Athletes in Action: Sports Evangelism Across 60 Countries - Essay Sample

Introduction

Athletes in Action (AIA) is an international sports evangelism organization with its headquarters in Ohio, the US. However, Dave Hannah founded the sports ministry in 1966 as the Campus Crusade for Christ. AIA currently operates in more than 200 college campuses in 60 countries (Athletes in Action, 2018). In this perspective, the mission of AIA is to prepare sports-minded people, including athletes, and coaches for sports evangelism. The organization offers resources such as discipleship curriculum, Christian discussion guide, and Bible studies, especially during its summer camps, and winter retreats. The ministry efforts have mainly brought athletes closer to God since they are curious about Him. These activities are productive since it complements the organization's efforts through sports ministry tools and programs that grow servant-coaches and athletes for sports evangelism.

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The ministry offers resources that attract people to establish their relationships with God. Some of these aspects are a Bible study guide, and discipleship curriculum that the organization provides during winter retreats, and summer camps. The other resources are summer camps, leadership programs, and summer training for new believers. AIA's servant-athletes and coaches, in particular, utilize the resources in building movements of evangelism. They act as spiritual multipliers that actively foster spiritual growth in the sporting community. Also, AIA distributes resources inform of publications and Bibles to help people to live and think Biblically.

The efforts of this Christian sports ministry has brought campus students, club teams, and athletes closer to God. The organization, in this perspective, trains coaches and athletes. Hence, it implies that its programs are attractive to sports-lovers. The efforts brought these people since they love sports and wish to work as certified trainers in athletics. Also, AIA has succeeded in bringing campus students into a loving relationship with God. The reason is that a significant proportion of AIA's sports evangelism programs are on college campuses. The ministry strives to help the students to multiply their faith for a lifetime besides walking by their faith in education.

However, the organization's efforts are in line with what Jesus said about initiative evangelism. Precisely, Jesus commanded Christians to take the gospel to different parts of the world while proclaiming his kingdom from village to village (Mark 16:15, NKJV). The Bible further says that people will not hear and will not believe in Him unless preachers or servants of God go to them (Romans 10:13-15, NKJV). Accordingly, sports evangelism in AIA is one of the efforts to ensure gospel reaches all people globally.

The specific components of the ministry are leadership training programs and resource distribution. The former equips AIA's personnel with skills that enable them to help others grow spiritually by using the intersection of Christianity and sport. Thus, this component trains athletes and coaches to leave a lasting legacy by guiding people on the practice of forgiveness and salvation. Through resource distribution, AIA gives out materials that guide athletes on how to be victorious beyond competition besides using sports to serve God.

The efforts of AIA implements the components underlying the sports ministry through digital resources, initiative programs, and tools. These aspects strengthen people's faith in God and thus support AIA's objective to see Christ-followers in every nation, in every sport, and on every team. These components are useful since it has enabled the ministry to implement successful outreach programs, projects, and competitions that facilitate sharing the gospel. Forney (2017) studied the lives of AIA's female athletes and noted that they had the core elements of evangelical Christians. Also, the author's extensive field research on the programs of AIA further shows that its components are effective in enhancing people's personal experiences of salvation.

Conclusion

Conclusively, the efforts of AIA are effective in promoting devotion to God and training people to apply Biblical principles. Its leadership development programs also prepare athletes, sports-minded people, and coaches to build international movements for evangelism.

References

Athletes in Action. (2018). Our Resources in the Ministry. [Online]. Retrieved from https://athletesinaction.org/resources/#.XR2tuuszaM8/url/

Forney, C. (2017). Playing for God: Evangelical Women and the Unintended Consequences of Sports Ministry. Journal of the American Academy of Religion, 85(1), 283-285. DOI: 10.1093/jaarel/lfw083