The language barrier is quickly becoming my biggest pet
peeve.
I want to be able to joke with the street boys that I have made a relationship with, but my humor
often does not translate.
Soccer, however, needs no language.
My relationship with a lot of the boys has started because we
started kicking the soccer ball around.
My love language with them is soccer.
They know that I deeply care for them when we play…it is
written all over their faces.
Gene and I went to see our neighbor, who has become our
really good friend, play in a local game.
After an hour and a half walk, we arrived at the field.
The field was straight up in the middle of no where, and it
was dirt.
There were rocks all over the field.
Some of the people on the teams have no idea where their next
meal is coming from, but you best believe that they had legitimate soccer
jerseys.
That’s how much this sport means to them.
Side note- The game was freaking AWESOME! I was sitting in
the bush of Africa watching street boys play soccer. I SWEAR that life does not
get better.
Soccer is INCREDIBLY important to them.
I am slightly convinced that the Lord will take over Africa
through soccer.
They have a passion for it that I have never seen before.
Our Swazi contact here is starting to do soccer clinics with
a lot of the boys in our area.
Every session they work on a specific skill and relate it
back to Scripture.
He wants to teach boys here how to respect woman, and to stay
motivated to overcome the world around them.
I hope and PRAY that I can be a part of something like this
in my future.
We have talked about me coming back to do something similar
to what he is doing, but for girls.
We will see what the Lord has in the future as far as that
goes.
I find it no coincidence that the one thing that I was
absolutely obssessed with before I knew the Lord, soccer, is now a skill that
He is using for his glory!
HE IS SO GOOD!
I got to have a great conversation with an eleven year old
boy at one of the carepoints who I play soccer with about Jesus.
He will soon be the proud owner of a Bible.
He is incredibly motivated.
I CANNOT wait to see what the Lord does in his life.
