Soccer has always been a huge passion of mine. Ever since I was four I have always played all year round. It is really easy for me to connect with people when I play soccer with them. I think it is this way anytime you do you do something you love.
Here in Puerto Barrios I have got the privilege of playing with the local people or shall I say the local guys. There is a park on the coast line that people from all the surrounding neighborhoods come and play. The boys who play are really good. They play every night so it’s easy to build relationships with them. When we first starting going to the park the boys didn’t wants anything to do with the girls playing. Girls dont play here. A women’s job is to either watch or stay home with the kids. So us girls had to earn our respect, we had to prove to them we could play and that we wouldn’t hold them back from really getting to play. They made fun of us a lot but they have came around.
Now I have really connected with all the boys who play soccer at the park. They are my boys. I am actually on a team too. I play on the same team everytime I go and they treat me like a regular member of their team. They even pass to me and even get excited when I score. They don’t treat me different anymore because I’m a girl. They have accepted me.
It’s funny because something as simple as playing soccer with local people changes my life. God really speaks to me and uses me to be a light to these guys. Even though I dont speak much spanish they all know I love the Lord. They all know I am a “missionary” from the United States. Hopefully the Lord is changing hearts through me. In my mind the master plan of evangelism is to get out into the community. The people out there need the Lord the most, they are the most lost. Please pray that I will have impact with these people.
