This month, we have been doing a lot of different ministries, but one ministry we do almost every day is sports ministry. I knew what sports ministry was before this trip, but I was always confused about how playing sports was sharing the love of God. In my experience, sports always seemed to get too competitive, or someone would get hurt or offended by certain plays or calls. I’ve never been too good at sports, so I always remembered feeling left out when I wasn’t as good as everyone else.
That is not what I have experienced here.
Most evenings at 4pm, we play volleyball with people in the local neighborhood. There are usually 3 of the same people and occasionally some others will join us. When we pick teams we always try to keep them even so that we have a fair game, and one team doesn’t have all of the crazy good players. We always encourage each other, including people on the other team, and we always have a good time just laughing and having fun.
Volleyball is a pretty popular sport here, so around this neighborhood there are usually a lot of different games going on. One time some of us went to a different net, and we could feel the difference in how they played. They would hog the ball, argue a lot over certain plays, sometimes they would even gamble on games and we did not always feel welcome there. Comparing that to the net we normally play at made it clear to me the true ministry we were doing.
Whenever we play volleyball, they joy of the Lord is overflowing like a fountain. Sometimes we get really distracted because we are laughing so much. We support each other and encourage everyone playing no matter what, and that is what Christ’s love looks like. After games most nights, we also pray for the people we are playing with as a reminder of who was the source of that joy.
In this community there is a lot of darkness. Whether it’s violence or gang activity or substance abuse, it is very prevalent in most homes here. That’s why it is such an amazing thing when we can offer a moment of relief from those things, and we can just be present with each other and our joy can overflow into their lives. That’s why we try to play at other nets, too, because we want to try to show them they joy we have and why we have it.
This month, I have learned the power of sports ministry, and the power of living a life full of the joy of the Lord. Our joy is contagious, and we have a duty to share that joy with people who may not have it, and the true beauty of being a Christian is the fact that we can show that joy in so many ways, even through sports.
