Why a Sports Camp?

This week two friends, Teo and Mike, have come from the city of Puebla to run a sports camp in Jesús Marí­a.  It will run every afternoon from 4-6:30pm in the area in front of the community centre.  Soccer and Basketball!

Running through the middle of the community of Jesús Marí­a is a large area with places to play soccer and basketball, a playground, places to walk, and so on.  The community centre (Centro Cultural Tiempo de Vivir) is right in front on one side, and so we have excellent access.

But why have a sports camp?

For one thing it’s a service to the community.  Mike and Teo aren’t just playing around with the kids – they’re teaching an organized program of drills and games.  The kids really are learning, and they have “something to do” for a good part of the afternoon.

They’re getting a healthy snack, exercise, and they’re meeting new friends – in a safe environment.

This is a great opportunity for people of our church to be involved, as well as the interns we have here from the USA.  Serving snacks, helping to teach, hanging out with the kids – there’s lots to do.

Today was the first day.  In spite of a little rain, about 50 kids came – great turn out to start!

When snack time came, Mike and Teo shared a story from the Bible. They talked about Nehemiah today.

Mike has been using materials from the international sports ministry Uncharted Waters. You might remember that UW has been here in the past, training people to run sports camps for Christ.

I asked Mike what he wanted to see happen this week. He answered,“Miracles!”

Well, of course! We’re used to watching for miracles here. And we could always expect more.

Mike and Teo want to meet new people, make new friends, have fun, and share the Gospel in the power of God’s Spirit. Yes, you can do all those things at the same time. 🙂

We have the privilege to be a small part of it. I met a nice couple today that I didn’t know before. And those of us here have the privilege of getting to know some people over the longer term.

A sports camp is just one thing that we have going on here. I hope that gives you a bit of an idea what our vision is.