Sending Forth...

Many years have passed since my dad signed me up for youth soccer at Eden Christian Academy. It was then, in kindergarten that I first put on a soccer jersey. I played for about 5 years after that and then hung up my cleats to retire from the game and try baseball then basketball, golf, football and then track and field. Now some 16 years later I have found myself back on the soccer field playing alongside a group of junior professionals that are called the “bad boys” or their official team name “Gabby Stars”. The “bad boys” have an interesting history in regards to how they came out of their former street lives to use their soccer skills and be taught the word of God. One man, David Audu (a former professional player in Europe) saw the need in his community to reach out to the “bad boys”. The bad boys were notorious for doing bad things and the community was very corrupted because of their influence. David, a big strong and scary man, began to approach them and tell them he wanted them to change and he offered to help them change their lives and he gave them an opportunity to play the game all Nigerians love. The bad boys began to come to training and he would challenge them and preach to them and urge them to stop living the lives they were and to come to Christ. Many, if not all, responded. Today there is now about 30 current players while many others have been changed and gone on to other careers having a relationship with Christ and no longer living for the Devil. I have had the privilege since May to be the official team “chaplain” as I have been given the opportunity to teach and pray with the players…sometimes I even laced up my cleats and trained with them. Sometimes I would be very humbled but during one practice I actually scored a goal and the onlookers went wild. I’ve quite enjoyed the opportunity to be around them and learned their broken English and just get to know Africa, Nigeria and them all better. Now that I am planning on leaving soon they decided to have a send forth game in my honor and give me the captains arm band for the match. They tried as hard as they could to let me score a goal and even the referee purposively called a penalty kick so that I could have a chance to score. I told them I did not want any handouts and I even declined the kick but we still went on to win the game 3-2. After the match I gave my shoes to the coach (picture below) and although he won’t fit them he may take them and sell them so he can have a nice pair of his own.

The pictures here are of the match. The picture of me with #5 is my best friend here, his name is Wasiu and he is an extremely good soccer player. He is also one of the first boys rescued from the streets where he once lived for 6 years. Today he is a mature young man and he wants to use soccer to minister to his own people and one day he hops to help street children in Brazil. The first picture (above) is of my last night worshiping with the boys that I’ve grown to love and cherish. In the picture the boys are dancing and singing to their African songs. Nigeria has been great and it’s getting harder each day to say goodbye.