Football: The sport is a global phenomenon. The beautiful game is played by millions and watched by billions more! At AIS we have found this to be true and also seen that we can work in and through the sport to reach many for Christ. On the cycle, our love of football opened up many opportunities for us to share our faith with people, from simple conversations on the street or in the village to interviews on national radio and Television going out to millions of people. We would also randomly stop and join in games as we passed through villages which led to people asking us what we were doing.

This is my first Newsletter as I start my more formal adventure with Ambassadors in Sport (AIS) Ireland. I have been involved with AIS for the last 5 years, playing with the football team, going on tours, coaching at soccer camps in Ireland, South Africa and in the USA and not forgetting cycling the length of Africa (more on that below). I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the wonderful people I have met along the way and who have supported me with prayer and kindness. The Newsletter is a brief summary of what I have been doing over the last few months and what the plans are for the future!

October 2010 Am b a s s a d o r s i n S p o r t , I r e l a n d

Stewart Glass

Who are Ambassadors in Sport?

In 1990, Ambassadors In Sport (AIS) began in Bolton, England. From the beginning, the aim of AIS has been to partner with churches and Christian groups to develop grass roots football ministry. The work goes on through football camps, clinics, prison ministry, school ministry, men’s and women’s teams, international tours and major sport event ministries. AIS in now a world wide charity in 19 different countries.

‘Cycle for Hope—The Ultimate Cycle’

Personally the cycle for me was an amazing experience, the best of my life, it really matured me as a Christian and gave me new desires. I wanted to come back from the cycle and use my life for Gods glory. So this is why I have decided to work with Ambassadors in Sport as it combines my passions of God, youth work and sport.

Future: So what do we do about the need we encountered? AIS currently work in 6 African countries, but we have made contacts in many of the 16 countries that we cycled through. Partnering with the local church, our desire is to see many more come to know Jesus and football can be an incredibly effective means of reaching out and building friendships in our communities. Sports ministry can be extremely effect on the continent of Africa, were a game of football is a light in an otherwise dark world but we want to show them so much more. Pray for us as we follow up on these contacts and seek to help churches reach out to the many across Africa who need to hear about Jesus.

The Cycle for Hope started in Tangiers, Morocco on the 7th December 2009. The cycle covered the length of Africa, over 15,000km and through 17 different countries to arrive in Cape Town, South Africa on the 9th June 2010. The cycle had a core group of 10 people, me being one of them, who cycled for the whole 6 months. One of the reasons for the cycle is to raise money for an Ambassadors in Sport project called the Hope Academies in South Africa.

Faith: The cycle was also a chance for us to grow in our own faith.6 months away from home, living with 10 others, having little or no personal space and seeing the needs all around us was definitely a challenge. Living by faith was one of the highlights of the trip for me, because in the western world we rely on material things too much, whilst in Africa you just had to have faith in God, since the future was so uncertain. We met pastors who lived with very little, simply living out God’s call on their lives. Many face persecution and spiritual attack as a result. We heard of Christians killed for simply following Jesus. The needs all around challenged us and seeing so many people who have no chance to hear the gospel was heart breaking. We live in such freedom and luxury while so many live without ever hearing of Jesus and the hope that He offers. There is such need but so few willing to go and tell them about Jesus.

Every year AIS gathers coaches from around the world to coach at Soccer

Camps all across America. The theme for this years camps was

'Answer the Call' and was based on the story of Jonah. It's a great way

to get alongside and impact the kids who attend as well as their families.

In our 4 weeks we saw many kids become Christians at our camps with

many others growing in their faith

and understanding.

Around 3000 kids attended the camps this summer which is

incredible and we would value your prayers for all the kids but especially

the ones who come to Christ from a non-Christian family. Pray that the

church will be able to follow up with

Prayer/Praise Points

Pray that God will use me and the AIS staff to impact

as many people as possible.

Pray for good relationships

with Churches, friends and family as I undertake

something different in my

life.

Pray for faith, as this is a walk of faith and I know

there will be tough times ahead.

Praise that the cycle trip

was so successful and everyone returned safely

and health.

I am currently volunteering my time with AIS, working part time with

them and part time with my father on our family farm. However I see

myself working with AIS in the long term.

It is policy that all AIS staff must raise support. I am currently

looking to put together a team of supporters who could help me with

their prayer but possibly eventually with financial support or help with

raising financial support.

But I’m just excited to be working in an organisation with a lot of

potential and doing something I

love. So please pray for the organisation, the new team of staff,

interns and volunteers who will be working to further the Gospel and

to glorify God through football.

So this year I’ll be working with Ambassadors in Sport Ireland. I

am looking forward to the challenge and continually putting

myself outside my comfort zone. My main area of focus with AIS

will be Soccer Camps, which will involve a lot of organisation with

churches around Ireland who will be running AIS Soccer Camps.

Apart from that I will be

coaching in Schools, media work, giving talks in numerous locations

about AIS and in particular the “Cycle for hope”, along with other

projects, such as the preparation and running of missionary tours.

I hope that I will also be able to

go back to America next summer and do the Soccer Camps again,

as it is one of the most enjoyable times and I have made some

good friends there.

The year ahead

USA SOCCER CAMPS

them and help them grow in their

new faith.

The kids really look up to their coaches and this enables us to

share our faith with them in a relevant way. The entire week is

based around the theme with a skit team doing assemblies every day,

kids learning a memory verse and the 'hot seat' features a coach

selected to be grilled by the kids and also share how they came to

Christ. The kids love it and it has a

huge impact on the whole family, many of whom aren't church goers.

Each week we partner with a different church to run the camp. It

is also a great place to meet Christians from around the world,

encourage each other and make