COMMON LANGUAGE

“When speaking language – with the vision of allowing God to work in their lives – the Holy Spirit will do the rest.” This is Pastor Kennedy Salano, Director of Sports Evangelism for Assemblies of God Church in Nairobi, and a big football fan.

Five years ago, the leadership of Pastor Salano’s church wanted to engage young people and reach out to them through football.

“We realised many years ago that the only language that these young people understand is the language of sport,” says Pastor Salano. The church community was hesitant. “It was the first time that as a community and as a church we were engaging in sport,” says Pastor Salano. “I told them, ‘On Saturday, we are going to meet, we are going to connect with the community, and play sports.’ And amazingly, on that Saturday, people came out, in their hundreds. Some of the young people we were meeting got connected with the church. We have seen God doing tremendous things and lives being changed.”

Nurturing And Mentoring

The driving force for reaching out to young people is to share the good news of Jesus with them, but the impact of the ministry touches their whole lives, identifying and nurturing their talents. “We’ve seen some of these young people play for the national team and some have got sponsorship to study abroad,” says Pastor Salano. “We are so amazed by what God can do and how we can encourage these young people through the talent of sports.”

Anthony Kahoro plays for Nairobi Water FC, in the second division. He’s also a coach, and he serves with the teenagers’ ministry and the worship team in church. “I have been nurturing young kids to become better both in life and in football,” says Anthony. “I’m a football coach and also a life coach, mentoring young kids, and making them better, both now and in the future.”

Anthony’s journey with God started in 2010. “I’d had so many frustrations in life: being a football player, at the same time a father, it became hard. In 2010, I reached a point where I wanted to have purpose in life, to receive Jesus, and since then it has been both a tough but a wonderful journey in Jesus, with him enabling me to become the person that he wants me to become.

“Before I received Jesus as my Saviour, I used to play for myself. I used to be selfish. I used to [look up to] the likes of Ronaldo and Ronaldinho, they were my role models. When I received Jesus, my role model changed – Jesus became my role model. Not just my role model, but my Saviour. My life changed from being a selfish person to become a person who loves other people, who wants other people to become better and change their lives. The people who I used to play football with, when they see me now, they see a lot of change, a significant change. I’m now doing everything for Christ and for his glory.”

Tools For Discipleship And Evangelism

Lifewords is an important part of the football ministry, providing resources to help share good news and to disciple young people. The resources – including An Invitation, Daily

Strength, and Inspiring Prayer –offer a way in for Pastor Salano and his team to pray with the young people, encourage them, and give them something that they can take home to study and read.

On one occasion, the team from the church held a sports tournament for over 500 young people where they were able to share the gospel with the Rendille, one of the least-reached people groups in Kenya. “We used the tournament as a platform to reach out to them with the gospel of Jesus Christ,” says Pastor Salano. “We believe that the seed that we planted, of reaching out to them through sport, using the materials that we were given by Lifewords, will be able to enlarge and expand them spiritually.”

Pass It On

Anthony wants to pass his experiences and faith on to others, to nurture and mentor young people to have a relationship with God, setting them up for a life beyond football: “My first wish for them is to know Christ Jesus. It’s the first step one can make in becoming a better player, and not just a better player, but a better person in life and in society. In football, one per cent might make it to professional football, so the 99 percent, where do they fall? They become either coaches or spectators. The important thing is, that if they can receive Jesus, that is the biggest step they can take.”

Give thanks for Pastor Salano and his ministry to young people.

Praise God for how lives have been touched and transformed. Pray for the young people –that they would find purpose, hope, and community.