Stories
Racing to Change
Out of breath, running as fast as he can, Antoine made it just in time to catch the bus to the field. Every Tuesday we have our football (soccer) group. The group, in just five weeks has doubled in size with new kids showing up each week and jumping in before we even know their names. The van we have is jam packed and the staff are having to use their personal cars in order to get all the kids there.
After arriving they empty the bus that now looks like a “clown car” as the kids come out, and break into two groups by age. One group goes into the discussion and the other heads to the field first. The discussion group talks about real life subjects and stories from athletes who are believers and the obstacles they faced. Last week one of the students was given the responsibility to prepare a devotion for the group from the gospel of Luke. He spent four hours reading and when presenting he talked about how we love each other. After the teaching and their friend sharing kids have time to discuss and talk about how these principles affect the way they play sports and how it affects their real lives. After an hour the two groups switch.
After a few weeks we’ve had more than one kid say to one of the teachers/coaches, “Can I talk to you alone?” These discussions give these teenagers a place other than just their families to express how they feel or share something they want help with changing. The trust and honor that these kids and teens have begun to put in the teachers allows the teachers to encourage this generation to dream bigger, not be afraid of hard work, have no fear to stand out.
It’s those who “stand out” that are the changers of the world. These are the ones who have the audacity to challenge what is wrong in the world and then the hard work they learn makes them not give up when they hit roadblocks. This is the generation we are working to raise that will work to change the wrongs in front of them for a better world.
