I’ve been writing about my trip to Cuba since I went. It was an incredible experience, and I am still processing all of the stories from everyday. Here’s another story about an incredible guy I met–a story that speaks about 2 Timothy 2:2 in a powerful way.
I had the opportunity to meet Alex, the youth pastor of a church in a neighborhood that is very spiritually needy. Giancarlos, my former student, told me about how this area was a very spiritually dark place and that Alex’s ministry was vital to reach the youth there.
Alex uses sports ministry to draw the interest of young people in the area. Each week they meet together to play soccer, and the students in his church youth group invite their unbelieving friends to play with them, giving them an opportunity to build relationships with those who do not go to church.
This group usually has to borrow a soccer ball from someone in order to play, and a local school lends them the field to play on. When we were there, about 8-10 of the guys who were playing with our group were from Alex’s group. Their faces lit up when we gave them two soccer balls and a pump, and they now have more opportunities to reach their friends for Christ using sports.
As we were giving them the equipment, Alex was quick to tell me that the young people of his church are the “protagonists” in this ministry, meaning they are the ones that are using this equipment to reach their friends. He is simply helping them use their interests to reach them.
Giancarlos later told me that Alex was once in his youth group, and that he had discipled him and brought him up to be a leader in another church. Now Alex is taking what Giancarlos has taught him and using it to minister to young people. This is part of YMI’s strategy: to train trainers who can train others (2 Timothy 2:2).
Please pray for Alex and his group as well as Giancarlos and his ministry. Pray that God will raise up many others to take what they have been taught and share it to men and women who will be able to teach others also.
