The 8 Steps of Starting a Sports Outreach Ministry

Day 3:Sports Symposium

Adapted from Pastor Andy Lim (Convener of Sports Coalition Singapore), resources from Church Sports Outreach, http://www.csosports.org

Step 1: Get the Proper Perspective

Sports Ministry should be relational

Step 2: Identify Your MVPS

Mission, Vision, Philosophy, Strategy

Step 3: Select a Team Captain

A leader who understands the MVPS and can drive each sport team

Step 4: Establish a Leadership Team

A team who of Team Captains who catch the common vision to support one another

Step 5: Assess the Opportunities

Know your community (the target grp), resources (equipments, venue, etc)

Step 6: Train Your Team

Train the team well both in Spiritual and the physical aspect. The Christian athletes should catch the vision

Step 7: Integrate the Three Essentials

Pray Continually, Act Wisely, Speak Graciously (Play, Pray, Say)

Step 8: Guard This Treasure

Statistics has shown that sports ministry is a great tool for evangelism. Guard the fruits of it. Youth More Than Goal (YMTG) in the recent SYOG movement, 320 people accepted Christ.

Sports Ministry is a process...which will lead to the OUTREACH OF PRE-BELIEVERS through the RELATIONAL interaction of the Church players and Friends!

(Refer to the ENGEL Scale... bringing a believer or pre-believer to a step closer to God each day)

Inreach vs. Outreach

Inreach vs. Outreach (Full-Version) from Tim Briggs on Vimeo.

Description: Bob Dyar and Bob Schindler discuss the tension between inreach and outreach for local church sports ministries.

FEELING REALLY INSPIRED!!!

Just came back from Day 2 of the Sports Symposium and is really inspired right now to be part of this sports ministry movement for Christ!!!
I really want to thanks Rev John Boyers, Jeff Martin and the many other likeminded christian friends who really just made me so encouraged at how sports ministry is growing in Singapore and the World today!!!! =)

"Bridges to reach the World Through Sports"- Jeff Martin (FCA Vice President of Camps & Campus Ministry)

SPORTS SYMPOSIUM

Day 1

Today was the first session of the SPORTS SYMPOSIUM at The Emmanuel house! And i wld say i'm certainly glad i sign up for this course! With key speakers such as Rev John Boyer better known as the Chaplain to Manchester United Football Club. Jeff Martin is the vice president of Camps & Campus Ministry of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA). And Jon Hamilton who has a vast coaching CV and last year Jon became one of the youngest people ever to receive the top coaching license in Europe, the UEFA ‘A’ badge from the English FA.

I'm sure i can learn a lot abt sports ministry from this various people the next few days! Besides them, i sure enjoyed the company there too, meeting a lot of people who made an impact in my life like my secondary sch soccer coach and other sports ministry people whom I met in someway or another in the last few years! And the amazing thing abt such an event was they were all gathered in one same place.

The afternoon with God's Clay!

After thinking for the longestttttttttt time how much we miss those bible study sessions we use to had last time. I believe today I saw a glimpse of a start of a revival in our grp again after coming together to share and really just pray!

During the sharing we realized is more than just meeting up like any other social grp for lunch, gatherings and talking abt surface things to one another... I mean all this are the good, but are the basic things our grp can do first, but after much thought to it, its so much moreee than that! As a small grp we are set apart from a normal social grp! We are a grp of Christians who professed the same Faith! And as a small grp we come together for the intention of encouraging each other with God's word, fellowship(over meals =D) and especially praying together as well! And all this is what God actually said and shown to the early Christian grps coming together in the below text.

GOD’S CLAY 09 OCTOBER 2010

The Believers Form a Community

“ ^41-42That day about three thousand took him at his word, were baptized and were signed up. They committed themselves to the teaching of the apostles, the life together, the common meal, and the prayers.

^43-45Everyone around was in awe—all those wonders and signs done through the apostles! And all the believers lived in a wonderful harmony, holding everything in common. They sold whatever they owned and pooled their resources so that each person's need was met.

^46-47They followed a daily discipline of worship in the Temple followed by meals at home, every meal a celebration, exuberant and joyful, as they praised God. People in general liked what they saw. Every day their number grew as God added those who were saved.” Acts 2:42-46 (The Message)

From Verse 41-42...

1) Teaching of the Apostles (Hearing the teaching of God's word thru the Pastors in Church)

2) The Life Together (The Fellowship and sharing of lives!)

3) The Common Meal (meals together!)

4) The Prayers (We are Professing our Faith when we come together to pray as a grp!)

At the end of the really lovely discussion and sharing ... we read this text about prayer and we just PRAYED. Trusting that God can keep our grp going strong again...

Instruction about Prayer

¹It happened that while Jesus was praying in a certain place, after He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples."

²And He said to them, "^(A)When you pray, say:
'^[a]Father, hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
³'Give us ^(B)each day our daily bread.
⁴'And forgive us our sins,
For we ourselves also forgive everyone who ^(C)is indebted to us.
And lead us not into temptation.'"

⁵Then He said to them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and goes to him at midnight and says to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves; ⁶for a friend of mine has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him'; ⁷and from inside he answers and says, 'Do not bother me; the door has already been shut and my children and I are in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.' ⁸"I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet ^(D)because of his persistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs. ⁹"So I say to you, ^(E)ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. ¹⁰"For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened.

¹¹"Now suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a fish; he will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he? ¹²"Or if he is asked for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he? ¹³"^(F)If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?" Luke 11:1-13 (New American Standard Bible)

AUTHENTIC COMMUNITY

Day 1 of my OFF day!
Had a good day today shopping with ethel & jem as i got pretty good fashion tips from them before I actually invested in 2 pretty good pair of jeans! Besides that really enjoyed the christian coaches session sharing at night which i attended after the shopping spree. Decided to bring ethel & wenhao along too since i planned to go for this session before hand. And i would say i really enjoyed my short time there when it came to the sharing part...

It was really interesting how although we were randomly split-ed into 3 different grps. And not everyone in the grp know each other really well, somehow the sharing abt authentic community really brought us to really be AUTHENTIC with each other and the Holy spirit certainly did move in our sharing, as it prompted us to openly share abt our opinions and led to a friend of mine in that grp sharing his personal testimony which encourage me so much to see how God was working in his life. I really didnt know much abt this friend life till todays session actually. And now i can certainly see that God sure is moving thru peoples life out there! =)

After that session, i had a really good time talking to my good friends wenhao and ethel over supper, this was when i guess was another good time of what i wld say are an authentic friendship where we can be just so open and honest when talking to each other. This are friendship which i wld treasure for life. =)

"⁹Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. ¹⁰Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. ¹¹Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. ¹²Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. ¹³Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality." Romans 12:9-13

Jesus' last words were not come but "go"

¹⁸Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Matthew 28:18-20 (NIV)

Jesus' last words were not come but "go". And thats the great commission that he has tasked all of us christians to do! Its a ACTIVE word!

MOVEMENTS EVERYWHERE SO THAT EVERYONE KNOWS SOMEONE WHO TRULY FOLLOWS JESUS!

I really hope that we christians out there can really follow this command and practice it in everywhere we are be it in school, office or the army! That's something which i'm praying about as im now being called to be a Soldier in the army!

ARMY HALF MARATHON 2010

3.15AM
Woke Up...
4.35am
Reach the form up area for the Signal Formation...
5.30am
My BMT SERGEANT called out to me!!! I was quite shocked at first as that was like 1 yr plus ago when i was still a recruit and he still remember me!

(The FB conversation i had with my bmt sergeant when i got back)

5.40am
Started the run...

(The start line!)

Ran at a comfortable pace of 5.30mins per km with one of my specs for the first hr in the early hours of the morning...


(The beatiful Marina Bay Sands sky line in the earlier morning!)

After reaching the high way towards Kallang area... decided to paced up when i saw my usual running buddy & SOCC mate chuen kiat... as we zig zag pass various runners at a pace of 4.30 mins per km...


(Chuen kiat the person on the corner of this photo...as we reach the kallang park area...)

Bump into my Tango Wing instructor LTA Ray along the way too...

When the morning sun got brighter...

(The F1 Track which leads towards the Marina Bay Sands again!)

(went past the flyer)


(The iconic skyline of singapore!)

(Past under the Benjamin Sheares bridge)



(19 KM mark!!!!!!... 2 more km to go! This was the mark where i cld feel my left tight muscle tightening up, was afraid of cramping up in the last couple of km!)

(Only 500 m more to go!!!)

About 7.50am

(It was quite a moment when one past the finishing line!!!... finish in a time of 2hrs 10mins...)

(Back at the Padang!!!)


(My number tag and 21km finisher medal!)

This AHM run sure was a run that i will never forget! The atmosphere running along side THOUSANDS of people from all over Singapore and catching up with various ppl along the way! A run which although was tiring at moments but the adrenaline in it just keeps you going!

Next up.... 42km Standard Chartered FULL MARATHON on 5 december 2010!!!

A long weekend break!

Its been one of the longest time i can recall since i have a looooooong weekend break like this! After recovering from a flu the past couple weeks! Im now almost back to full health and ready to start running again! Especially with the army half marathon coming up this sunday! Hope my fitness is still there after not running for the past couple of weeks!

Just looking a at the days ahead... there are so many things i hope to do this weekend! Being part of the various ministries that i really enjoy investing my time in. With this 125 Wesley Anniversary where we gonna have various sports events at the Singapore Sports school in a few hrs time! Plus tchoukball on saturday morning anddd time to catch up with my sec 2 small grp and own small grp on sunday! Plus finally being able to meet up with the Ymove comm on sunday night!

Besides all these, i have certainly been thinking about what i'm gonna do after i finish my 1 yr 10 mths NSF career! Its only like 8mths away, and there's so much i plan to do next! One thing which i certainly hope to continue is to spend my time in Sports ministry. Thats something which i have been part of and believe in greatly for the past year.

" ... Yes, I try to find common ground with everyone, doing everything I can to save some. I do everything to spread the Good News and share in its blessings.” 1 Corinthians 9:22-23 (NLT)

A God who Heals!

This last couple of weeks i have been feeling pretty under the weather. There were moments when i thought i recovered. But then it kinda got worst again as the day past. This shows that REST is very important and when your sick. You sld just stop everything and REST. I somehow felt that i cld still hold on each day. Even though doing work in the office seems so much harder when your head is pounding and its so hard to take a break when you know you got things to get done! In the end I practically finish almost 3/4 of the flu panadol box i had although i reallyyy tried not to take them unless im like DYING! Than just Wednesday and thursday, it got one of the worst of the 2 weeks...i just kept coughing so much till i vomited my phelgm in the morning. And then by afternoon my whole body was aching and suddenly felt so hot yet freezing internally. When i took my temperature it shot up to a 38.5 degree! I was like! Ohh dear.. i need to rest now! So i took an early snooze at 5pm... sent an sms to a few ppl asking to pray for me as i neeeded to recover the next morning as i had to be the SAFETY OFFICER for a complex run.

Anyways 2-3 hrs later abt 7plus pm when i woke up my fever actually went down below 35.6 degree! I was like. WOW! God really answerssss prayers! And it was quite fast! I really want to thank the people that prayed for me!!! Anyways from then onwards although with the lethargy feeling still, i can still sense that i was much better than thurs. Gonna take a good rest now before heading back to camp tmr! =)

Returning to God's Call...

‎

"The pursuit of excellence requires the ability and commitment to keep returning to the task you know God has called you to and never to give up...Nothing can be greater than to do whatever God wants us to do" -Selwyn Hughes

This quote was found in my quiet time today, and it was a good reminder of what God has tasked me and called me to do on 17 Jan 2009.

In recent times, i have been so consume by my daily work in the army, that after awhile, its so easy to lose touch on what God has always intended us to be and do each day. And i would say, I have definitely been tempted by recent events. Just a couple weeks ago, i was offered this Military Training Award (MTA) , and its quite a rare good opportunity taking up this award, where they will pay for like a good overseas military OCS and although you will be bonded 6 yrs in the army it will definitely aid in one's military career quite abit. And i actually took a few days to deeply consider if its worth the sacrifice before going into seminary when im like 30 plus?... but as i thought more abt it, and seek advices from friends, it was quite a unanimous response for me not to pursue this which cld pull me away from the original call that God has called me to be. Although it will definitely prepare me financially in this career, i guess is not worth the sacrifice going thru as a trainee again and investing so much in an area i know i won't stay for long.

Back to the daily routine each day... i guess this also is a reminder of who i am in the army right now. "Am I a Officer in the army so happened to be a Christian" or "I'm I a Christian, called to be an officer for the army"...I would definitely subscribe to the latter. I believe God has put me in this position of influence for His purpose! And I would continue to have that SPIRIT OF EXCELLENCE in everything i do and to live each day being that Christian that God has called me to be! =)

INCEPTION & MEMENTO!

Manage to catch 2 really good movies in the midst of this busyyyy period for me! With so many things happening in my army life now. Its good to have breaks just to catch a good movie that just intrigue you so much! And this are to movies which i highlyyyy recommend! Both 4.5/5 stars!

Memento- A man, suffering from short-term memory loss, uses notes and tattoos to hunt for the man he thinks killed his wife. This is oneee trilling movie which keeps you in suspense with all the flash backs and flash forwards of scenes that enfolds thru out the movie.

INCEPTION- In a world where technology exists to enter the human mind through dream invasion, a single idea within one's mind can be the most dangerous weapon or the most valuable asset. An amazing show on a dream within a dream within a dream. A show that gets you so intrigue into finding the answer.

HOPE...

"Hope is the anticipation of good from God in every area of your life that impacts you right now!" - Che Ann

That was the message from the speaker of FOP today which i guess i can really agree on. It really is quite a well thought of phrase to describe the HOPE that God has given us, somehow...just a hope in something can really influence and motivates one to do something to work towards that hope. And i think thats quite a powerful mindset for anything we do each day. And its not just optimism its really more than that. Its not FAITH, as Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Besides that, i was thinking, that i'm actually getting a bit old for such big events,I think i have mellowed quite a bit after being in army for abt a year plus and i would still say FOP sure is a good place for christians to come together but maybe more for the younger energetic crowd!heh. Anyways on the bright sight, if not for this event, i wont have met up with old crusade friends which i haven't seen in awhile! People like ethel, jerome, hazel,jem... and somehow its so nice to always be with likeminded people.

A message from God through a Thai boy

Last Saturday 10 July,I had a really memorable experience at the APTC, as josh and i was attached with the thailand national tchoukball team, holding a role like a "befriender/liaison" personnel, as they came down singapore for the Asia Pacific Tchoukball Competition (APTC). It was really quite an experience for me as i tried my best to converse with them with as simple english as possible and me with no thai language background at all! It was pretty funny bringing them in the Mrt train to woodlands from Serangoon when a fellow thai stranger heard them talking and suddenly on the spot made friends with them & decided to follow us to the tournament too! Somehow the world seems so small at that point!

Anyways what I really wanted to share was what i believed was a divine appointment, when one of them nickname "kayda" shared with me his life testimony, and what he said encouraged me so so much!!! It was like WORDs direct from God thru him to me! Although he use very simple english, somehow i could understand everything he said! He was someone who was change by God at a very young age of 9 & had the calling to go to bible college and become a missionary! I still remember the sincerity in his eyes when he shared how he met God that day and cried when God touched his heart! He than started to share from his heart with me and reminded me of how much God love us, and how His grace has set us free! It was such simple words but a very powerful meaning behind! He kept mentioning so much on how if not for the awesome grace of God he would not be there sharing that testimony to me. God's grace is the one that change him and I wld definitely say change me too! We do not deserve that grace, but our Lord still decided to freely give it to us because HE FIRST LOVE US! Hearing all those really set this deep peace in my heart and reminded me so much on how much GOD love all of us! I could really see God in that young 19 yr old boy as he really has a heart to reach out to his tribe in chiang mai and it was so encouraging to see God working in him! =) =) After that very day with him, i now desire to go to Thailand one day again to meet him and the others that i got to know that very day.

⁸For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹not by works, so that no one can boast. ¹⁰For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.Ephesians 2:8-10 (New International Version)

(The guy on the right is "kayda" the 19 yr old boy who shared his testimony to me)



(The thailand national tchoukball team!)


(Team talk before their first match!)

(the boy with the camera is one of the best jugglers in the world in his age grp! God a glimpse of his juggling skills in action)

(They pray and praise God before every match giving glory to our Father!)


(the singapore team A was way to strong for the thai's who fought hard!)

(The final match for the day between SINGAPORE A vs THAILAND.. the thai's really cldnt match up to the second best team of the tournament singapore!)

(They gave me this thailand flag sign by all their players before i left that day and some other souvenirs they pick up during the course of the tournament! Really touch by their gesture)

A new life in the unit....

The past couple of weeks been adapting to my new life in the unit at 10C4I! There's alot of things i can't say due to the classified information that we do, but i can say that although there are many long hours and many weekends burns as a PC in the C41 company, i'm actually believe i'm doing something purposeful and its fulfilling to be in this large company! I have really great upper studies! Who really brings joy to the company and has the heart to really teach us the traits of being a PC here! Wells i guess will now slowly adapt to life in this really tight family of this company and see the fruits being here! :)

Commissioning Ball!

My first time & probably the rare times that you wld see me dressing up so much and wearing such a formal attire! Anyways ended my SOCC 77/09 time with my coursemates at our commissioning ball at Intercontinental hotel! =)



(Steph & me!)


(2LT Ivan, CPT Foo, 2LT Ben, 2LT Josiah... my SOCC Instructors!)

(Steph,me, jeremy and judy)

(7709 SOCC!!! The last time i saw most of them before we all spread to our various units!)