Soccer, Fellowship and a Christ-Centered Community

This past evening was one of the most satisfying in a long time. We had planned an outreach on the Mayaguez campus so we could gather students together and get to know them better. We wanted to have a massive soccer game complemented by Spikeball nets, pizza and drinks.

As per normal procedure we flyered all day and texted all the acquaintances we had met.  The surprising thing is that most everybody came. That probably would not happen in the States. The second fact is that our friends were not there just to get pizza and move on with there evening. They came ready to be relational and wanting to hang out with us.

It is humbling to think of all the peoples represented there. There were over 35 students in all and our team and some others on top of that. We had people from all across the island, Mayaguez students (undergrad and grad), California natives, a person from Germany, Venezuela, 3 guys we met on a beach, Christians, Catholics, and even Atheists.

About everyone and anyone we could think of was gathered there not because of anything that we did through Cru, but because of the great faithfulness of the Lord.  I cannot think of any other way that such a wonderfully diverse group of people could be gathered to together. This is what a Christ-centered community looked like to me. This was no Holy Huddle or Christian Bubble. The invitation was open to all and all were welcome. There was no judgment only love and truth.

That aside, it was an awesome evening where I got to indulge my love for soccer with many of my friends and numerous new ones that I made. I was soaked head to toe with sweat for almost the entire evening, loving every minute of it. I forgot about the cut that reopened on my knee and my sore sprained ankle wrapped in an ace bandage. All I could do was marvel at how wonderful the time was.

It was such a gratifying evening because it felt like we finally got to love on the students and people of Puerto Rico on a grand scale. We fed them, got to know them, and shared Christ’s love with them.

We can share as much as we want on campus and talk all the theology in the evenings until our throats are sore, but as Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians if we do not have love we are nothing and we gain nothing. When it all comes down to it the bottom line is loving the Lord and loving others well. I am so thankful for the opportunity to do both today and I cannot wait to do it again because it was a joy not a burden.

Please pray that future outreaches that we have can be just as life giving and we can continue building relationships with students. Also, students are going through finals so pray for wisdom and diligence in their studies. All the glory be His.