In a Venezuelan community, a coach who saw how sports can influence others began praying for ways to move her kids program to intentionally align with her God-given desire to share the Gospel while creating a welcoming and quality space to play.

In 2019, ministry leader Maria Castro had a burden for the local youth who roamed the streets. She understood the importance of sports and wanted to find a way to share the Gospel, so she, her daughters and a man from her church planned a project called Fumplus, an after-school program where kids played indoor soccer in the street, and she would share the Gospel.

The volunteer-based, grass roots program started serving 100 kids once a week, but Maria began to feel God calling her to do more than evangelize. How could she combine her love for God with the sports that were so impactful to the kids in a more intentional way? What would that look like?

One community over, FCA Leader Gustavo Rivero Diaz was leading a coaches Huddle. Maria heard about the Huddle, and began attending, eager to experience it for herself. She received an FCA Athletes Bible and learned about the vision of FCA.

“Oh!” Maria exclaimed. “This is the answer to my prayers.

Hungry for discipleship and focused direction, questions still lingered. How could they better serve these kids from an under-resourced community? They’d need uniforms and balls, but there were no resources. How could they raise support? What did complete buy-in to the program look like?

Gustavo, whose transformational purpose is to “guide coaches to walk in love and to take advantage of the influence that they have so they can transform lives,” poured into Maria and her volunteers to best set them up for success. They began to unfold a vision plan to develop the ministry more intentionally through sports and set up a structure that would create sustainability and support.

Each week, they train on leadership, chaplaincy and coaching development, and helped legally establish Fumplus. Between mentorship, sharing tools and best practices and connecting them with other like-minded people in the community, Fumplus began to flourish.

Coaches went through 3Dimensional Coaching® and learned how to transform their coaching approach. A soccer academy grew as God led them to form more organized leagues, tournaments and camps. Soon, they were reaching other communities as well. Today, Fumplus serves 650 athletes and 25 coaches.

Gustavo and his team of coaches and volunteers continue to walk together with Maria and the Fumplus team, discipling and providing tools and resources to further empower their ministry.

“My transformational purpose links with the FCA vision to see the world transformed by Jesus through the influence of coaches and athletes,” said Gustavo. “It means to pour ourselves into others. And that's what Jesus did; He gave Himself for us.”

As this coaching family grew in its purpose and passion to align sports with God, He put even more on their hearts for transformation. One of their most recent projects was revitalizing a rundown court. Chipped paint, debris and overgrown brush all over, it was not a proper place to play. So, the community came together to restore and renovate, with funds and manpower raised for a complete court overhaul

Now, an evenly paved court is safe to play on. The fresh blue paint pops and newly planted trees along the fence lines enhance the site.

It wasn’t just a cosmetic uplift, but an lifting of spirits.

“These athletes and coaches feel seen, empowered and proud of their place to live,” Gustavo said.

Fumplus began as a program and developed into a sports academy for soccer leagues and young athletes to compete while learning about the God who loves them under the care of coaches who have their best interests at heart.

This process of transformational coaching and overflowing into under resourced communities has shown Gustavo about the work and ways of God.

“God has shown me His love and humility,” he said. “It has been difficult because it has been a struggle. But we have seen God's hand in everything through these coaches and athletes. That they were engaged, equipped and empowered for God's glory.”

Through coaches like Maria and Gustavo’s team of empowered coaches and volunteers, hundreds of lives are being touched and changed. When a coach knows the why behind the what, with a full trust in God, there’s nothing that can get in the way.

“I find joy and praise the Lord because of the things that are happening in the community,” said Gustavo. “We live in a broken world that challenges us to act in the same way as the world acts. But the only way that we can go through this world is going the opposite way—Jesus’ way—doing good.

“The best gift that we can give to the sports community is coaches with the character of God.”

To learn more about what God is doing in Latin America South, visit the website and consider supporting further efforts like this basketball/soccer court renovation.

-FCA-