Your Stories
Below are stories of some churches and ministries
that have used the J316 resources to spread the message of
Salvation. The J316
resources has gone to more than
20 countries
across the globe. We would love to
hear your story that
involves using the J316 resources in ministry.
Please submit
them here.
Also have a look at our
photo gallery showing
the J316 resources in ministry.
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Hola
I am forwarding these photos to you that were taken by a group from Chippewa
Free Evangelical Church in Pennsylvania at the beginning of July. Apart from the
usual work projects (always ongoing), this group of teens and adults did a
Vacation Bible School for the local Primary School age children along with
Colina kids. We began around 12:30 for three days with registration and photos,
then lunch, song/drama/lesson/Bible verse time, and then broke up into groups to
do crafts, stories and games. We ended up with a snack and encouragement to
bring friends for the next day. About 15 came the first day, about 50 the second
day, and over 100 the third day. Then on the fourth day we had time for their
families to come, have a barbeque lunch, see what they had learned, hear some
songs and see a good wordless drama. One of our local Pastors was there to visit
with the people and invite them to a local church. The theme for the VBS was the
parable of the prodigal son, which might help you to understand why somebody is
dressed up as a pig!! The group had independently decided to do crafts involving
the gospel colors so they were thrilled to know we had the soccer balls to give
out. They gave out about 10 as prizes for explaining the colors and gospel
memory verses etc. So thank you for your contribution!!! All the kids received a
school supply gift box from Green Valley Baptist in Nevada, so a good object
lesson in the different parts of the body of Christ doing their respective
jobs.. We were blessed to see how open both the children and the parents were to
the gospel. We still have more balls to give away so I will keep you posted.
Blessing to you and your ministry
In our Lord's Name and service
Peter
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Thank you so much for sending us to Mexico. We had a Great, Awesome time!
We got to see the Transformed lives of those first orphans taken in by Bridge of
Love—their prior home was 4 posts and a tarp—Transformed by Jesus and the
Fletcher Family who took them in and the Supporters who made it possible—We got
to see the eyes of hundreds of kids when we showed up at their small villages
(we were in a predominantly Rural Area) with our soccer balls—In 5 Minutes we
would be playing soccer with our colorful soccer balls provided by J3:16
Ministries.
On the Soccer Field language was no barrier—We had instant Communication—The “Gringas”
against the local kids—Then we would bring these colorful soccer balls into the
local churches and share the Gospel Message. Each of these Colors had
Significance(see pics of the Soccer Balls):
(1)Gold=Creation/Heaven (2)Black=Sin (3)Red=Blood of Jesus (4)White=Makes our
sins whiter than “snow”—Funny Footnote-These kids didn’t know what “snow” was,
so we started saying “makes our sins whiter than a rabbit” because in that area
of the world rabbits are White and (5)Green=Growth-To Grow in things of God thru
Bible, Prayer, and Christian Fellowship.
Then at the end of our Mini VBS type service we would give the Local Pastor a
Soccer Ball for his Church and then give away two soccer balls to selected kids
that had attended. We also had Spanish tracts that explained in detail the
Gospel Message based on these 5 colors—We also gave away String and Beads with
these 5 colors to make Gospel Bracelets—Again reinforcing the Good News of the
Gospel.
World Wide Word of Faith Church, Palm Harbor, FL
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A group from Bayside Community Church, Bradenton FL went on a Missions trip
to Colombia, South America in March, 2011. We were able to share the message of
John 3:16 using the J316 Soccer balls. We ministered in the slums of La Nohra,
outside Villavicencio with Rosa Alba a pastor's wife of the Centro Evangelistica
Missions Church, as well as to a lot of kids at El Yarico, an indigenous school
out past Villavicencio….way out. We gave 2 balls away at these sites. One for
the school and one for the church.
It was an awesome trip! Brought the Word to many who have never heard. The
ball presentation went over well.
Thanks again
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Greetings in the worthy name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. May you
receive photos for my successful kids outreach in my home country which took
place over the weekend. About 70 kids aged between 6-14 attended the event and
56 of them gave their lives to the Lord which was a big success and very
motivating. So far I have raised two youths to groom the kids through the J316
soccer balls and literature the period I will be away from them physically but
together spiritually.
I will be back to SA this coming weekend. Till then and God Bless!
Pastor Salim
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"We work with Young Life in Bradenton, Florida and take teams to City Soliel
which is the ghetto of Port Au Prince, Haiti. They have taken balls with them
the last two trips (December 2008 and December 2009) and have used them at the school there where they minister to the Haitian
kids. They also had opportunity to befriend locals on the beach. The man
in Yellow is their guide and interpreter Timothe who has a soccer ministry in
Haiti and works with the international sports coalition. They gave most of the
balls to him he is amazing at sharing the gospel!"
Kirstin and Daniel Shontere
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What an incredible trip. Josh and I talked that we didn't get enough time to
try and reach out with the ball and play as we had wanted due to the schedule we
had and our location at times. We shared the ball and vision with pastors in
Dubai, at the BTh course in Chennai, an orphanage outside Pondicherry, and
churches in Kerala and Bangalore.
Josh said that his favorite moment in India was juggling and sharing the ball
with the orphans outside Pondicherry. The look on their faces said it all to
him.
Our church is sponsoring another orphanage in that area that will be focused on
AIDS-affected children. The high school may send a group in July/August to that
area, but one of the challenges is around the Indian school schedule and the
heat at the time. Josh would consider going back, but only if he has the
opportunity to spend more time with kids than just doing building projects.
That got us thinking, and I shared a comment with Josh from Ortberg's "God is
Closer than you Think" book: "God, make up there come down here". We're going to
pray about what our role can be.
With that said, I know that you have sent groups over there before to do tours
and such. Josh would prefer to be a part of something involving kids, and so we
will ask the men who know, what would that take? How can we pray? How can we
help?
I have some new contacts over there who could get us into a variety of villages
to do small 1-day camps and share the gospel, partnering with churches there.
Not sure if that fits where you want to go, or if you would prefer to go over
and play with teams like you have before, or a combination.
Ed Roden
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I took a J316 ball with me not knowing if they even played soccer over in the
middle of the jungle. After a 13 hour bus ride into the middle of Borneo, we got
to work making windows for a new medical centre in a new village created for
forgotten and abused children in the Borneo jungle. There are now about 350
children leaving in the small village and Praise the Lord the boys were crazy
about soccer. At 4:00 on the second day I found myself kicking a ball around
with the boys on a sand soccer field.
Almost all of the children come from surrounding tribes, many of them are
head-hunters which means many of the children at the facility have tasted human
flesh before. The culture itself is very tribal and the boys I played soccer
with can't ever go far in tournaments, as opposition teams threaten their lives
and the removal of their heads.
On the last day before we began the soccer and got as many of the boys
together as I could. I new sharing the message of the ball would not be new to
them. They all have heard the message of Jesus Christ before and live lives
glorifying God, so I took this opportunity to give them the explanation of the
colors and hand over the ball to them for their own future evangelism. I
explained it in as much details as possible and we all agreed that we would use
this ball in future tournaments (if they are safe enough) and share the message
with other tribes people throughout the jungle. There are still many more tribes
to be reached throughout this planet, especially in Borneo and I wonder if God
will use this J316 ball to make the difference?
James Martin
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This summer I got a job selling Christian books all over England in
conferences. There was a group of us working at a particular conference and we
were doing shift work. I had some time off and started kicking a J316 ball
around on a patch of grass. It was a large conference and there were all sorts
of children around, from all different parts of the country. Soon my juggling
caught some attention and we started a game. After only a few minutes the game
had grown and there must have been 25 children playing, there may have been more
but I didn't count. So before the game grew any larger I knew I had to share the
message the ball gives before any of them left to go back to their families.
I was surprised to find that many of the children playing were not Christians
and this message seemed relatively new to them, even at a Christian conference.
I was able to share the message with all the children. Some listened intently,
some gave a hostile reaction, but for a brief few moments God gave us silence
for His love to shine. After the message we played and gradually the game faded
until I had to stop it. I have no idea what the kids thought or where they are
now. But through this ball God moved yet again.
James Martin
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Our ministry is called ECM Youth Football, a ministry of
Every Child Ministries. We are located
in Gayaza, Uganda about 10 miles north of the capital city Kampala.
We have been very blessed to have these balls sent to us. Our goal is to teach
children the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Through soccer this goal is made much
easier. Playing soccer is one of the best ways to get the attention of a child.
The kids love playing so much, so for us to be able to use this ball to play and
tell them about Jesus, it has been great.
One afternoon a headmaster from a school brought some children for us to give
instruction about soccer. We used this ball and when we were finished, we
presented the Gospel through the ball. The headmaster was very thankful, he had
no idea we were going to do that, but was excited that his kids got to hear the
Good News.
We have three teams that use this ball for training and it is the only ball we
use for our matches as it is not only a great way for spreading the Gospel, but
also a quality ball.
We are having a mission trip that will utilize the J316 Ball in December
2009. Anybody interested in ministering through soccer should contact us (link
below) . Anybody going on the trip will leave December 26th, 2009 and return
January 4th, 2010.
Matt & Brecka Arnett
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We used the J316 soccer ball in 2006 on trip to Mexico and this summer (2009) in
a camp in Seattle. We went to Mexico with AIA and to Seattle with Living Hope
Community Church or Port Orchard, Washington
In both cases the team in Mexico and the church in Washington State used the wordless
bracelet as a gift to young kids and then used the ball to present the gospel
through the colors.
Ben Belleman
Men's Soccer Coach
Cedarville University
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In May 2009, the
Amazing
Love Healing Ministry took a team of 9 people to Rwanda, Africa. Although
the main focus of the mission trip was to provide God’s healing and
reconciliation for genocide victims and released prisoners, we also took 50
Salvation Soccer Balls to distribute among the youth near Kibungo. We gave a
short presentation to the youth, mostly orphans, in which we explained the
colors on the ball … thereby telling them about sin (BLACK) that separates us
from God , the blood of Jesus (RED) that was spilled on the cross for all of us,
giving us forgiveness and washing us as white as snow (WHITE), the
responsibility of growing in love and knowledge of Jesus Christ (GREEN), and
then our end destination: spending eternity with God in Heaven (GOLD). The
Salvation story, as well as the colorful soccer balls, were extremely well
received.
Before we went to Rwanda with the soccer balls, we asked friends, family and
colleagues to get involved in our project and “sponsor” a ball. The response was
overwhelming and within just a few days, all 50 balls were paid for. Every
person that sponsored a ball, signed it with a personal message of love and hope
for the children in Rwanda.
The balls come deflated, which makes packaging and flying very easy. The J316
Ministries now also provides small pumps which can be distributed with the
balls. The pumps are small, lightweight and very practical !
Lizelle du Toit
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In April 2009 I visited the wonderful country of Kenya. I became friends with
a guy who, along with his wife runs a school in the Nakuru area of Kenya.
Whenever I travel I make sure I have a J316 ball with me, so I pulled out a
couple as I felt led to give my new friend a couple for the school. This was
such a God given moment, I sat there and explained the meaning of the ball,
making sure my friend fully understood. He told me he would take them back to
the school and tell the children about the ball as the played football.
Since my trip, I have spoken to him on numerous occasions. Each time we have
spoken he has told me how much the kids are loving the new balls and he tells me
he has explained to the children the meaning of the ball. He has even asked me
for more of the leaflets explaining the J316 ball. I really hope I can get out
and see the kids with their J316 balls soon but praise God for the opportunity
and the J316 balls in Nakuru, Kenya!!
Ben Ryan
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Greetings, I hope you are well. Your balls were a big hit. I have enclosed a
couple of pictures, the little boy was so excited to just hold it. Then when our
interpreter told him he could have it he gave that big smile. Henry told him the
meaning of the colors and he listened very intently. These kids are in a World
Vision ADP I think it is called, so they most likely had already heard the
gospel. The funny part was as we visited other villages in the region we say the
child with the ball come running over a hilltop. He had followed the bus to wave
at us one more time. Our whole bus wanted to know why I hadn't brought more
balls.
I gave some out to the people who helped us on our trip, one man had a son
hospitalized with Malaria. So I prayed for his son and gave him a ball. When I
asked how his son was he said he is good he is out playing with his ball. We
were taken to a lakeside resort where the chain link fence was not to keep out
wild animals but the poor children who live out side of the gate. We saw 2
little boys playing with a stick and a rock so we offered them a ball again
explaining the meaning of the colors and before I could take their picture they
ran off squealing with joy.
It looks like a team will be returning to Malawi in late October to complete our
project, if so I will pass out more balls at that time. Otherwise the Dr. in
charge of the Pediatric clinic will distribute them to the patients as time goes
by.
No words were needed, we had the international friendship maker, a soccer
ball.
Thank you again for such a door opening tool for the gospel. God Bless you and
your ministry.
Working to together to make a difference.
Kari Kramer
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