Back Pages Online - June and July 2009
Back Pages Online
Welcome to the June / July edition of Back Pages Online - some of the news from Christians in Sport from the last two months
New Word Alive / Hockey Network's Pre Season Tournament / Corinthians Heineken Cup Weekend / Christian Sportspeople / Sportspeople Who Are Not Christians / International / Mission Partners
News!
Graham Daniels and Pete Nicholas at New Word Alive
From 30 March to 04 April, Graham Daniels and Pete Nicholas attended New Word Alive, a Christian evangelical conference providing Bible teaching and pastoral ministry.
Graham helped to host the main meetings, and both he and Pete were asked to run some evangelism training sessions on our Wired for Witness Course. Pete commented, "it was fantastic to see about 40 to 50 students and adults excited enough and committed enough to witnessing for Christ that they were prepared to give up a bit over an hour in the sunny afternoons on the Welsh coast to come to the sessions. So many people feel that evangelism is beyond them and 'for the experts / nutters'. However since we all know the Gospel then we all know the content of what to say to speak for Christ, often the difficulty is just being clear on the Gospel and knowing how to put it to work in a cringe free way. It was a real thrill to see those who attended the seminars grasping this and starting to put it into practice in the role plays, let's hope that many of them follow-through on their commitments to put it into practice with their mates".
Hockey Network's Pre Season Tournament
The hockey network is getting together for a pre-season tournament from the 28 to 31 August 2009 in East Grinstead. Contact Nick Ferraby for more information.
Corinthian's Heineken Cup Weekend 23 to 24 May (report by Andy Bryce)
Just this past Bank Holiday weekend, over forty rugby players from over twenty different clubs descended upon Edinburgh for the Christians in Sport festivities surrounding the Heineken Cup. This is the fourth year that it has been organised although it is the first time that the Scots hosted from the bedrock of Edinburgh. The weekend began with a competitive game played on Saturday morning at Stewart Melville's ground between the select teams of Scotland / Northern Ireland vs Wales / England. A hard fought battle pursued with both teams cheered on by some local support. The game displayed good, expansive rugby although an edge was eventually found by the Scottish and Irish over the visitors for the honour of "the Thimble".
However, this was only the beginning of the weekend, as over lunch the teams heard from Chris Hutton about the up and coming 2010 Corinthians Tour to Romania, from Graham Ellis about how he recently became a Christian, finishing with a challenge from Nick Cox.
Not to slow proceedings down, the teams shot off to Murrayfield to watch the Heineken Cup Final between Leicester and Leinster. Like the game in the morning, there were crunching tackles, break away tries, and a really enjoyable atmosphere. There was a good choir of Irish supporters and this may have made the difference as Leinster went on to be crowned European Champions.
The Christians in Sport celebrations continued to a BBQ near Murrayfield where we enjoyed the company of fellow rugby players from the four corners of the UK, as well as fine burgers, sausages and pork chops without much salad on show at all - typical rugby!
To top off the whole weekend on the Sunday, we attended St Paul's & St George's Church and enjoyed a final meal of all-you-can-eat Chinese and ice-cream. Even with the aches still in our bones, plans are already on way for next year...there are rumours of Paris...
(Photograph: Corinthians Team Photo at the Heineken Cup Weekend).
The People We Serve
Take a look at this video to see the story of one rugby player representing Christ in his sport!
Christians in Sport Groups
At present we have 27 Youth Pray, Play, Say Groups across the UK who are meeting regularly (usually once a month) to be equipped to represent Jesus better in their sport. In the month of April we had well over 300 young people attend these Groups which was encouraging to see. As part of the plan for these Groups we encourage them to run outreach events, encouraging the youth Pray, Play, Sayers to invite their sporty friends who are not Christians to hear the Good News of Jesus. Over the last couple of months we have witnessed some good movement in this area. Cardiff, Liverpool and London all held Night of Champions events seeing a mixture of over 100 Pray, Play, Sayers and friends attend. One leader at the London event commented, "the Lord definitely answered prayers in some fantastically unexpected ways. Speaking to my guys from Dundonald, they all had a really great time, thoroughly enjoyed themselves and would definitely bring friends next time (shame they didn't bring some more friends this time!) so that's a job very well done".
May saw the first meeting of a Youth Pray, Play, Say Group in Friends GS. Stephen Robinson, a teacher in the school and volunteer for Christians in Sport, will be running the Group from September onwards. It was great to see ten young people coming along for the first time to understand more about Pray, Play, Say over the summer months before the new Group starts in September. I was also able to go down to Bangor and support another volunteer, Keith McIllwaine, in his ongoing work with his church youth group as we ran a Dodgeball outreach tournament. Over 60 young people took part in the tournament and listened to the truths of the Gospel as we looked at the theme 'It's not fair'.
To find out if there is a Youth Pray, Play, Say Group near you, visit the Connect & Get Involved section of the website.
Give thanks for the Oxford University Group where the Pray, Play, Sayers really seem to grasp the vision of Christians in Sport - in particular one person who brought four friends along to a quiz for the second time this year and off the back of the quizzes has had fantastic conversations with them. Also, praise God for the newly established University Group at King's University in London; a Group full of people who just have a passion to see their lost sports friends come to know Christ and are really keen to support and encourage each other in that as well.
Recently two leaders from different Scottish Christians in Sport University Groups came face to face on the hockey pitch. Here is what one of them had to say following the match:
"Coming face to face with another Pray, Play, Sayer was something I had thought about and wondered how I would react if it happened, on Saturday that thought became a reality. Before the game I was excited about the thought of two Christians playing to the best of their ability against each other for God's glory, but then my head quickly changed to the anxiety of it, would I be able to make the hard tackles, the shot when she is trying to block it! As we lined up we were opposite numbers and it was inevitable we were going to be one on one with each other throughout the game! To be honest at the start I was tentative towards the game, but as the game went on I grew to realise that I had to play to the best of my ability and use the gifts God had given to me, so that meant giving my all in the tackles against her and in the different situations that we came up against each other in the game. It was great at the end of the game to know that we were in different teams both pray play saying and then praying that our teammates would ask questions after finding out that we knew each other through Christians in Sport!"
The Edinburgh and Glasgow Adult Groups met again in May and it was brilliant to see new faces at both these Groups. It was encouraging during these meetings to think through the fact that our sporting abilities and talents are a gift from God and to consider how we can best use them for His glory.
(Photographs: The Edinburgh Adults Group).
Members of both these groups are now looking forward to 'Sportsfest' on Saturday 13th June, from 10.30-5pm at Auchterarder Sports Facilities. This will be a great day of competitive team sport, food and banter for the adult sports person and also offers a chance for adult Pray, Play, Sayers to bring along friends to hear about the great news of Jesus. This is the first time we have hosted this event in Scotland and are encouraged already by the promise of teams from both Glasgow and Edinburgh.
Oxford One Day Sports Plus Camp
Oxford held a One Day Sports Plus camp which over 90 young people attended and the Leeds and St Albans Groups held other sports focused events. The real thrill is watching young Pray, Play, Sayers step out in boldness and faith and ask a friend to come along to play sport and hear the Good News of Jesus - that's a huge ask for any young person to do and we're having the privilege of witnessing this activity all over the UK!
Scotland One Day Sports Plus Camp
The Scotland One Day Camp was held on 18 April in Auchterarder. What fantastic weather we had and a great day was had by all. It was brilliant to see young people from all over Scotland, 56 in total, and eight out of the nine Scottish Youth Pray, Play, Say Groups were represented which was brilliant. The theme for the day was "The Choice is Yours" and the young people were challenged as they considered the choice we are faced with from John chapter 3 verse 36 which says, "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him". Please do continue praying for all the young people involved in this day who are considering this choice for themselves.
Belfast One Day Sports Plus Camp
Belfast One Day Sports Plus camp took place at the beginning of April. 35 young people came along for a day of top quality sport and to consider the truth of Jesus for themselves.
The coaching sessions and team challenge tournament provided plenty of opportunities for development and fun in their sport, with the rain staying away until we were heading home! The theme of the day was "The Choice is Yours" and the young people were challenged to consider what choice they have made in relation to Jesus Christ from John chapter 3 verse 36 - it was great to see the young people listening and being challenged with the truth of the Gospel.
Professional and Elite Athletes
Our support of professional and elite athletes has two aims; to see them established and growing in Christ, and to help them grasp the vision of reaching the world of sport for Christ. It's been brilliant this year to see this happening with many of the players that we support. There is a growing work amongst some of the female professionals and amongst cricketers, which has been good to see. We were also thankful to see pros witnessing for Christ; some pros invited guests to an outreach quiz in Leeds, others pros have been giving great stories of Gospel conversations amongst Premiership rugby teams and others have been witnessing on the professional squash circuit. There is lots to give thanks for and we really want to see this work continuing and growing next year.
The football season has finally come to a close and with all the twists and turns it's been a roller-coaster of a season, not least for a good few of the Christian pro's who have been involved. In the midst of it all God has once again been at work in and through the lives of people involved in the beautiful game. This season we have seen a few players professing faith for the first time whilst others have found their faith strengthened as they have become established and supported in a local church.
Slowly over this season small pockets of players have been networking together to support and encourage one another. The result of all of this has been some amazing conversations about Christ in dressing rooms, on the bus to a game or on the training ground.
The season finished with a small pro's get together at the Christians in Sport Head Office in Bicester. It gave us the chance to look back and celebrate what God has been doing, get the Bible open and be spiritually sharpened for the summer break as well as have plenty of time to hang out, play some head tennis, swim in a nearby pool, enjoy some sublime banter and see friendships built that will strengthen the work for next year. Those who came left with a fresh determination to serve Christ in football and to be willing workers in this harvest field. Pray that in their summer break they would be refreshed both physically and spiritually and for those who face uncertain times that they would keep their eyes very firmly on Christ.
Sportspeople Who Are Not Christians
Adults Trip to Lanzarote
15 Adults (8 of which were non believers) were able to enjoy a quality week at the Club La Santa sports complex in Lanzarote in May. The trip provided a great opportunity to spend a week together getting to know each other's team mates, playing lots of sport in the sun each day, and more importantly to share Jesus with those that don't know him. In the evenings we ran five sessions based on the 'I AM' claims of Jesus. Each evening consisted of a meal together followed by a short talk, followed by discussion in groups. Give thanks and praise to God for a great week where everyone gelled well together and really engaged with the evening discussions which really helped them to grasp the Gospel message. As well as this is was great to see all getting stuck into the Club La Santa competitions including Duathlon, Triathlon, Tennis, and Windsurfing but the highlight was watching two of our Irish (rugby players!) contingent winning the Volleyball tournament against some strong European competition!
One of the Christian adults on the trip said "personally it was a great time for me to refresh my mind and relax, the lads that I brought also loved it, and for this I am immensely thankful to God. I pray that this week will be a real milestone in their quest for the truth".
(Photographs: Adults and guests at Club La Santa, Lanzarote).
We are now in the final term before the summer - exams, exams and more exams for students!
However, despite the busyness and stress of the student's final term, they have still been getting out into their sports teams and clubs, ready to stand tall for Jesus! Since the Easter holidays there has been so much going on to give thanks to God for. There have been three quizzes at Bangor, Warwick and Manchester at which 80 people attended overall. Of those 80 people over half were guests who had been invited by their Christian friends.
As well as sports quizzes, there have been Dodgeball tournaments! One tournament took place in Bath at the end of April. 35 people attended the tournament, of which 27 were guests . . . incredible! They had a fantastic afternoon of competition and fun followed by one of the Group Leaders of the Bath Group explaining a little about Christians in Sport, breaking down the belief that you can't be a competitive sports player and be a Christian - where as in actual fact we are all sports people who love Jesus!
The university Pray, Play, Sayers at Brunel and St Mary's Universities have recently been doing a lot of evangelism training - in particular working out how to answer the tough questions that their team/ club mates are frequently asking.
The women's football network 'Beautiful Feet' and their guests got together on the May Day Bank Holiday to watch the Women's FA Cup Final at Pride Park, Derby . It was a great day of football, meeting up with friends and talking about the season that has just ended. After the match everyone headed out for some food where Laura Wingfield-Digby gave a short Bible message. Beautiful Feet is now looking forward to a pre-season tournamet at Launton, Bicester from the 31 July to 02 August 2009
This summer 22 university students and four leaders will be heading out to help support the work of two of our international sports ministry partners; Paul and Grace Moses in India and Richard Charles Ssekyeru in Uganda. Supporting international partners is an integral part of our work and whilst the 22 students and four leaders will be serving the work of their ministries, they will also be growing and learning so much by taking the Gospel into a culture that is so different from their own.
Prayer is foundational to the work of Christians in Sport. That is why we are so thrilled to know that there are around 1895 people praying for the work on a regular basis! We know that God listens to and answers prayers, and that is why we want to find more people who will Join the Team in praying for the work.
As well as wanting to find more people to pray for the work, we want to find people who are able to make sport their mission field by giving to the work financially.
To find more prayer partners and more financial supporters we are launching a Church Pack - a pack containing the latest Christians in Sport magazine, a vision DVD and flyers; all the information you need to find out more about the work of Christians in Sport and to introduce other people in your church to the organisation. If you would like a Church Pack please contact Rachael Watson (01869 255633) to order one!
