The year 2010 began on a high note for the GOA sports evangelism as thousands of people responded to the preaching of the Gospel at Kitere in Rongo and at Nyamarambe in Kisii. In a period of two weeks, the local GOA congregation embarked on an outreach to the youths and other people who gathered to participate and watch the competitive soccer matches that unfolded in the region that brings together two tribes, the Luos and the Kisiis. The unique thing about this mission was that the final two teams hailed from these different communities and was a great crowd puller. Thousands of supporters gathered to cheer them and produced an environment that called for a neutral referee who could convincingly face that challenge. This intervention came in the person of the co-coordinator of sports evangelism who happens to be a trained class one referee and coach, and he hailed from a different community. Apart from the sports Evangelism, the mission team managed to reach out to the students from Nduru Boys High School. They spoke to them on the need to honour and place God first in their lives, HIV-AIDS awareness and the need for peaceful co-existence between different communities. These students together with all participating teams received balls and other gifts such as uniforms, soccer boots and individual gifts given to disciplined and exemplary players. Pastor John Kareithi, the GOA Secretary General and Assistant Bishop, spoke on the need for all of us to prepare adequately for our trip back home after we are through with this life. He urged the over two thousand people present to make God their number one priority in this year and beyond. By the close of this mission, over 3,500 people had been reached with the gospel while one hundred and fifty of them receiving Christ for the first time as their lord and savior. A visiting partner, Douglas from the USA was among the guests who graced these events. This mission was fully funded by the St. John UMC and this empowered the GOA mission team to travel, plan and bring the mission to a successful completion. We thank God for this significant partnership that has made us take the gospel to many corners of our country. S. N Njuguna, Sports Evangelism Co-ordinator
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