This article appears in the Fall 2024 issue of the FCA Donor Publication. The FCA publication is a gift from our FCA staff to all donors giving $50 or more annually. For more information about giving, visit here.
Solomon Kaleku lives in Longido, Tanzania, close to the Kenya border, and grew up playing soccer as part of the Maasai people. He quickly realized how beneficial sport was and continued to play even after he stopped going to school.
Kaleku is no stranger to resilience. When he became a Christian, he was disowned by his family and he was forced to sleep in his church. Kaleku’s pastor began praying with him for his family situation. Years went by before his family called him back home and encouraged him to keep worshipping God. All of his family except his father now know the Lord and attend church.
Kaleku met FCA Tanzania Leader Danny Laiser in 2022 while Kaleku was teaching Sunday School at church. During that meeting, Kaleku shared heart and vision for reaching the Maasai tribe, especially the young boys in the village who were not attending Sunday school. Through Kaleku’s prayer and perseverance, God has moved in the hearts of many Maasai through weekly soccer sessions that Kaleku has started.
How has God worked to bring the boys in your community to church?
In our community, most men and boys don’t go to church. I had girls in my Sunday school, but I wanted to reach the boys also. A friend of Danny Laiser visited our church and prayed for us, and we trusted God. Danny then told me how I could start sports ministry at my church and in my community, and he gave me some soccer balls. I went into the community and proclaimed the Gospel. I told them I am a coach and I would bring out a soccer ball and we would play in the village. I invited them to church on Saturday, and I would coach and wait patiently with faith. One day, I saw 35 boys coming to play. Now, we have about 150 boys on our team, and I am the coach. Most of the kids have come to know the Lord and given their lives to Jesus. They have changed their lifestyles, and we are seeing the fruit of how God is transforming lives.
What does your time with these athletes look like? 
We meet during the week on Monday, Thursday and Saturday. I visit them at school on Monday and Thursday, and they come to play at our church playground on Saturday. We meet in the morning around 8:00 a.m. where we start with Huddles and the Word of God. The Bible says to seek first the Kingdom of God and other things will be fulfilled, so our team slogan is “God First.” Then we begin practice and games, and we finish with prayer for everyone’s safety and return to our homes.
How has FCA impacted you personally and your coaching?
I am very grateful for FCA because they have shown me the way of transforming lives through sports. We did not have that vision before; we were either playing sports or sharing the Gospel and were never together. Now, people see God as we do training, Huddles and other ways of discipleship. When the boys started coming to church on Sundays, people would ask what has happened, and I’d say, “FCA has come and we are doing sports ministry.”
For the Maasai people, it is hard to open our hearts to the Lord. But FCA has found a way to use what they love—sports—and let them freely come to Jesus. I am privileged to do something that is bearing fruit in God’s Kingdom.
What is God teaching you right now?
God is teaching me through the Holy Spirit, prayer and His Word. As I pray and read His Word, God is telling me that even in some of the difficulties I go through, to remain patient and persistent in Him, because He has so many good plans ahead of me. I want to keep praying and pressing on so we may see more fruit for God’s Kingdom as we continue to do ministry.
What would you say to encourage other coaches?
As coaches, we go through many different and difficult situations with our personal lives, families, even our spiritual lives. It’s good to seek God in whatever they do. I love Psalm 23 and that the Lord is our Shepherd. It gives me courage to always believe and trust in the Lord to take care of my needs. He protects us wherever we go, and He's the one who leads us. Whenever I read this psalm, it reminds me how God leads us and it also raises my faith in Him.
-FCA-
Photos courtesy of Danny Laiser and Solomon Kaleku