Youth state basketball champions from Northside Church (Southeastern Conference) in Miami, back row, from left: Hayden Brun, Marvin Calixte , Yuri-Sam Noel, and Germay Origene; front row, Rock Calixte, Jovahn Sylvestre, and Tristan Ferguson.
“For the first time in a long time, I felt very happy,” says Ewan McFarquhar, a forward on First University Church’s Yellow Jackets basketball team, after his baptism by Pastor Romel Charles in December 2015. (Photographer: Trudian Constant)
by Jonathan Swan
The Florida Conference Sports Council is dedicated to bringing Adventist and nonAdventists together to share and teach the gospel while making an impact for eternity through the platform of sports in its different forms. The Council promotes and provides leadership, team building, community outreach, and Christian fellowship.
Under this umbrella, a basketball league was formed in 2012. During the 2015-2016 season, 50 teams from 32 churches were involved from Southeastern and Florida Conferences. In addition to a coach, each team includes a chaplain who is in charge of Bible studies, a devotional for team meetings, and team outreach. The chaplain submits a monthly report on the ministry the team has chosen to do in the community.
Through the ministry of the league, Ewan McFarquhar, a forward on First University Church’s (Southeastern Conference) Yellow Jackets basketball team, was baptized in December 2015. That’s the type of change the league is seeking. When statistics show that six out of ten young people leave the church, it is important to find a way to reach out to them on their level and through their interests.
The Florida Conference Sports Council is dedicated to bringing Adventist and nonAdventists together to share and teach the gospel while making an impact for eternity through the platform of sports in its different forms. The Council promotes and provides leadership, team building, community outreach, and Christian fellowship.
Under this umbrella, a basketball league was formed in 2012. During the 2015-2016 season, 50 teams from 32 churches were involved from Southeastern and Florida Conferences. In addition to a coach, each team includes a chaplain who is in charge of Bible studies, a devotional for team meetings, and team outreach. The chaplain submits a monthly report on the ministry the team has chosen to do in the community.
Through the ministry of the league, Ewan McFarquhar, a forward on First University Church’s (Southeastern Conference) Yellow Jackets basketball team, was baptized in December 2015. That’s the type of change the league is seeking. When statistics show that six out of ten young people leave the church, it is important to find a way to reach out to them on their level and through their interests.
“For the first time in a long time, I felt very happy,” says Ewan McFarquhar, a forward on First University Church’s Yellow Jackets basketball team, after his baptism by Pastor Romel Charles in December 2015.
Photographer: Trudian Constant
Photographer: Trudian Constant
As part of the Council’s mission to provide a Christian environment promoting physical and spiritual growth, a Community Connect Day was held in April when the ministry partnered with Patmos Chapel Church (Southeastern Conference) with the assistance of Associate Pastor Lindsay Syeh:
- Participants who worked at Orlando’s Lake Eola were tasked with reaching out to people and letting them know God cares, even though no one else may. They gave out countless hugs, prayed with people, and distributed prayer cards.
- One group went door to door visiting 200 homes. They connected with 23 families and invited them to a special Wednesday night program at the church. These families are now part of the church follow-up database.
- More than 40 energetic youth and young adults worked at the local elementary school. They weeded and cleaned the school garden and lunch area, picked up trash around buildings, and cleaned cabinets, walls, and desks in the classrooms.
- Outreach teams also worked together to enhance the playground at the United Cerebral Palsy organization as well as repaint the cement fence facing the roadway.
The Florida Conference Sports Council was spawned in 2011when Jonathan Swan realized there was a lack of young people his age attending Camp Meeting. Using the tools he learned from Coaches James Roddy, Simon Jacobs, and Alton Conwell at Oakwood University, he wrote a proposal for a sports ministry program and submitted it to the youth department.
“One-third of all team members are nonAdventist,” says Robert Hines, Florida Conference Associate Youth Director. “We want to use this organization as an avenue to reach other young people. This is a ministry where we use our own experiences to benefit others.”
Registration for the 2016-2017 season is underway. Please see the web site at www.flcsports.com for further information.