Small Town Church Wants You To Help Score A Goal In South Africa

CHURCH TAKES AIM AT THE 2010 WORLD CUP HOST NATION
South Carolina Congregation Launches $1 Conversation Campaign to Score Soccer Equipment for South Africa’s 2010 World Cup Missionary Programs

At a time when Coca Cola and Visa are spending millions of dollars so their brands can capture the minds and hearts of soccer fans, one small church in Seneca, South Carolina is using its concentrated slingshot of letter writing, social networking and resource pooling to take down the giants and spread its own message during the 2010 World Cup.

Christ Community Church’s 2010 World Cup project, the Faith Inspired Football Initiative (FIFI), aims to grant the soccer wishes of several international missionary organizations, including Operation Mobilization, Youth With A Mission and The Joseph Project. These organizations and their supported churches are conducting soccer outreach programming for youth and adults during and after the 5 week period of the 2010 World Cup. However, they are in desperate need of soccer equipment.

With request lists numbering in the hundreds, project organizer Qiana Martin said, “I knew we needed to pool our resources with those of other congregations and harness the power of the internet to reach individuals who may want to be a part of this life changing initiative.”

The plan has been yielding successes for the little church and its outreach project. In early April, Atlanta mega church Elizabeth Baptist lent its support, and UK based Time To Be A Christian Radio will be dedicating a large segment of their 11:00 Coffee Show to broadcast an interview about FIFI to its British audience on June 19th.

“With these previous successes, we are utilizing our Faith Inspired Football Initiative blog to provide information, and an opportunity for individual donors to change a life with our $1 Conversation Campaign. People are passionate about soccer in South Africa and you can start a conversation with anyone by mentioning the sport. It is with this idea that we are asking people to sow $1 to help us give Christian missionaries the tools to begin those dialogs,” says organizer Martin.

The $1 Conversation Campaign begins on Friday, June 4th. All monies collected will be used to purchase new equipment for Christian missionary organizations throughout South Africa. To learn more or to donate, please visit www.fifiafrica.blogspot.com.

Christ Community Church is a nondenominational church that was founded on June 14, 1961 in Seneca, South Carolina by Reverend Efford Haynes. The church has made a powerful impact in the community, with more than 45 men and women receiving their call and ordination into the ministry.

50 Training Bibs Are Going To Pretoria

Welcome to June 1st everybody! I am excited because, as national teams are settling in to their respective game prep routines in South Africa, we are finalizing the details for our first delivery of 50 training bibs (aka pinnies) to Operation Mobilisation in Pretoria, South Africa.

Once these bibs are in hand, we hope to upload you plenty of pictures. Until then, follow Operation Mobilisation as they prepare for their 2010 Ultimate Goal Challenge.

Operation Mobilization Visits Eat Soccer Radio

A few weeks ago, we brought our message to the United Kingdom. On this evening, listeners from around the globe will be able to learn about the Faith Inspired Football Initiative during my weekly radio show, Eat Soccer.

Radio Miami International carries Eat Soccer to shortwave radios around the globe 8:00 p.m. EST on Thursdays. In case you do not know, countless people in the most remote regions of the world listen to shortwave programming.

To put a voice with a cause, we were able to coordinate with Mpumi Maweni so that he could join us on the air. Mpumi Maweni is a member of the promotions team for Operation Mobilization South Africa.

To make sure as many people hear it as soon as possible, I have already loaded it to the podbean radio player at the top of this blog. Also, it should be available shortly for download via iTunes.

We encourage you to share this interview with all of your friends so that they can learn more about the amazing work that Operation Mobilization is gearing up to do for World Cup 2010.

I want to give a huge "Thank You" to Bill Jabr at Blue Room Recording Studios for making sure everything went off without a hitch. He's already working on helping us bring YOU radio show broadcast(s) from South Africa for World Cup 2010.