“Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.”
Proverbs 14:34
Six months ago, in May, God inspired us to reach out to the young people in my community through the avenue of sports. The youth here have never been “model citizens”, but that only compounded through the hopelessness of the lock downs, which left everyone completely aimless and idle. God showed me (Matt) the need for something to be done when I found out that a group of preteens from my village were setting up roadblocks to rob travelers.
“Yalwak Manyen Football Club” (YMFC) was officially opened on October 11th 2021! Yalwak Manyen is an Acholi phrase which means “new generation”. It is our prayer that each new generation would have a more Godly community than the generation before it. God has given me a great manager/coach to entrust this program to. David Kizito is a personal friend of mine who worked with us at BAM Enterprises for several years but had difficulty continuing his work there when his finger was injured. He is a gifted evangelist and has had great training and experience working with sports and kids at a nearby project sponsored by Compassion Int’l.
It has only been one month since we opened, but God is already working. Right now 40 children meet for three afternoons a week to learn about God and learn how to play soccer. They have memorized many scriptures, gained impressive soccer skills, and most importantly the majority have accepted to be in an eternal relationship with their heavenly Father. We are even hearing many testimonies from their parents about great changes in their children’s attitudes, behavior and sense of responsibility. We are thankful for a good energy outlet for Apio, and we look forward to our other children being able to participate as YMFC develops to accommodate more age groups.
Praise God That:
- He has opened and used this outreach.
- The majority of the children have accepted Jesus’ eternal salvation.
- We have a place to meet for the time being, and that God gave us the financial ability to buy five acres of land that we will develop into a small community center.
Please Pray that:
- God gives us wisdom as we shepherd the entrusted to us.
- The families of the children in our program would also receive Christ.
- We can have the financial ability to develop our land into a community center/park.