"Football is not a matter of life and death, it is more important than that."
South African Christians make their presence felt in the World Cup
Although historically the church has been suspicious of sport, the South African church is flourishing during this World CupHistorically the church has been suspicious of sport. As early as1364 the Synod of Ely forbade its clergy to play games, and some years later the Prior of Lilleshall urged parish priests to banish games from their churchyards.
Puritan opposition to sport might be summarised under three points:
1 Sport was not the best use of time;
2 Sport often took place on Sunday;
3 Sport was often associated with drinking, gambling and bad company.
Then there was the Rev Samuel Ashe, who used to hide in the trees by the local football field on Sunday afternoons until the ball came near him when he would catch it, pierce it with a pin and go home rejoicing that he had stopped his flock from sinning. The Muscular Christian movement changed Christian perceptions of sport. Churches founded football clubs that grew into Premier League clubs. The English Public schools believed that sport developed character.
The years following the Second World War say a further engagement of churches with sport. Currently in the UK there are about 30 Christian organizations with a significant focus on sport. A few years ago the Vatican established a sports’ office. With London hosting the 2012 Olympics, an interdenominational organisation More than Gold, has been established to co-ordinate churches’ response to the games. The Roman Catholic Church has established its “Office for the 2012 Games” which works as part of More than Gold.
Major events provide local Christians with great opportunities for service and witness. South African Christians are working together under the banner of “The Ultimate Goal” (www.theultimategoal.co.za).
The website states that The Ultimate Goal (or TUG) is “a network of local and international churches, para-church organisations and ministries all working together on one common goal: to bring hope and change to South Africa”.
They further define their purpose as: “Riding on the excitement of the 2010 event, numerous partnership strategies have been launched to capture the golden opportunity of transforming the youth of Africa through values and behavioural change”. Their activities include sports clinics, Kids Games, Big Screen showings of games, and a variety of creative arts – choirs, street carnivals, drama, puppets etc. The list of events on the website stretches to 14 pages.
In Stellenbosch Sport for Christ Action is hosting mission teams who are running outreach sports projects. The South African government has given an extended school holiday of 5 weeks, which gives everyone a chance to watch the World Cup. The down side is that the kids who are very vulnerable have a lot of free time.
SCAS is working as part of a Stellenbosch Community project called “Keep them safe” in the township, Kayamandi, where there are 1,000s of children. There will be a 5 week sports programme called “Kids Games” and eight big screen events. “The aim is to give kids positive things to do and keep them off the streets and out of way of people who might harm them. As Christians we also want to bring the good news of Jesus Christ into their lives”, Marisca, one of the leaders told me.
Four years ago a whole life coaching programme called Ububalo was developed. It aims to enable football coaches to teach character values alongside football skills. Some 2,500 coaches in South Africa have been trained to run Ububalo projects during the World Cup. There are also 260 Brazilians who have come to South Africa to serve, learn and prepare for ministry when they host the 2014 World Cup. They are participating in church initiatives and learning what they can do when it is their turn in 4 years
Ambassadors in Sport, a Christian ministry which exists to bring hope through football has a full programme with separate playing and mission tours in which young people are sharing the good news of Jesus through coaching clinics, big screen events, community festivals, stadium outreach and matches against local sides.
2K+ International Sports Media is partnering with HCJB, TWR, Feba South Africa, CVC and other radio ministries reporting the sounds, the sport and the stories from South Africa during the World Cup with a Christian perspective. Their flagship is “Up-for-the-corner” a 30 minute daily programme available at www.planetsport.tv/up-for-the-corner Twenty radio stations are taking the programme - including stations in Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia and the Caribbean. There are also Spanish and French language programmes.
One of the nastier sides of major sports events is that the influx of foreign fans gives a boost to the local sex trade and the related people trafficking. “Trafficking people is the second most common crime in the world, after drug trafficking. Many of these victims are forced into slavery or sex work. Experts say that thousands of people have already been trafficked into South Africa in anticipation of the World Cup”. www.omsa.org.za
Anne Lorimer, who is working with the Tshwane Foundation in Pretoria believes that 80% of sex workers have been trafficked. She and her colleagues are trying to make contact with women and also to raise awareness of the issue during World Cup.
Unlike the International Olympic Committee, FIFA does not recognize chaplaincy so there are no official chaplains. There is a Brazilian pastor who is serving his team and also an Argentinean, a Uruguayan, South Africans and Americans but this is all unofficial. Lee Young Pyo of South Korea – who used to play for Tottenham Hotspur – told me that there are about 10 Christians in the Korean squad and that they are doing daily Bible Studies.
All in all South African Christians are making there presence felt in this exciting period in their country’s history.
This article appeared in The Times. online edition in June 2010.