Continuing Contribution: The Ongoing Impact of Global Encounters
Have you ever wondered about the merit of mission trips? Is there any continued impact? In 2023, Maranatha’s Global Encounters (GE) sent the Men’s Soccer Team to Kyrgyzstan to join national Samat in conducting soccer clinics. (Read the original post.) Though there were the expected challenges of cultural and language differences, which were especially pronounced in a repressive Islamic environment, team members developed relationships with nationals both on the field and through Google Translate. It was a dynamic experience, but was there any ongoing benefit?
Recently we contacted Samat to ask that very question. To aid our understanding, he prefaced his reply by explaining his background. Samat said, “I lost my childhood early.” His dysfunctional family splintered. Rejected by his father, he and his six siblings and mother faced grave financial hardship. “God gave me football (soccer),” he claimed, “as a gift of comfort.” Samat made a name for himself in a city league and realized that soccer was a “powerful tool.” Serving as a social worker, he participated in launching a soccer project, teaching respect and moral values. Though the organization was not Christian, and though open evangelism was prohibited, his godly example drew players to Christ.
After the 2023 GE soccer trip, Samat and his wife launched their own soccer project as a ministry, using profits from their business to support it. They now have two groups with approximately 20 children, and have held soccer matches, distributed uniforms, and built relationships with parents. This summer they conducted another camp as a “powerful way to connect, … teach values, and build lasting friendships and spiritual foundations.” Samat and his wife dream of starting an academy. “We believe we are raising children whose hearts will be open to the Gospel,” he said. “Our program includes intentional evangelism … I see a generation of leaders rising who will one day serve the Kingdom of God in Kyrgyzstan.”
In the intervening two years since the GE trip, team members have maintained social media contact with those they met in Kyrgyzstan. Through team donations, Samat’s ministry purchased equipment and paid travel expenses for camp activities. This summer Maranatha continued to participate in camp with financial support through Global Encounters. “Football is our tool,” Samat explained; “transformed lives are our goal.”