Introduction
Take a look at this photo from a soccer ministry in Colombia (more about that in a moment).
Top right. Do you see him?
That’s Jesus (well one version anyway) playing soccer with the kids. Looks like he’s about to get checked. 🙂
But what does that image mean in the context of this soccer ministry?
This summer I had the repeat privilege of returning to Medellín, Colombia with Colonial Church in Edina, MN. I was there with Daniel Harrel, pastor of the church, Carter Sample, Minister of Youth and Missional engagement, and a team of 24 people consisting of family, spouses, adult chaperones and 14 ninth graders.
The trip closed out ninth grade confirmation class for the youth by allowing them to experience faith, mission, ministry and culture in Colombia.
So Back to the Photo
To me, the photo represents Jesus’ presence in that soccer ministry COSDECOL. It is the Lord who lives and directs his work among his people.
We visited there one afternoon to learn about the ministry.
It is brimming with activity, a big soccer stadium and of course kids playing club soccer.
Small Beginnings
The ministry began in 1986 when Marcos Wittig, a professor of the Biblical Seminary of Colombia where I teach organized an indoor soccer tournament for the neighborhood kids.
It was a way for Mark to be relevant (some might say incarnational, like that photo) and to save kids who were being recruited to a life of crime and violence by the Medellín Cartel.
Yeah, like real life Narcos, not the glorified version you see on Netflix.
Brownie Time
In 1994, Mark started to bake brownies in his home as a way to employ some of the youth who wanted to leave their life of crime. Today, the brownie business is booming with a full factory and a contract to supply brownies to the largest ice cream producers in the country.
50% of the ministry is now funded through brownie sales.
Today, COSDECOL has a full sport complex with two soccer fields, 130 soccer clubs and 
a ministry that reaches 3,000 kids / youth in over 24 sectors of Medellín.
Colonial Church’s dream is to perhaps bring down a youth soccer team one day to interact with the kids for a full week of ministry and soccer.
At the end of the week, the idea would be to invite a team from Medellín to participate in the Schwan’s USA Cup which takes place outside of Minneapolis every year.
We’ll keep you posted…
About That Photo Again
For me, the photo also represents the church (the body of Christ) playing soccer with those kids and engaging them where they live and play.
This is the essence of incarnational ministry. It comes from Christ’s own life who did not consider equality with God something to be grasped but willingly took on the form of a servant (Phil 2:5-9).
It’s what the Lord calls his people to do.
During our time in Medellín, we visited an at-risk children’s home, a drug-rehabilitation center for men and women leaving the streets and a girls home.
One night, we ministered to the homeless population in Medellín with bread and sugar water.
It’s hard to describe, but picture a gathering of hundreds upon hundreds of people stacked in a three or four block area, most of whom are substance abusers and looking for a way to pay for the next escape. Tarps with holes line the streets, where unseen drug dealers pass small vials of drugs for cash.
We were there with the City of Refuge ministry, and Harry Dietrich who was sent from Times Square Church to minister among the homeless population of Medellín.
Even though everything looks bleak and hopeless, we have two simple tasks. One is to hand out an invitation to come to the drug rehab center and the other is to pray for anybody that requests it.
And that’s what we do until the bread runs out.
The ministry works miracles, because the men and women who are recovering in the center and help to bake bread and run the shelter, were themselves on the street, 3, 6 or 12 months prior.
It’s like that photo again. Christ’s presence through his church (Christ’s body), going to engage people where they live, and Christ doing wonderful things.
That’s how the Lord works and it was great to take a small part in that.
So to answer that initial question. Do I think Jesus would have played soccer with kids? You bet I do.