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Christians in Sport in Brazil and
Paraguay – by Ian Lancaster
Countries and cultures differ but the Gospel is unchanging: it is truth
unchangeable, power untameable and always brings about the same effects!
That is my conclusion after a really good trip to South America with
Graham Daniels (aka Danno) for a couple of weeks in April where we spent
five days teaching in Brazil and six days in Paraguay.
South America is divided into four mini-regions for organising sports
ministry and we were there to teach at two of the mini-region
conferences. We began in Brazil with 120 sports ministry leaders. Brazil
is a vast country and it was outrageous to see people there who had
driven for 11 hours, such was their dedication and hunger to be better
equipped. Danno delivered the ‘Born to Play’ material on the
relationship of the Bible to sport and the teaching was gladly received.
As well as Biblical training the conference programme was jam-packed
with teaching on strategy as well as actually delivering an outreach
event for young people in the locality. Everything was, of course,
delivered in Portuguese but we were fortunate to have a first rate
translator who we trust was keeping us in the picture of what was
actually being said! Whenever people come together who love Jesus, have
a desire to serve him and are hungry to be better trained, there is
always an atmosphere of unity and genuine care. This atmosphere was
certainly evident at the conference and through my patchy Portuguese,
Danno’s ropey attempt at translation and some well perfected signalling
and hand gestures we left satisfied again in the Gospel and thrilled
that it moves hearts all over the world.
Then onwards to the second mini-region conference in Paraguay! We spent
the first couple of days in a minibus – literally! We travelled to a
Bible College in the capital Ascension to meet up with Javier Zarate who
studies there and is the leader of the mini-region. Danno delivered a
lecture on Pray, Play, Say to the students and we spent some time with
the College Principal who seemed encouraged with the teaching.
The second mini-region conference ran from Thursday through to Sunday.
Mind you, it is hardly ‘mini’ by our standards. It consists of all the
other southern countries in South America apart from Brazil – Argentina,
Chile, Uruguay and Bolivia. 35 people attended and once again the
commitment levels to get there were astonishing – 24 hour car journeys
were not uncommon. One guy had two flights and a bus journey, which took
him 36 hours. This time Danno and I worked together to deliver sessions
on Pray, Play, Say; Born to Play and ‘What is the Gospel?’ We were
suitably encouraged by the engagement levels of the leaders and once
again found that the Gospel was a great thrill to all present. The
smaller numbers of leaders attending this conference lent itself to
different dynamics. Even through the language barrier (this time we had
to turn our linguistic buds to Spanish!) we managed to build good
relationships with some of the key leaders there; helped by a couple of
top games of football - Paraguay v the Rest of the World!
The experience of my first journey to South America was a real eye
opener – people all over the world love Jesus, play sport and
desperately want to share the Gospel with other players. I learnt much
about passion, commitment, care and love as I watched how these leaders
went about their business. And that’s what the body of Christ is all
about isn’t it? Watching, learning understanding, giving and sharpening
each other to glorify and serve our Lord Jesus. Cultures and countries
are so very different but the Gospel remains unchanging – so let’s hold
unswervingly to it!
Ian Lancaster, Youth Team Leader
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