This Christian School’s Soccer Tournament Is Winning More Than Games

Faith Facts

• A Christian academy in Nigeria has baptized over 100 young people in three years through a soccer tournament that requires Bible study participation
• Mission teams in Costa Rica and Honduras report multiple baptisms from door-knocking evangelism campaigns
• A South Sudan evangelist led a three-day seminar that brought 20 new believers to Christ, including two young women delivered from spiritual oppression

Churches of Christ around the world are sharing powerful testimonies of evangelistic success through creative outreach methods that combine practical engagement with biblical teaching. From Central American mission trips to West African soccer tournaments, believers are finding new ways to share the Gospel and see lives transformed.

COSTA RICA

SAN JOSÉ — A balloon sword and multiple sheets of paper provided a visual representation of the “full armor of God” from Ephesians 6 in Dave Domingue’s Bible lesson in this Central American capital. Domingue, director of the Georgia School of Theology in Warner Robins, Georgia, also placed a blindfold over the eyes of his volunteer, Jean Paul Gamboa Fallas, to emphasize that “we don’t always see what’s coming,” Domingue said.

Domingue led a team of students from the theology school, who worked alongside members of the Church of Christ in South San José as they did door-knocking evangelism. The team also taught Bible lessons at Camp Jennie Sue, a family camp.

Gamboa, a graduate of the Brown Trail School of Preaching in Texas, and Andrès Coto Umaña conducted the camp.

“We are grateful for the partnership of the San José Sur congregation,” Domingue said, “and for faithful brethren from multiple congregations who came together with one purpose: to encourage the church, strengthen believers and proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

HONDURAS

VILLA DE SAN FRANCISCO — A dozen members of the South Florida Avenue Church of Christ in Lakeland, Florida, participated in a medical and door-knocking gospel campaign in this colorful, historic town about 40 miles northeast of Honduras’ capital, Tegucigalpa. Team members reported multiple baptisms and Bible studies during the campaign.

NIGERIA

URUK OTONG — It isn’t the World Cup, but a school associated with Churches of Christ in this West African village sponsors a local tournament that’s winning souls for Christ. Rhema Christian Academy invites teams from the surrounding villages to compete in the annual contest.

Participants must complete lesson booklets provided by World English Institute, a ministry that helps students improve their English skills using the Bible.

“The finals of the soccer contest are played during our annual Youth Bible Conference in December,” said academy president Aniefiok Akpan.

About 100 youths, including soccer players and fans, have been baptized since the school launched the tournament three years ago.

SOUTH SUDAN

MANGOK RIIT — Demons can’t stop the growth of Christianity in this East African village, said Geng Garang Deng.

Deng, an evangelist who works with World English Institute, led a three-day seminar in the village that resulted in 20 new Christians.

“During our time there, we encountered unusual challenges, particularly concerning two young girls who had been afflicted by demonic spirits that prevented them from participating in church activities,” Deng said.

Church members held prolonged prayer sessions for the girls, during which they often would become unconscious, the minister added.

“Recognizing the urgency of their situation, we prayed fervently for both girls and engaged their families, encouraging them to seek liberation from such affliction by turning to the Lord,” Deng said.

“In a remarkable turn of events, we were able to baptize both girls with their families, bringing them into the fold of the church and away from the practices that had previously caused them distress.”

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