During the days of 21 and 22
September, my FCA colleague, Jim Roquemore and I delivered sports ministry and
sports chaplaincy training to our friends in Havana, Cuba. Like many in Latin
America, they had primarily experienced sports evangelism as the predominant
form of ministry in sport. Having visited Cuba in 2009 and 2010, I had some
background on their approach and thought they were in a position to see sports
ministry from a broader perspective and with an approach beyond evangelism.
We began by discussing the
McCown Sports in Ministry Map, followed by the 360 Sports Matrix. I was very
encouraged by how quickly they grasped the concepts and made immediate
application to their service of sportspeople in their nation. It was most
helpful that the room of around thirty sports ministry leaders was populated by
people from most every category on the map’s horizontal scale – spectators,
novices, recreational participants, players, elite players, and one high
profile sportsperson. In their large and small group discussions, they processed
the material quickly and were greatly encouraged.
On day two, we delivered the
Introduction and the Relationships of a Sports Chaplain, from the material at www.globalsportschaplaincy.org.
These materials had been converted into Spanish and were very well received.
They and I believe that sports chaplaincy can be of tremendous value to the sporting
community in Cuba, not only in Havana, but across the island of 11 million
people.
These loving, passionate, and
disciplined leaders feel cut off from the world of sports ministry due to the
US embargo and their nation’s lack of infrastructure. In many ways, it’s like
Cuba is stuck in the 1960s in terms of infrastructure and technology. We
delivered some simple tools for them to use, including copies of Corazon de
un Campeon (Heart of a Champion in Spanish), and the FCA INVICTO
Bible (in Spanish) from this summer’s camps.
We finished the trip with a
visit to a Havana based mission organization to meet with their leadership to
discuss options for the shipping of ministry materials and sports equipment to further
our Cuban teammates’ ministries in Baseball, Football (soccer), Volleyball, and
other sports.
While travel to and from Cuba
is rather clumsy from the USA, it is better than it was five years ago. I
believe it will be increasingly easy and more frequent for Jim and his
colleagues in the coming years.
I told our Cuban friends that
their nation is better positioned for the rapid growth of ministry in sport
than any other on the planet. That is largely due to the centrality of sport to
Cuban culture. A huge mural is painted on the wall of Havana’s best and largest
sports arena. It says, “El Deporte Derecho del Pueblo.” “Sport is the right of
the People.” This statement in indicative of how important sport is to this
nation and it points to the tremendous opportunity the Church and the sports
ministry community has in this nation. May we be faithful to serve our Cuban
brothers and sisters as they effectively serve Christ Jesus in the world of sport.
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