"They come for the ball, we come for their souls." This is the motto of the ministry started by the faithful obedience of one man who God placed in what was one of the most dangerous cities in the world to share the love of Christ. God has used the actions of this faithful man to build a ministry that has served over 40,000 players and has over 130 teams and several facilities. This ministry incarnates Jesus into the world of soccer and the MMS team was greatly sharpened in its faith and spurred on towards love and good deeds as it served side by side with them over spring break.

Here is the rest of the story…

Two years ago, we were two days away from departing for Colombia when we got sent home due to the COVID pandemic. We were extremely blessed that after 2 years of waiting, we were able to visit our brothers and sisters in Christ in Medellin, Colombia. The experiences we had will be in our hearts and minds forever.

While in Medellin, our host was the Christian Union Sports Club (CUSC) which is known in Colombia as the Social and Sport Corporation of Colombia (COSDECOL). COSDECOL, which began in 1991, is a true aroma of Christ to the city of Medellin. The ministry's passion for spreading God's love to the children and families of Medellin was refreshing and encouraging. While many gangs are recruiting the children of Medellin and offering them a sense of belonging, COSDECOL desires to recruit them into the Kingdom of God and show them the ultimate source of belonging and love.

COSDECOL has their own city-wide league and enters about 5 all-star teams into the State FIFA soccer league. The COSDECOL coaches, most of whom came to know Christ through the ministry, are full-time employees, who coach teams in different sectors throughout the city. They are committed to sharing the Gospel before each soccer practice and offering their players the eternal hope found in Christ.

On our trip, we bore witness to the way God is at work in expanding his kingdom in Medellin through the work of His body. AROMA, the sports ministry arm of Messiah Athletics who helped organize the trip, calls trips like this "Global Church Visits" rather than "Missions Trips." This trip gave us an extremely tangible example of what the term "Global Church Visit" means. We were profoundly inspired by the bold faith of the coaches at COSDECOL and likewise, they expressed how our presence and encouragement helped re-ignite their fire for their daily ministry.

Our trip was comprised of many different activities. We began the trip by spending an extended time with the COSDECOL U-21 all-star team. We participated with them in a retreat that included charades, soccer tennis, worship, and devotional times. Through the remainder of the week, we continued to bond with these young men who were very similar to us in many ways.

Throughout the week, we helped run soccer practices around the city in the different sectors that COSDECOL operates. Each team we worked with was excited to interact and play with us. We were able to share our testimonies and the hope of the Gospel at each of these sessions. Many of us also gave the kids our personal player cards which have our favorite Bible verses on them. We have faith that through our testimonies of God's love, and God's Word on our player cards, the Holy Spirit will pierce the hearts of those we interacted with. We will continue to pray for the COSDECOL coaches who are sharing the good news of the Gospel each day.
 

Throughout the 8 full days we were in Medellin, we had four games. We competed against various professional clubs from the city. While the altitude was high and the sun was hot, we competed well and won all 4 games. After each game, one person from our team had the opportunity to share his testimony with the group, which was followed by a time of prayer and conversation. We enjoyed connecting with these young men who had similar passions as us, and we pray that God uses our testimonies to lead them to place their identity in Christ.

In addition to sharing our testimonies with the kids, opposing teams, COSDECOL staff, and each other, we were blessed to listen to the testimonies of various people at COSDECOL. First, we heard the testimony of how God orchestrated the start and development of the ministry in extraordinary ways during the days when drug trafficking and murder were running rampant on the streets of Medellin.   

We also heard the personal testimonies of two current leaders in the ministry who, through COSDECOL, were miraculously delivered from lives involved with gangs, murder, and vengeance. Each of their lives has been completely transformed by the love of Christ. They have experienced reconciliation through Christ and now work hard to share God's love with all the kids they come into contact with. They offer the youth of Medellin a hope that will save them from a life of despair and brokenness and give them a new life in Christ.

In addition to these men, we each interacted with many coaches and players who have given their lives to Christ because they were simply invited to come play soccer at COSDECOL. Praise God that these people came home from soccer practice with something exceedingly better than any soccer experience. The ministry of COSDECOL uses the game of fútbol as a mere tool to expand the kingdom of God, and we pray that our team can do the same.

God is at work in the city of Medellin, in the country of Colombia, and in the world. Through our trip to COSDECOL, we were reminded of God's redemptive power and excited by his continual desire to win the hearts of the world.

Our team verse is Proverbs 27:17, "As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another." We were sharpened by the ministry of COSDECOL, and we trust that God used our trip to sharpen them as well.
 
-Luke Brautigam ('22)