What a Saturday! Actually the success of last Saturday began about 5 weeks ago. At least twice a week the boys (and sometimes Marcy) played pick-up soccer games in the fútbol rápido courts of a nearby neighborhood. Then then encourage teams of 4 (maximum 5 with one substitute) to sign up for tournament play last Saturday. 13 teams with some very creative names signed up. Play began at around 11:15 a.m. this past Saturday.
After all the teams played one game, we paused the competition and asked all participants to sit on the grass under some shade trees, while our student interns shared a skit entitled “The Hunger” where a very hungry boy (Peter) tries all manner of distractions (sports, money, alcohol, women, drugs) to satisfy his hunger. For a while, he forgot about his excruciating need, but it always returned. Finally, Jesus offers to fully satisfy his hunger. Then Juan, a young person from a local Christian rehabilitation center, shared his personal testimony that practically mirrored the skit. Mayra finished additionally clarifying the gospel.
The competition went on. Finally, one team emerged victorious (after some dramatic penalty shots!), and trophies were awarded. We have since established a Facebook page where we can publish future soccer tournaments and inform as to future English classes. There was quite a bit of interest in doing what we did this past Sunday again, and many also asked about future English classes. So far, 36 people, most of which are young people from that neighborhood, have liked the page.
