How does one share the Gospel with Thai men, given the society’s great permissiveness toward men who often frequent entertainment venues from a young age?

OMF (Overseas Missionary Fellowship) missionaries took to sports diplomacy, pioneering a creative approach to missions! Soccer, beloved throughout Thailand, has enabled the Sattha Faith Football Ministry to create numerous opportunities for players and short-term mission teams to partner with local churches in reaching communities.

Just one soccer ball excels at breaking the ice, transcending language and cultural barriers, and bringing together people from diverse backgrounds within the community. Young people find confidence through sports, develop disciplined, healthy lifestyles, and encounter the Christian faith.

The soccer ministry has dissolved people’s reservations about Christianity. When Sattha brought soccer to Pachi Village, the village chief initially stood aside watching. Later, he began regularly bringing more than a dozen children to weekly training. While the children participated in Bible lessons, the chief listened from the sidelines and heard the Gospel. After more than four years of cultivation, the village finally bore its first fruits. Even the school principal opened the school during Christmas, allowing missionaries to share the story of Jesus’ birth.

“Sharing the Gospel through soccer” has allowed missionaries to establish a presence in more than thirteen provinces in central Thailand. Moreover, an illiterate elderly woman in Pachi Village learned to share the Gospel with neighbors using pictures. The all-powerful God uses each person’s interests, talents, and qualities to illuminate this world.

Reference: OMF Newsletter “Thai Worldview and Mission Field,” February 2024, Issue 61 (in Chinese)

Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank You for giving the OMF mission team creativity to open the hearts of Thai Buddhist communities through soccer. May Your presence, like the pillar of cloud and fire, accompany the Sattha Faith Football Ministry as they penetrate Thai towns and cities, large and small. Whether in pioneering work, follow-up, or discipleship, we ask for Your grace and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit to bring forth many testimonies of transformed lives. We pray that You will continually raise up young coworkers, even local disciples, to commit to this football ministry. May the football teams have wonderful partnerships with short-term mission teams and local churches. Wherever their feet tread, may You grant them victory, leaving profound Gospel footprints. Please provide for all the team’s needs and prosper the coworkers in body, mind, and spirit. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.