If you know me well you know that I absolutely LOVE soccer! At age 5 my soccer journey began. I played rec soccer for years and then transitioned into select and premier soccer in middle school. Soccer was my first love. Something that I was semi decent at and that brought so much joy and friendships through out the years. I learned determination, dedication, and so many other valuable lessons through soccer that I still use today. Hours were spent juggling, working on trapping and headers with my dad, and dribbling. Much of my work ethic today came from the hours spent pursuing soccer and the dream of playing collegiate soccer. Right before high school I was given the awesome opportunity to go play in two soccer tournaments abroad in Denmark and Sweden. To this day, I am still so thankful for that opportunity to go to Europe and play soccer with kids from all around the world. Cool story with this is that the very first person to donate to my World Race was my coach who took me to Denmark and Sweden…you know who you are..THANK YOU so much!! Finally, I played four years of high school soccer along with club soccer. The dream was always to play collegiate soccer and much of my life was spent preparing for that dream. God changed up that plan and took that dream away. At the time it really sucked but now I see why God had me give up competitive soccer. I wouldn’t be where I am today without so many years of playing soccer, but I also wouldn’t be where I am at today if I had continued to play soccer in college.
Soccer will always be a part of my story and I will always have a passion for the game. When I found out that we got to participate in soccer ministry I was ecstatic! Pairing soccer and Jesus together are probably two of the best combinations..at least that is my personal opinion. So, for the past two Wednesdays we participated in playing soccer with the local kids from the slums and then sharing a bible story and feeding the kids afterwards. Both times were so sweet! Soccer is an international language and it was so fun to connect with the kiddos!
Some of the photos below will show that I did not take it easy on the little kids..at one point I pushed a kid and also nailed a kid in the back with a soccer ball…sometimes I get a little too competitive. 
Today, as we played I connected with a little boy that I called Justin Bieber (picture below). He is in sixth grade and an outstanding soccer player. As we played against each other we started joking around and chanting back and forth. He stuck by me for the rest of the time and told me I was his best friend. He melted my heart instantly. As we sat down before story time and lunch began I got to ask Him if he knew Jesus. I told Him that Jesus loved Him more than he could even imagine. God was so intentional in placing this cute kid in my life as we sat and talked about how much Jesus loved him and shared such a sweet moment together. I know that Jesus is pursuing my sweet soccer friend and will one day capture His heart. Seeds were planted in his heart along with many other kids’ hearts. Soccer ministry is AWESOME and I look forward to continuing to use my love and passion for soccer to bring the kingdom around the world.
*My Nepali best friend!
