15 this morning, we woke to grab breakfast. As we ate, Danny reminded us of the daily schedule; a soccer skills camp for the 5-9 year old kids of Los Cuadros, a few soccer games against teams from the private Christian school that Danny’s kids attend, a game against an inner-city San Jose team and finally dinner at Danny’s house. Yet until that morning, the reality of 150 kids at a soccer camp run by 9 gringos did not strike us. 150. Our soccer camp in America consisted of about 15. Imagine 150 kids…. As we set up all of the cones and small goals, we turned to see a flood of kids coming towards the field. We began a ‘free for all’ time of simply kicking around and playing with them. Then, another flood as the other half arrived by bus. In the midst of the sea of kids, God was working. There were different stations at which the children in different groups would play different games. Also Seth read his children’s book to the children at one station (translated by our translator David), and Nathan shared the Gospel with them at another station using a multi-colored soccer ball. Towards the end, Danny gathered all of the kids together and reiterated the gospel to them. All in all, the skills camp was loads of fun for us as well as the children. After the camp, we packed our soccer gear and traveled to the private Christian school (K-12) that Danny’s twin boys attend. There, we played three 20-minute games on a sweet turf field netted all around. We then entered the gym and broke up into small groups with the players to talk to them and explain why we had come. They all spoke fabulous English, and it was a real blessing to be able to share with them. We did not have as much time as we would like because the players had to leave, but I know God used the few minutes we had to further His kingdom. As tired and happy soccer players do, we loaded onto the bus. We drove to the largest Catholic church in all of Central America, located in Cartago, Costa Rica. As we toured around the church and Danny explained different things to us, my eyes, as well as all of the other team member’s eyes, were opened to the reality of the largest and most prominent religion in Costa Rica. From 2.5 million people traveling across the entire country once a year, simply to touch a doll representing Mary, to people buying little charms representing body parts in hopes that God would heal that specific thing, we realized that Catholicism mixed with native voo-doo has left people in despair for hundreds of years. Pray for the Costa Ricans; that they would see the Truth through years of “traditions” and deception. We then traveled back to San Jose, and played against our inner-city teams of 15-17 year old kids. It was a good and hard-fought game. Quinn shared his testimony (very well) at half-time alongside of Danny sharing the Gospel with them in Spanish. Many of them seemed to understand and think deeply about the words that were spoken. Pray that God grows those seeds! To finish out the day, we ate pizza and relaxed at Danny’s home by watching the cream of the crop in film, “Nacho Libre.” Exhausted and elated, we returned to the seminary and packed for an early morning of travel. -Colby
Posted on: Fri, 21 Jun 2013 17:50:51 +0000
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