A team of Logos Hope's volunteers visited a village and used their shared passion for football to connect with local young men and children.
Johanna Silva (Sri Lanka) remained on the side line, playing and talking with the children who were not old enough to play. She decided to speak about God, as she realised the kids didn't seem to get a lot of love. What touched the volunteers most was meeting two little boys who were, aged just one and two years old.
“I had never seen children so dirty in my whole life!” said Johanna. “They were covered with mud from head to toe, and it broke my heart. I was thinking of my little brother, who is pampered, and the little baby was eating mud from the ground. I got to speak to the mother, who told me she has five children. It hit me: a parent can never be the parent they should be if they don’t know the love of Jesus.”
“She didn’t know how precious and valuable she was. She didn’t know about God,” continued Johanna. “The first commandment God has given us is to love Him with all our heart, and the second is to love our neighbour as ourselves. If this mom knew how much God loves her, she could love herself and channel that love to her children. Their lives would be so different.” So this was the message of love and hope that Johanna shared with the children’s mother.
After the football game, Pascal Geiselmann (Switzerland) shared a message with the teenagers, using his personal story. Pascal talked about the passion he had for football and explained that he had injured his knee. “I spoke about how quickly things can change, and that they should use time wisely while they are young,” said Pascal. “We don’t know if we will still be alive tomorrow. So I explained that we can be close to Jesus and when we are with Him, He cares for us.”
“I could see God in action by the way the teenagers were paying attention.” Pascal said. “For young people, it isn’t common to pay attention on an afternoon after a game. I think they were encouraged to read the Bible and seek God. And when we prayed together, almost all of them were praying with us.”
