Adventist Church stages The Bible and The Ball

Football is not the first thing that comes to mind when the term 'ministerial work' is used, but Braeton SDA Church has opted for an unconventional approach with its project, The Bible and The Ball.

On Sunday, January 28, the Braeton Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) and the 5 West Greater Portmore community football players were engaged in a fun matchup.

The project, which involved the Braeton Adventist Youth and the Personal Ministries, was done to speak the language of the youth, one such being football.

"Ministry is not just preaching ceremonies in church. Sometimes we have to preach a sermon on the football field. We are preaching sermons on the football field with the foot, and, when we score goals, we do not score goals to win, but we score that goal for the glory of God," said Rajhni Fray, the church's Adventist Youth Ministries director.

"We are using different methods of evangelism to reach people. We are playing football. We are going to pray with the team. We are going to invite them out to our fellowship breakfast, to our youth retreat, and we are going to invite these folks to come to church to hear the word of God.

"To play football matches not just with this team, but with other communities ,and not just today, but in a continuous-relationship sense," Fray explained enthusiastically.

EXCITING MATCHUP

In what was said to be an exciting matchup, the game, which spanned two hours, ended 1-1.

The community football team leader, Abayomi Jones, said he enjoyed the experience.

"The gathering has been a fun football experience between the community and Braeton SDA Church. It's an intense match, to be honest. It's a sense of camaraderie for everyone. We have been out here from 8, and it's now 10:02," Jones said with sweat covering his body and taking a breath between intervals.

Jones said he is looking forward to playing more football with the church.

"To be honest, it is a fresh rivalry between Five West and Four West, and we discussed amongst ourselves to facilitate the church to try and cooperate with more matches," Jones said.

Personal Ministries Director Ricardo Karr said he is happy with the impact of the football match in the community and hopes that the youth and the church will benefit greatly from it.

"I am happy that the community has welcomed us here and that we can engage with the community's youth. We hope that, as we continue to engage communities in football competitions, we can organise inter-competitions among other communities involving Braeton Church, to foster community relations," Karr said.