A few months back a friend in Raleigh named Eddie Rogosich sent me some info of some people doing sports ministry in the Cape Town area. I checked it out and set up to meet the guys when we arrived. A few weeks before we left for South Africa a foundation we are involved with, The Barnabas Way, wanted us to be in contact with some partners of the same group. And multiple people on this side have referenced this same group of people. Even found out that one of our Board members, Chuck Neder, is good friends with the guy who started the ISC.
So, finally, about a week ago, I met with John Yip who represents the ISC-International Sports Coalition. They are simply a body of like-minded people who believe in the power of sports to share the Gospel and transform lives. They train people to do sports ministry all over the world. They also prepare specific programs around major sporting events (i.e. World Cups and Olympics). So, they are particularly busy preparing for the 2010 World Cup here in South Africa.
One of the major things they are doing in preparation, and that they hope will sustain long after, is a whole life coaching curriculum called Ubabalo eAfrica. Whole life coaching basically means that within the context of a team you would also focus on the emotional, intellectual, social, environmental, physical, and spiritual parts of life. Since you already have that child’s attention, you should use it. They want to train the coaches and provide the resources for that to happen.
That’s where their partnership could be particularly beneficial to Ubuntu Sports Outreach. It sounds like a great curriculum for our coaches to use. We could then be one of their “hubs” who are going to find partner churches in our area. We would then connect the churches to the local schools as they provide coaching for their teams. This would connect churches to schools, sort of like the Adopt-a-school movement taking place in Raleigh, and put the onus on the churches to provide a youth program for their kids. We were always planning on connecting churches and schools, but this will make us even more intentional about it.
We’re really praying through this right now. The values of the ISC seem to be perfectly in line with ours’. Please join us in praying through this partnership. John Yip is now in the States training people about these programs, so pray for his travels and influence.
It’s neat to see how “ubuntu” is happening here. We are all interconnected, especially when we are passionate about seeing Jesus made famous in our world.
This Saturday I’m going to a local gathering of Sports Ministries that the ISC guys invited me to. Hopefully more “ubuntu” will happen there as I find out about the other programs happening here and meet others like me.
Thanks,
Casey
