The Lord placed it on my heart to invite people into a dream I’ve had for a long time. This dream has been to bring a soccer ball to every country I travel to overseas. Soccer has been one of the most influential parts of my life and I absolutely love sharing this passion with everyone especially when I serve overseas. Soccer is more than just a sport to me, it’s a way of deeper connection with others and a platform for sharing the love of Christ. Unfortunately, on my 11 month race I was only able to give away one soccer ball in Vietnam but that in itself was so impactful. I realized though, going back out for 5 months meant I would only need to pack 5 soccer balls in my pack and that was totally doable.
With a lot of prayer, the Lord showed me a very unique way to invite people into this dream. I asked supporters to donate $500 towards alumni squad leading and, on their behalf, I would donate a soccer ball to someone in each country. My ultimate goal was to have 5 people support me, so, in turn, I’d be giving away a soccer ball in each country.
Without fail, that is exactly what happened. The cherry on top is that my soccer coach, who took me to Europe back in 2009, donated the soccer balls I’d be taking out on the field to give away.
Here is the first incredible story behind giving away one of the donated soccer balls in West Africa.
As many of you know, Côte d’Ivoire was my first month back on the field. I contracted typhoid and spent a good portion of the month recovering from it. I didn’t have much of an opportunity to play soccer our first month because of it, but that didn’t stop the Lord from still using it in such an impactful way. Fast forward to my last day of ministry with team Haven. I still hadn’t given my first ball out and I was kicking myself. In the previous village, I had connected with a sweet little boy who loved soccer and had wanted the soccer ball.
Without fail, God knew who was supposed to receive this first soccer ball.
As we finished up team time, one of the girls noticed two boys playing soccer outside and told me I should go play with them. I looked outside and saw two teenage boys passing a cheap deflated plastic soccer ball. I immediately knew the soccer ball was for them. As we began passing the ball around, a few more kids gathered around. Before we knew it, we were one goal deep into a scrimmage. For the next hour we laughed, ran around, and bonded over the beautiful game of soccer.
After finishing off our game with penalty kicks, it was time to share the exciting news that this soccer ball was for them to keep. Everyone huddled around and, through my host’s daughter who translated, I got to share part of my journey with the Lord through soccer and how it had brought me to them. I gave the ball to the “player of the game”, a sweet 10 year old boy. Immediately, all of the kids started cheering and hugging each other. The yard was filled with cheers of “God Bless You” and “USA USA!!”
Friends, in this moment I couldn’t contain the joy and overwhelming feeling of love I felt in my heart. Tears definitely filled my eyes as all of these kids celebrated with each other over the simple gift of a soccer ball. It blew me away that the entire family rejoiced over the one soccer ball, because it was mutually understood that the 10 year old boy would share it with everyone. It was a surreal moment, a moment that I will hold dearly for life. Not only had this family just received a blessing, I was immensely blessed by this experience. In turn, a family back home had been a blessing.
God so perfectly took such a small dream to take soccer balls overseas and completely blew my expectations of what it would look like to live this dream out and have others be a part of it. Thank you, to my best friend Morgan’s family, for taking part in my dream of bringing soccer overseas. A family in the Ivory Coast now has the ball you donated and you are a blessing to them as they play with it.
Each month as I give away a soccer ball in honor of a supporter, I will share the story behind it. Stay tuned for Ghana’s story! I will be posting it soon!
Thank you for following along and taking part in this incredible season of squad leading and pursuing my passion of connecting the world through soccer!
Until Next Time,
Michelle
(Strangers who quickly became friends as we shared our love for soccer! The boy in the green shirt was the “player of the game” and received the soccer ball. Thank you Anthonys for playing a huge role in getting me to the IVC and making it possible for this family to have a soccer ball!!)
