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A I S
Little Ambassadors
International Developments
Top of the League
Summer Tour Teams
Ambassador s in Spor t , I re landSpr ing 2013
Wel
com
e In this passage in Matthew, the disciples had let Jesus down. Three times Jesus had asked them to watch and pray and all three times He came back only to find them asleep. I can just imagine how the disciples must have felt. They had let their friend down. I’m sure they didn’t mean to, but they were not able to do what Jesus had asked of them.
I often feel like the disciples must have felt here. God calls us to be holy and yet time and again, I let Him down in my actions, attitudes and even in the things that I fail to do or say. I have made my share of mistakes, but I take encouragement from Jesus’ words to his disciples: ‘rise, let us go.’ There is forgiveness in these words, but not only that, there is a sense of hope. Jesus knows the future and He
understands that what is ahead is bigger and more important than the mistakes we have made in the past. God is able to lift our spirits and help us understand that we are forgiven. And somehow He is able to use our mistakes for His purposes and His glory.
This has been an encouragement to me recently and I hope it will be to you too. No matter what you have done in the past, Jesus is able to tell us to rise. We cannot change the past, but we can get up and move on because God forgives us and still wants to use us to change the world for His glory.
Robert CuthbertAmbassadors in Sport Ireland Director
Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour has
come, and the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us go. Matthew 26:46
As we approach another busy spring and summer, I want to thank you all for your ongoing prayers and support. I’m thankful for your partnership and pray that
together God will use us to impact the lives of those we will be in contact with whether through tours, camps, youth football or other events. Thanks so much.
Ambassadors Easter Football Camp is back again! It’s for 7 to 14 year old boys and girls and is run by qualified coaches from Ambassadors and trained volunteers. Our football camps all follow the same goals, ensuring each participant has fun and improves their football skills as the week progresses.
Each day, we aim to develop the kids as players through quality coaching and fun games. The kids get the opportunity to use new skills during friendly matches, building up to the famous ‘World Cup Finals’ on the last day. Whilst this may seem like every other football camp across the country, key parts of our football camps are the Bible times and assemblies.
With our Christian coaches, we aim to provide the kids with positive role models and pray that God would use us to impact their lives by teaching and living out Biblical truths.
Register your child for this fantastic week!! This year our camp is on the home pitch of Ambassadors FC, Clendinning Park, Mahon Road. Places are limited so please register your child by emailing:[email protected]
The dates for the Football Camp are the 2nd-6th April (10am - 1pm). The cost for the 5 days is £20 and each child gets a free T-shirt!
The fun continues after our Easter Camp! Saturday
mornings from 10.30 am to 12pm will be filled with
football-related games and small sided matches! It
will start on the 13th April and finish on the 25th
May. The cost for each session is only £2 or you
can pay a discounted £10 to book all of them! It’s
for boys and girls aged 7 to 11 and will take place
at Clendinning Park just off the Mahon Road.
Again you can register your child by email:
Easter Football Camp at Ambassadors Pitch
Football 4 All on Saturday mornings
Littl
e A
mba
ssad
ors
Our first ever Little Ambassadors
program is off to a fantastic start.
We were excited, and perhaps a bit
overwhelmed, to have 16 energetic
3-5 year olds invading the hall in Richhill
Presbyterian Church at our first session.
The numbers have remained steady,
which is super and probably close to all
that the coaches can handle at one time!
Have you ever tried to herd 16 toddlers
in one direction? They have been quite
a challenge, but their cute faces and
enthusiasm more than make up for it.
One girl was so excited to be playing
football that she begged her mum to buy
her a football kit and was disappointed to
hear we wouldn’t be practicing every day.
(Sorry, just once a week for now.)
The children have been learning to not use
their hands and how to stop the
ball with their feet. We play a few
simple football-related games
during our 45 minute session.
They practice
dribbling from one end of the hall
to the other and scoring in the net with a big
kick! It’s amazing to see the progress they
have already made in a few short weeks.
At the end, the children all gather together
to hear the next story from The Big Picture
Story Bible. So far we have learned how
God created the world and people and
how we need to listen to and obey what
God says.
We are pleased to announce that we will
be beginning another session in Richhill
and hope to start one in Portadown after
Easter.
If you are interested in having your child
participate, please contact Stewart
Glass at:
“My daughter loves the interaction with others and the coaches are fantastic.”-A parent
This summer we currently have 3 churches committed to
partnering with us for our football camps. Please contact
the churches directly to register your child for the soccer
school. Or would you like to get involved yourself? We are
looking for volunteers! If your church is interested in running
a football camp, but not sure where to start, Ambassadors
is here to help. Please contact [email protected] for more
information.
Want to involve the adults and young people of your church? We’ve got something for them too this summer! Why not enter a team in our Annual Churches Cup on Saturday 1st June? The lads play 6-a-side matches competing for the Mark Versey Memorial Cup and the Ambassadors Shield. The ladies play 5-a-side for the Ambassadors Ladies Trophy. And, of course, there’s a world class BBQ for the lunch break for a small fee. To register, contact Robert Cuthbert on [email protected] or 07834362381.
Don’t have toddlers? No worries. We have opportunities for the entire family to get
involved. Have kids? Check out our Summer Football Camps. Want to play yourself?
Sign up for the Churches Cup tournament!
Summer Football Camps
26th May to 2nd June
Ballysally Presbyterian Church
6th – 10th of August
Lowe Memorial Presbyterian Church
Richhill Presbyterian Church
Men’s 6-a-side Team: £50Women’s 5-a-side Team: £30
Churches Cup
Glo
ba
l L
ea
de
rsh
ip S
um
mit
, Ja
nu
ary
20
13
This was an expression that was used frequently during our Ambassadors global leaders summit in Ohio, USA last month to emphasise the significance of our time together. The Biblical context of this saying in Esther 4:14
was the challenge to step up and use God given responsibilities to make a difference for good. Why would this saying be used at a summit for 40 of our leaders gathered from almost every nation where we work? ... We sensed as a group that after all the lessons we have learnt over the last 20 years plus the last 2 years of research, consultancy and prayerful planning, it was time for us as an organisation to be intentionally strategic in the next 5 years to move us towards our vision of of transformation through football outreach. A focus of this 5 year plan was the intentional
investment in our leaders around the world so that we can be more effective in the stewardship of what we have been given, maximising the resources we have, taking care of our staff and managing our finances well. Additionally we are focusing on a small number of programmes within our growth strategy so that we can serve local churches in a better way to reach and disciple many more people with the good news God has given us. Please pray that momentum will build from this summit so that we can fulfil the responsibilities God has given us.
Since its inception in 1990, Ambassadors in Sport has striven to share the gospel message to people around the world through the humble means of a football. While its purpose is not changing, Ambassadors has been making strides towards clarifying who and what Ambassadors is and does.
The Global Leadership Summit this year was a key point for many of these developments to be finalised
internationally.
“For a time such as this”
*New* Mission Statement: To communicate the good news of Jesus to all people through football.
*New* Vision Statement: Transformation of individuals and communities through indigenous football outreach.
*New* Tagline: Football, Faith, Future
Dave Oakley, UK Director
When faced with an organisation changing its name, most people respond in one of two ways. Firstly, “why?”. We’re hoping that in changing our name from Ambassadors in Sport to Ambassadors Football the answer to this question is obvious. We have always and only been involved with football, since day one, but our name hasn’t communicated that. Consequently, we’re often asked, “Do you do basketball… or tennis… or any other sports?” We don’t. Never have, never will. Not because those sports don’t matter, but because they’re not what we’re called to. We are a football organisation. Football is both our passion and our platform to bring transformation to the world.
The most important word in our name, though, is not the one that’s changing but the one that’s staying the same. Ambassadors is the word that most defines us. It is taken from a Bible verse, 2 Corinthians 5:20, “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on
Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.” If Football represents our passion and platform, then Ambassadors represents our purpose. Being Jesus’ ambassadors means sharing his good news of forgiveness and reconciliation with all people. We believe this “good news” of a life-giving relationship with God is the true source
of lasting transformation and fulfilment. We’ve seen this over and over again for the past 23 years.
The second common response to an organisation changing its name is, “why now?”. Since 1990, staff and volunteers at Ambassadors in Sport have been pioneering and initiating new forms of football outreach all over the world. Over the past few years we have been in a process of refining, focusing and building capacity to respond to the challenges and opportunities that are ahead of us. As a global mission we believe the next two decades will be a multiplication of the first two, not just for Ambassadors as an organisation but for Ambassadors as a lead catalyst of a global football outreach movement. The timing of the name change then, represents a transition from one season or chapter to the next, and it’s a transition we are all very excited about. Ultimately we believe this change, along with a number of other changes we’re making at the moment, will make us more effective in reaching out to the people we’re called to serve.
Andrew Cameron, Global Operations Director
Stra
tegi
c P
rogr
ams
Harrison is 10 years old and
because he is so talented, he has
been involved in our program for 3
years already (our normal age range
is 10-15). Even though he is smaller
than most of the players on the field, Harrison scored the tournament-winning goal for his
team in January. More importantly, Harrison came to know Christ through our ministry and
is now talking to his family about his spiritual walk. I met Harrison’s father, who is not yet a
Christian, and he says he has seen many positive changes in Harrison since he has been
involved in the team. Life is especially hard for him since his mother died a few years ago,
but with the support of his teammates and leaders, he is doing OK.
Our Girls academy is now up and running after two years of trying to start a specific girls only team. Girls don’t have the same access to sport here due to the religious climate, therefore we are excited to see these young girls break the cultural trend and make a choice to play football. The team now has 18 members. One of the girls in our team is from a broken home. Her dad left the family five years ago, and her mum seems like she has stopped caring for her. She joined our academy, and straight away we saw a change in
her. She is now being mentored by one of our coaches, and when she was asked what have you felt since arriving at the academy she shared, ‘I was lost before I came to the academy, now I feel loved, accepted, I have found a new family who loves me.’
Community-based teams for
players of all abilities, ages
and genders, where football
skills and personal character
are developed in a positive
environment.
Holistic football programs that provide young people from all backgrounds the opportunity to fulfil their God-given potential on and off the field.
Clubs
Academies
Haiti
SE Asia
Last June, players from America, England, Singapore, Taiwan, and the Netherlands gathered for a playing tour in a former communist country in Central Asia. We played games against professional teams, reached out to kids on the street, and taught local churches how they can use football to build relationships. It was a very exciting time for me. I was nervous before joining the tour because I was a new believer and didn’t speak English fluently. But God showed me in Ephesians 3:7-9 that He gave me His grace to go out and tell people about Him. One night I shared my testimony with one of the professional teams and some of the players gave their lives to Jesus! This gave me confirmation that I’m valuable to God and could be an Ambassador for Him. I am also grateful that I decided to be baptised while I was there. I can definitely say that this playing tour I can definitely say that the playing tour turned my life completely upside down!
I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his
power. Although I am less than the least of all the Lord’s people, this grace was given me: to preach
to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ, and to make plain to everyone the administration of
this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. Ephesians 3:7-9
Short-term mission’s trips that impact communities through various forms of football outreach and give Christian footballers the opportunity to serve through football outreach.
Tours
Central Asia
During the US coaching tour, one of my campers was struggling with what she heard when
I presented the gospel message. On her response card, she wrote, “I want to believe but
simply can’t.” The coaches began to pray for her and the next day after Bible Time she stayed
behind while the rest of the group went away to lunch. We sat for 30 minutes while she asked
questions about everything from Noah’s Ark to Heaven and Hell. At the end of the discussion,
she decided she wanted to accept Jesus Christ into her life. HALLELUJAH! This was a special
moment that only God could create. She took her response card and pencil and confidently
scribbled out her previous comment. Then she wrote that she had accepted Christ and wrote
the words: “Belief brings on relief.”
Short-term, football-based events that engage young people in a fun and active program involving football
skills, character and faith development, fun games, and matches.
Camps
USA
Since 2006, Pierre was a rugby player but saw the impact that football
could have in his area of Stellenbosch. Since 2006 Pierre has been
slowly developing a club that is focused on football and ministering
to the players and families linked to the programme. Six years later
Pierre is now impacting 600+ boys and girls on a weekly basis,
and he himself is helping to train and encourage the 60+ volunteer
coaches and staff needed to run the club. For Pierre, the TREC Level
3 course he has just completed in Soweto will enable him to train
and encourage his coaching staff and raise the professionalism with
which the club is run.
TRECComprehensive football-based courses that train, resource
and equip Christians and Churches to conduct effective
football outreach in their communities.
Training, Resourcing, and
Equipping Churches
‘A coach has the opportunity to influence
more lives in one year than others do in a
lifetime.’ American Evangelist Billy Graham
An intentional network of TREC alumni and football outreach
workers in a particular region who network together for
ongoing training, resourcing, equipping and mutual support.
Associations
The Chilean team has been so blessed to be led into an active prison ministry. This ministry developed not by design originally, but the Lord’s plan and vision is always greater than ours. We originally entered into the prison system to play a friendly match and to share the gospel over two years ago with a team from Brasil helping us. In 2012, we returned to the same prison and an additional maximum security prison called Colina II. Colina has become the focus of our ministry in 2012 and we are creating great relationships and starting to have the opportunity to share more specifically with the guys. We have been asked by the Head Evangelical Chaplain to prepare a plan for countrywide evangelism inside of the Chilean prisons using football. We are humbled and happy to be called to this work.
Various other community-based football outreach ministries outside of the 6 main Strategic Programs.
Misc.
Chile
South Africa
Am
bass
ador
s F.
C.
Overall, as we head towards the last few weeks of the season, it has been a good one for the club. The 1st team are continuing their push at the top of division 1 and the reserves have coped well in their new league following promotion and sit mid table. Many thanks to our managers and coaches for their efforts and they should certainly be happy with the returns. We have also played on our new pitch for the first time this season which has been great and again massive thanks to Turkingtons and all those who have helped with the preparation. Our Chaplaincy role has been taken on by the
entire committee this year with the view to bringing greater depth and variety to the role as it really was too big for any of us on our own. We hope the players have found it challenging and encouraging. Thanks for your ongoing prayers. It seems every time I write this I offer the reader a chance to come and get involved. Our club has so many ways we need to improve and we would love you to help us do it!
Richard HobsonChairman
It’s been a challenging season for our Reserve Team but one which has provided many valuable lessons for our players both individually and as a group. Having been promoted to
Reserve Division Two after last year’s successful campaign the quality of opposition is now noticeably better. We have beaten, troubled and provided stiff competition for league leaders and promotion contenders during the campaign but have also found ourselves under pressure from those teams in the lower half of the league. Our main challenge has been seeking to establish some consistency in our performances week by week.
I could sum it all up adeptly by calling us the Wigan Athletic of our league this season. We haven’t turned up to play defensive, boring football regardless of the challenges we’ve faced - we’ve tried to develop the players, opening games up with expansive possession football and playing to win with a brand of football that’s good to watch and be a part of on the pitch. These things take time however! While we’ve made mistakes and results haven’t always gone our way, there have been a number of key games where I was immensely proud of the football we played and have a great sense that we are headed in the right direction. We will also need to be prepared to fight to the end to ensure we’re there next season to have the opportunity to continue the good work.
Congratulations to Bryan Archer, Stephen Anderson and Henry Capper for receiving more regular first team calls-ups this season and making the step-up when required - we’ve missed their quality but it’s an important function for a Reserve team to produce and develop capable players. Also welcome to Thomas Glass and Jamie McKerr who have been valuable, recent additions to the squad as we seek to improve and push on. Many thanks to Mark Hobby, Michael Irwin and Bryan Archer who give a lot of help, encouragement and assistance behind the scenes.
Peter MullanReserve Team Manager, Club Coach.
It has been an enjoyable season so far with only two games remaining for the first team. Having lost a few games at the start of the season, the team came back to go on a 12 match unbeaten run to leave them sitting top of the league. It is a fantastic position to be in, but with other teams having games in hand, the league title seems unlikely. However, in only our second season in Division 1, this is a major achievement for the club and credit should go to both management and players for all their hard work throughout the season.
Alan CookeManager
Gui
nea
Bis
sau
Tour
8th - 24th July
In just over three months, our touring team will set off for Guinea Bissau, a small country on the West African coast. During the two week trip, the team will play several matches against local opposition as well as running a few coaching clinics and a week long football camp. In the build up to going, the team will be aiming to get as fit as they can in order to be able to compete and play matches every couple of days as well as coaching in over 30 degree heat.
Our training weekend will prepare the team for going to a foreign country as well as how to share their testimony, run a football camp and share the gospel through football related dramas. We hope to be able to bring kits, balls and other equipment out to leave with the churches and enable them to continue and develop their ministry, so if you have anything which you think may be useful to the team please get in touch.
We value your prayers as we travel and ask that God would use this trip to impact every member of the team as well as reaching many in Guinea Bissau who do not know Jesus. In our team meetings we have been reminded that God in His mercy has saved us through Jesus. We did nothing to deserve this and yet we live as sons and daughters of God. And it is because of this that we respond by giving our lives for Him. He calls us to go and make disciples of all nations and so both at home and in Guinea Bissau, we want to be part of seeing God’s kingdom grow.
• For safety as we travel.• For team unity.• For opportunities to share our faith
with those we meet.• For Lynne Bogle and Celestino Ca
who will be setting up the football camp in Canchungo.
• For good health and no injuries.
•Gemma Donaldson•Cheryl Henry•Corrie Jones•Kristina Lindsay•Katelyn Reuther•Nicola Shilliday•Laura Smyth•Emily Stevenson•Melissa Wilson
•Gareth Brown•Robert Cuthbert•Alan Dowey•Stewart Glass•Thomas Glass•Mark McDowell•Andrew Martin•Jason Martin•Martijn van Beek
Prayer Points Ladies Men
Player testimonies after games
Football Camp in Canchungo
Meeting the President
New this year is the Europe Coaching Tour. We will be gathering and training a team of coaches from around the world who will coach at our local football camps in Northern Ireland, before moving onto another Ambassadors office in Europe for a second week of coaching.
Prayer points:• For coaches that they have attitudes of service, would be unified as a team,
and would be blessed with good health and safety during the tour. Please particularly pray for a successful and meaningful training weekend, 2nd – 5th August.
• For campers that they would have open hearts to hear the gospel and for those who are already believers that their faith would be strengthened.
• For churches that they would fully embrace and become involved in the week of ministry and be able to follow-up with families whose children at-tend the camps.
Hurry!There are just a few spaces left for this summer!Love God? Love kids? Love football?This tour is for you!Dates: 2—18 AugustCost: £250 plus flightsWant more info? Contact Katelyn at [email protected]
It was about 20 years ago that I joined “Love Europe” with the organization Operation Mobilization. Through my time with them, I saw the impact of missions on the people that joined that mission and the people to whom we were reaching out in Albania. The original plan was not to use the platform of football to reach out to people, but to do door-to-door evangelism. In a miraculous way, God used my gifting in football to transform the life of a football player I met while attending his training session. It was then that God opened my eyes to the potential that football ministry can have for Europe. Now, 20 years later, Ambassadors is launching a new initiative to reach the football fields of Europe with the Gospel
this summer. As true Ambassadors (2 Cor. 5:20), groups of Christian coaches will partner with local Ambassadors teams in different countries across Europe to help churches build a bridge in their communities through the platform of football. My prayer is that lives will be transformed and that people will be inspired to use their God given talent in football to reach out to their local community and beyond.
Euro
pe C
oach
ing
Tour
Stef van Meerveld, Europe Director
Office address:Ambassadors in Sport
8 Derrylettiff RoadPortadownCo ArmaghBT62 1QU
Mobile: 07834362381
AIS Ireland: www.aisireland.comAmbassadors FC: www.ambassadorsfc.co.uk
www.youtube.com/user/AISINT
www.facebook.com/aisireland
Company number: NI069535Charity reference number: XT12541
All members receive a free mug this year! Not a member? Not a problem. Fill out the form in this copy of Tactics and send it in to become a member now and receive this limited edition mug!
Join coaches from around the world for Ambassadors football camps during
1st July – 3rd August.
Get inspired and equipped during training camp before heading out with your team to minister in states from Ohio to Oregon!
Cost: £300 plus return flight to Cleveland.
For more information, contact Katelyn at [email protected]
USA COACHING TOUR
