A Look Back - Ethiopia

Many of you have been asking about my recent trip to Ethiopia.  How was my trip?  What did I learn?  What does this mean for our future ministry?  How was the food?

I just want to say that, no matter how hard I try, I will never be able to fully explain or describe how much I learned during and grew from this trip.  Words just won’t do it justice.  But, I guess I’ll try.

For those who don’t know, I went to Ethiopia from 30^th November to 10^th December of this year to visit Sports Friends, a sports-based ministry of SIM.  The program was started in Ethiopia ten years ago and has since spread to Kenya, Thailand, and Nigeria, and now they are looking to expand further into Malawi, Peru, and Zambia.  And that’s where I come in.

Many of you have kept up with my frustrations since arriving in Zambia a year ago.  After beginning our ministry at Lusa in May, we have found less and less for me to do there.  Almost all of the limited number of community volunteers are female, so Tiffany has been able to build some strong relationships while I just sit on the sidelines.  We’ve seen the feeding program for the children improve to provide weekly meals, but usually the food is cooked by the women while the kids are in class, and so again I just sit around.  I tried to start a Bible curriculum for the school, but the teachers would only occasionally teach it. 

During all this, I would continue to play with the idea of starting a sports ministry here in Solwezi.  Regularly I would brainstorm with Tiffany ideas on what a sports ministry would look like here.  How often would we meet?  For how long?  Would we incorporate a Bible study?  Before we play?  After we play?  How many leaders would I need?  Our list of questions grew and grew, and we prayed and prayed.

Then, one day, seemingly out of the blue, all those prayers seemed to be answered.  I received an email from the SIM Zambia director asking if I was interested in traveling to Ethiopia to learn more about Sports Friends.  My gut response was to jump on board right away, but I told him that Tiffany and I would pray about it before I gave him an answer.  So we did.  And I went.

And I am so glad I did.

While in Ethiopia, I had a chance to meet with a handful of the almost 150 SIM missionaries serving in that country.  I learned about their organizational structure, their philosophy of ministry, and what God is doing through them among the people of Ethiopia.

I had a chance to meet with several leaders from Ethiopia Kale Heywet Church, the largest evangelical denomination in Ethiopia, boasting around 8 million members.  I learned that a fully self-governed, self-supported, and self-propagating church in Africa is more than just a dream – it’s a reality.  I learned how this church was actively sending missionaries to other parts of the world, including areas where Western missionaries are not allowed entry.

And I had the chance to visit with Sports Friends Ethiopia leaders and learn from them.  I learned that Sports Friends is more than “just” a sports ministry.  It’s more than playing games so that young people come to church.  It’s more than establishing a fun environment where people feel safe and can have fun.  It’s so much more than all that.

Sports Friends is changing lives.

We visited a church that started when a 12 year old Muslim boy came to Christ through Sports Friends.  This boy’s life changed, and soon his family began asking questions before ultimately placing their faith in Christ as well.  This church now has close to 80 members, provides 2 Sports Friends teams, and is planting churches in the Muslim community around it.

We met a young man who went through the program and is now the only believer in his family of 50.  Ostracized by his parents, this man is now a church leader in a local “mother church” that is actively planting churches in the community, including the one mentioned above.

We met another young man who was addicted to drugs and alcohol until he came to Christ through Sports Friends.  He is now an active participant in the ministry, coaching a team and praying that he can impact more youth for Christ.

I could go on and on.

But what makes this program so different from other sports ministries?  Not being the foremost expert in this area, I would attribute it to the emphasis on character building and leadership development.  Sports is the vehicle by which contact is made and relationships are built, but it is by no means the focus of the ministry.  Changed lives through the power of the Gospel is key.  Church leaders are trained as coaches, the youth are invested in, future leaders are developed, and growth is undeniably seen.

Empowering leaders.  Strengthening churches.  Changing lives.

Sports Friends in a nutshell (though this by no means does it justice).  My next post, whenever I get to it, is going to look at what all this means for our ministry here in Zambia.