Encountering Christ on the soccer field
CMS missionary Rachel Hughes, together with husband Dene, have been serving in Japan where Dene works with KGK university students and graduates. But where does football fit into family life? Read on.
Even the most anti-religious parents are open to hear what it is that makes Masa and Chie care so much for their kids.
We were in the middle of a half-day workshop on ‘What is the Bible?’ with an extremely unexpected group of around 70 people: stylish mums, stinky kids in soccer uniforms, older and younger brothers and sisters, bikie dads and nerdy dads, the trendy uni-student assistant coach, and us, the foreigners—all brought together by ‘Seahorse Soccer’, the football team with Christian roots that serves a purpose beyond just kicking a ball. A friendly but suspicious soccer dad was—to our surprise and joy—asking about whether the Japanese translation of the Bible was reliable. Before saying more, here is some background to this scene.
Meet Masa and Chie Yokota, and Seahorse Soccer
Football coach Masa Yokota and his wife Chie have been running the gospel-minded ‘Seahorse Soccer’ club since September 2010. Dene and I, alongside our other commitments, have been taking our boys along to their club since our second week in Japan, back in February 2012.
Coach Masa shares ‘Bible time’ with the kids during soccer classes. Through this, and through his attitude and actions and the values of the club, he demonstrates the love of God to every student and to their family members. Over the years Masa and Chie have built up a culture of acceptance and trust within the club. Kids know that Masa is interested in them personally. Parents know Masa and Chie are people of integrity, who can be trusted to build up their kids in ways that impact them far beyond their soccer skills.
Sport days, bad days, and Bible days
Sport brings out the best and worst in people. If a soccer student is having a bad day—struggling with anger, disappointment, jealousy, insecurity—coach Masa will notice and spend time chatting with that child on the sidelines.
In stark contrast to the teams on other fields Masa encourages kids to speak words of appreciation and encouragement to each other. Never harsh words. Past students drop in randomly to join practice, assured of a warm welcome. It’s clear that this culture reflects the love of Masa and Chie’s God. Long before these kids understand the details of the gospel, they see in Masa and Chie God’s character of acceptance and loving discipline.
So when Masa and Chie invite all of us—parents, kids, friends—to hear a longer Bible message at the end of year, at Christmas, or on a summer soccer camp, everyone is willing to listen. Even the most anti-religious parents are open to hear what it is that makes Masa and Chie care so much for their kids.
A Bible day with a Bible game challenge
So it was at our Bible workshop on a summer soccer camp that one dad (the one mentioned earlier) started to realise that the Bible is actually a collection of historical documents—not just made-up stories written by brainwashed disciples. It happened through a camp game.
Throughout the camp hall, groups had to ‘re-create’ a page of a Bible story. Each group’s Bible story page had been torn into many pieces that were hidden in various ways. One group’s pieces had been carefully buried in a corner of the park outside and had to be dug up. Another group found their pieces all together, but perished and cracking with ‘age’. A third group’s pieces had been ‘lost’ around the building and had to be found. One group received bags of rubbish to sort through for their pieces of text!
Each group had to find their pieces, reassemble the page, and carefully write out their own copy of the original text, as best they could.
After collaborating with just one other team, most groups had an almost 100% match with the original text. We pointed out that since there were multiple copies here in the room, even without the original, someone would notice if anyone had made a mistake or tried to change the text somehow.
The obvious lesson from our game was that the Bible has been put together in a trustworthy way, and we can know this by cross-checking all the copies against each other.
“So how many copies of the Bible texts exist?” our friend the soccer dad asked. “And is the Japanese translation of the Bible a reliable copy?”
He was visibly shocked by our answers, which I think you can guess for yourself: “Thousands of copies of the Bible exist.” And “yes, the Japanese translation of the Bible is reliable and was created by teams of language experts”. This man’s son still comes to soccer and our prayer is that he will read the Bible for himself, along with his family.
Through this soccer club for kids, whole families who would never otherwise encounter the love of Christ or hear the gospel message are experiencing and being taught about Jesus and his Word. Praise God! And join us in praying for Masa and Chie to continue growing as servants of Christ at the Seahorse Soccer club and elsewhere.
PRAY
Thank God for the gospel ministry that Seahorse Soccer has made possible, and ask for growing opportunities to reach both children and parents in Japan.
