God’s love on the soccer field
Introducing kids and their families to Christianity by caring coaching
“Oh yeah, we really did get very close to the original!” one dad, who was somewhat suspicious of Christianity, exclaimed as he helped his team write out the page of the Bible they had just pieced together.
We were in the middle of a half-day workshop titled What is the Bible, with an unexpected group of around 70 people—stylish mums, stinky kids in soccer uniforms, older and younger brothers and sisters, bikie dads and nerdy dads, the trendy university-student assistant coach, and us, the foreigners—all brought together by Seahorse Soccer.
Coach Masa and his wife, Chie, have been running this evangelistic soccer club since September 2010. We’ve been taking our boys since our second week in Japan, back in February 2012. Masa not only shares Bible time with the kids during classes, but through his attitude and actions and the stated values of the club, he demonstrates the love of God to every student and their family members. Over the years, they have built a culture of acceptance and trust. Kids know that Masa is interested in them personally. Parents know Masa and Chie are people of integrity who can be trusted to build up their kids in ways that impact them far beyond their soccer skills.
Sport brings out the best and worst in people. If a student is having a bad day, struggling with anger, disappointment, jealousy, or insecurity, Masa will notice and spend time chatting personally with that child on the sidelines. In stark contrast to the teams on other fields and Japanese culture in general, Masa encourages kids to speak words of appreciation and encouragement to each other (and never harsh words). Past students drop in randomly to join practice, assured of a warm welcome. It’s clear that this culture reflects the love of Masa and Chie’s God. Long before these kids understand the details of the gospel, they see God’s character of acceptance and loving discipline being demonstrated.
So when Masa and Chie invite us to bring a longer Bible message at the end of the year, Christmas, or at summer camp, everyone is ready and willing to listen. Even the most anti-religious, church-despising, cult-fearing parents are open to hear what it is that makes Masa and Chie care so much for their kids.
At this Bible workshop during one summer camp, it was that suspicious dad who realised that the Bible is a collection of historical documents, not just made-up stories written by brainwashed disciples. Throughout the hall, groups were re-creating a page of the Bible. One group had gathered pieces from a bag of rubbish; another group had found their pieces buried in a corner of the yard outside; another group’s pieces were floating around inside the building. Each team were carefully assembling the pieces they could find and writing out their own estimation of the original text. After collaborating with just one other team, most groups had an almost 100% match with the original text. We pointed out that since there were multiple copies here in the room, even without the original, someone would notice if anyone had made a mistake or tried to change the text somehow. “So how many copies of the Bible texts do they have?” the dad asked. He was visibly shocked by our answer (24,0001). This revelation must have made an impact: his son still comes to soccer!
Through this soccer club for kids, whole families who would never otherwise encounter the love of Christ or hear the gospel message are experiencing and being taught of God’s love for them.
1. This website gives an updated explanation of the 24,000 number (other sites say 5,366): Sean McDowell, “What is the most recent manuscript count for the New Testament?”, Sean McDowell Blog, https://seanmcdowell.org/blog/what-is-the-most-recent-manuscript-count-for-the-new-testament (March 13, 2018).
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