Sports– A Universal Language

Below you will find our May 2015 newsletter. In our last newsletter, we announced that we are transferring to another ministry of Cru. If you missed that announcement, you can see that letter online at: http://bit.ly/AIARebholz

We want to give you a glimpse of what Athletes in Action does, so we will attempt to use the next few newsletters to highlight specific facets of the ministry.

Volume 9 Issue 4
Sports– A Universal Language

“Sports ministry provides the greatest opportunity in our time for global evangelism and creating sustainable discipleship movements through national staff and volunteers who can use the platform of sport to connect with the lost and reach their communities and their nations for Christ.” [Quoted from: Athletes in Action Annual Report 2014 pg 6]

With staff and a ministry presence in 40+ countries and volunteers working in another 20+ countries, AIA is taking great strides in global evangelism. AIA uses a model of ministry that includes: reaching top sports influencers, empowering churches to reach their communities, utilizing media, and leveraging global sporting events.

An example of this ministry is the country of Brazil. It hosted the 2014 World Cup and will host the Olympics in 2016. Local churches rose up to provide ministry in eight of the twelve cities where World Cup events were hosted. City coordinators trained 2,639 volunteers from 351 churches. They had 66 AIA church fan zones in the eight cities. The fan zones provided outreach parties that capitalized on the excitement of the soccer games.

The media component was also a key part of the strategy in Brazil. The Prize film, which features world class soccer players from around the globe sharing their faith in Jesus, was shown as well as handed out in the fan zones in partnership with the Brazilian Bible Society. Elsewhere, the film was also broadcast on national television in numerous countries (including several in Northern Africa and the Middle East).

Watch: The Prize - Under Pressure:

[See more about The Prize - Under Pressure at the website: http://www.theprize.com/]

Even though the World Cup is over, the network of churches and volunteers have what is needed to build on the momentum and prepare for the Olympics next year. The goal is to see these churches and volunteers expand ministry movements in 27 cities by the time the Olympics come to town.

Athletes in Action desires to see that what has occurred in Brazil becomes a model for sports ministry around the world. Our hope is to have more than 100,000 volunteers servings with AIA in the 250 largest cities of the world.

Prayers & Praise:

• Praise: Our Indy home sold in just 7 days.
• Pray: For all the details of the pending sale of our home in Indy. Closing June 23rd.
• Pray: Details for the move to Xenia, OH. Closing on home June 24
• Pray: That our transition will go smoothly