One of the strategies that Great Commission Movement uses in its quest to see that everyone knows someone who truly follows Jesus is the Athletes in Action (AIA) ministry. Because athletes are popular and influential, especially among the young people, winning them to Christ and discipling them until they also are mature witnessing Christians is a good way of influencing many people for Christ. In Jos GCMN staff work with sports men and women at the Plateau State Sports Council who in turn have opportunities to share the gospel message with other athletes and fans in various parts of the country and even abroad. GCMN briefs editor recently talked with two of the athletes involved in this ministry. They are women’s volleyball players from the Plateau Rocks team (of the Plateau State Sports Council) who were part of the Nigerian team that participated in the All Africa Games in Maputo, Mozambique from Sept. 3 to 18, 2011.

Though both Comfort and Mercy were keen athletes in school, neither had ever played volleyball. In 2003 and 2005 respectively, God got their attention and they began playing at the Jos Stadium. Both are now on the senior women’s team, and both had the privilege of representing their country at the All Africa Games this year. But getting to Mozambique wasn’t easy. Each girl has a story of God’s faithfulness in the process.

Training for the games began on June 27^th in Abuja. Mercy says, “When I got to camp, I wasn’t impressed with my game. I wasn’t playing my best and I didn’t know why. I talked to God about it, and he encouraged me. Gradually, my game improved.” But then she began to have back pain. Again she prayed, and was able to continue playing despite the pain.

Comfort, too, experienced some challenges and God’s miraculous intervention. Toward the time of team selection, she began to hear from one source or another that she might not make the team. Her teammates advised her to play to impress the coaches, to ensure she makes it. She refused, quoting 2 Cor. 10:18 which says, “For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.” She decided to simply play her best and trust the Lord, but when the names of those going to Mozambique were posted her name was not among them. In tears, she prayed, and God told her to be still and continue to trust him. She started packing to leave camp, and in fact was already at the motor park when she received a call from her coach telling her to return to camp. And that is how God got her on the national team, which played in the Nations’ Cup in Kenya and then at the All Africa Games in Mozambique.

These two women are part of the AIA (Athletes in Action) discipleship ministry of the Great Commission Movement in Jos. They meet once a week for discipleship where Mercy says, “I have really learned to study God’s Word and to hear from him day by day. When I study his Word, there is a comfort that man cannot give.”  Comfort says that through their studies she has really understood that as Christian athletes they play for God’s glory and not their own, or their team’s.

GCM Staff meeting for discipleship with athletes.

God is using these godly young women to bring others into his kingdom and cause them to mature in faith also. For example, early this year Comfort took up badminton as a second game. Over time, her godly responses to the happenings on the team drew the attention of the other players. The difference in her conduct became so glaring that the coach also noticed and they all became inquisitive. Comfort could not but share some of the biblical principles she has learnt through the AIA ministry. She let them know that these have served as spiritual pillars for her, that they have helped her remain steady and focused as she plays both within and outside the country.

Moreover, Comfort saw that members of her badminton team were eager to hear the gospel and be discipled. Along with GCMN staff member Eunece (who disciples her) she made plans to reach out to them. After some time of prayer and planning, they asked the coach for permission to meet with the team for this purpose. Several attempts had been made to work with this team before, but this time God had worked through Comfort, and the coach gladly gave them free access to the team, and his blessing! Already, some of the players are meeting for discipleship. Indeed, when an athlete is living for Christ, his or her peers would be affected for God.

 Click here for AIA global site: www.aia.com

SPORTS- THE POWER OF INFLUENCE

Imagine the power of influence, the power of sports. Some of us might have watched the movie “Like Mike” where a young boy wanted to play like Mike who was a professional basketball player. Then we would fully comprehend the power and influence professional athletes have on their fans.

A few years ago, the only males you would probably see that plaited their hair were male Sango worshipers from the South West Nigeria. (Sango is the god of thunder worshiped among the Yoruba people of South West Nigeria). Today however, it is a common sight for young guys to be seen sporting braided hair. Particularly, some professional football players popularized this. Now, it is more acceptable to see men having plaited hair. The power of influence. Imagine what would happen if a popular Nigerian soccer player becomes a Christian, is properly discipled and uses his platform to positively influence his fans for Jesus. Imagine for a minute what influence, what impact he would have on the society. Sport has in fact earned the status of religion. About 60 million of the 6 billion people in the world today are athletes. They will go on to influence everything from law to media to the classroom to government. Yet many times, these athletes are simply children in adult bodies needing counsel and direction. This is where Athletes in Action comes in Top athletes have very powerful leverage and influence in the society. People look up to them as heroes and role models in the society. Our goal is to reach and disciple them so these heroes would look up to Jesus and people look up to them in the society. In Athletes in Action, we have five main divisions. These are:

1. Camp Division
2. Tour Division
3. Collegiate Division
4. Professional Division
5. Chaplaincy In Camp Division,

Once a year we seek to bring athletes and coaches together and give them Biblical principles that they integrate into sports. In this way, they would see they are not just athletes who happen to be in sports but rather, they are Christians whose calling is sports. We seek to help them to use the platform they have for the glory and praise of God as they compete.

Sports Tour is a very powerful tool of getting the message of the Cross across to different people. Be it football being played on a dusty field or basketball being played on a patch of dry ground, kids and everyone enjoy either watching or being involved in sports. Athletes in Action take different sports to different places, play with the local teams and use the opportunity to reach both the teams and audiences with the gospel of Christ. We have been to different places at different times- with an American Football clinic in the University of Lagos, a Basketball tour in Port Harcourt and different sports teams both to Uni Jos and Ahmadu Bello University Zaria. Sports Tour is a very wonderful way of getting the message across.

Students are the leaders of tomorrow. In fact one of Great Commission Movement’s maxims is “Reach the campus today, reach the world tomorrow”. In Collegiate Division, we seek to present the gospel to University students and help to reach their neighbors and world for Christ. Sports has its “gods” – the stars and superstar athletes who, though powerless to alter their own situations, wield great influence and charisma over their fans. Professionals are at the top of their sports carriers. These are the people that are really looked up to as heroes. Professional Division seeks to reach these pros with the gospel so these powerful and elite athletes could use their platform to reach people for the Lord.

When athletes and coaches gather for a major sports event, there is always a high need for spiritual help to both athletes and coaches. AIA therefore makes her Chaplaincy services available to the sports community at such times. We are there to pray and counsel and mentor athletes and coaches. We also make deliberate efforts to reach athletes and coaches with the gospel. Often times, some of these people are coming from nations that are closed to Christianity. But during the games, athletes and coaches from such nations are easily reached with the gospel through evangelistic and Bible gifts.

ALL AFRICA UNIVERSITY GAMES

Do you know that the Olympic charter has a clause that says there should be a chapel for attending athletes in the Olympics, yet athletes attending Olympics  can not be proselytized? We were not sure if this charter also applies to All Africa University Games since this was the first time Athletes in Action would be accredited during FISU games. We had taken time to strategize what we would do with students from Islamic countries at the games, the we prayed and left things in the hands of the Lord.

We were not only given VIP status, we were providentially given rooms  where athletes and officials of Algeria were staying. As soon as these athletes arrived we gave them sports videos that AIA has made. All of them were eager to get copies of these. But the best part was when these Algerian athletes found out they could come check their email using two laptops that some of our staff brought with them. Before long, word began to spread that there was a place where they could check emails for free. Many of them came along to check mails and stayed behind to attend chapels!! Even though Nigeria athletes did not come for the games, I was really thrilled that the Lord could open this door for us to minister to these Algerians, many of whom had never had contact with Christians before the games. Even though we were not able to openly share the message of Christ with them, we were comfortable that with God’s help they might watch the video we had given to them and may come to know the Lord.

 AMAZING THINGS HAPPENED IN JOS

For several weeks we had been working with the officials at the University of Nigeria Nsukka. All the officials we met were very excited to have our team come, more so because UNN was to host Nigeria University Games later in the year. On our own part, we had wanted to play with the student athletes from UNN and use the opportunity to launch our ministry on this campus.
You could better imagine how we felt when, four days to the event, we heard from the officials at UNN that they would not be able to have us on their campus after all!! Our team felt that we should not cancel that tour but move it to Jos. We played against the University of Jos team (this team is the second best team in West Africa at the moment) and thirty six of them gave their lives to the Lord. One unique thing about this tour was that we took a chunk of our time to disciple the guys that came to the Lord one on one. Follow up is going on with these guys that came to know the Lord. We had opportunity to be on both the radio and television.
Garrett, the leader of the team from the States said he has led tour teams for the past four years, but this tour was the first that had helped him and his guys focus on more than playing many matches and instead do more discipleship.