Sports & Ministry: The Inside Scoop!

Josh H. has been working with GoodSports Hungary since January.  Here is his perspective on using Sports as a ministry outreach:

Josh & the Mikepércs Black Sox
A GoodSports Hungary Baseball Team

"One of the hardest parts of doing overseas ministry is having to learn another language.  This is what makes doing sports ministry so amazing, you don’t need to know a language to play sports. In almost every sport there is a universal language that is used that makes communication easy. You may not know what to call certain equipment but you can show what you want done and people will understand. This became very apparent to me when I first got to Hungary. I didn’t know how to talk to the kids but I could show them and they did what I wanted.

Sports ministry also opens doors quicker to talk into the lives of the kids you coach or play with. One of the hardest parts of building relationships with people is finding common grounds to base conversations on. In sports, the common ground is the sport that you are playing or coaching. You already have a framework for future conversation, which can easily tie into the Christian walk. After every game I could easily find a way to tie Christian morals into the game situations. One example was when one of the boys had to make a decision between going to work and going to a game. The situation gave me the opportunity to talk to the other boys about responsibility and being a man of your word.

Depending how involved you are in coaching will depend how much of your time is taken up. But, GoodSports allows you to use your gifts when you do have free time. The first year I was in Hungary I really didn’t get a chance to use my spiritual gifts to the best of my ability. However, the year I have spent with GoodSports I feel my spiritual gifts have been better used. I have had a lot of free time and this free time has allowed me to help others in a practical way. One example is being able to help my landlord by chopping her wood. They would only do it when they needed it, which is usually when it was cold and snowing. Since I have been here I have been able to chop enough to probably last them for at least one winter.

Even though sports ministry is fairly new as a focused ministry, it has proven to be effective just like any other means of sharing the gospel. This past summer we have seen 2 baseball boys get baptized, another come to Christ, and a regular attendance at weekly Bible studies. If you are looking to share your love for sports and the gospel, sports ministry is a great way to do that and GoodSports will give you the ability to do that."