What God has done let know man forget . This is Eric N., director of the tour writing to highlight the ministry highlights of this tour. On top of winning the tournament lmast night with a 74 to 50 defeat of the host country Mali National team (more to come on the defeat of senegal and mali), our team was a part of something very significant at the end ofthe night.
The togo national team came to our hotel at 11 pm to talk more to our players about what they witnessed about their faith in Christ. so the players all went to one room and the coaches to another. Very real questions and openness followed for the next 3 hours as players and coaches discussed their desire to know God personally as they have seen from our team and how this is so different than the witchcraft or other faiths they are a part of. Some asked how is it thqt they could be a good christian referencing all the good things that they must do in their present faith to earn favor. How grateful to know that they could come just as they were to the foot of th cross. by 130 am, they were leaving and although we may not know the rest of the story, we do knowthat several surrenerd their life to Christ last night.
Jake Diebler said " it was great to experience God bringing together two different culture to discuss his word. seeing them desire to know more about Jesus was very encouraging to me."
Rob Frost , our trainer said " it was an amazing experience unlike any other in my life. "
other ministry highlights :
1. AiA staff in togo ,guinee, and mali were present during the entire times with their teams and they have now been positioned to follow up with the gospel seeds that have been planted. Jean Pierre , our Aia staff from Mali said, " I am very happy that our country hosted this tournment. It help us to be know by every sport leader and sportmen. It help us to share more than 8,ooo personnes and open the door which till now was closed for us. We are known now through the country and we will talk about our faith we share in Jesus."
2. Identification of a potential staff in Senegal.
3. Opportunity to speak at every halftime aboutour personal relationship with God. people listened attentively as many heard about the personal relationship with God through Christ for the first time.
4. Humanitarian aid in the form of formula to the orphanage, sports equipment to every team and federation, and financial assistance to staff and the needy in Bamako. One of the most impacting moments may have been our visit to the ghetto and seeing a family of 30 from many generations that was housed in the corner of the ghetto and were the first to inhabit the area. we met the grandmother andmany of hte the children and grandchildren.
Jay Watkins said " this experience really showed how many of the people live and made me thankful for everything in my life that i take for granted."
SHane dansby said " we say we have ghettos in the US but believe me they do not compare to the things i have seen while on this trip. I will appreciate things a lot more and not take so many things for granted"
5. Team meetings with every team after each game to talk about faith and give a gift of sports equipment.
Julian Gamble said this about the games " the games were something that we were definitely not used to, everything from the style of play, to the rules, and the referees made it difficult at times to adjust tom but me personally with keeping my faith in God hepled me overcome and play the way i knew how. That and just keeping in mind what we said since day one thqt its hard to know what to expect in africa TIA
6. Our personal team times in the word were real as we saw growth and a desire to follow the Lord more;
Jared Carter said that the most interesting part about the Africa trip was visiting the orphanage in Mali. "It was a life changing experiencel, because, it was hard to see so many small kids with no home and no parents. This will leave a life long impact on me because I will remember the light in each of the childrens' faces as we spent time with them."
What the Lord did was truly more than we could have asked for. Truly on of the more effective ministry teams i have been privieleged to be on.The ministry to the team and out ward was life changing.