Staurday is a big ministry day for Andrey. Every Saturday morning, November through January, we have a tri-city soccer tournament going on. Sixteen teams compete, and although Andrey doesn't play every Saturday morning he tries to be at the gym getting to know the guys and cheering for other teams.
Then from 5pm-9pn we rent the same gym space for our men's soccer ministry. I have mentioned before, but for those of you who are newly aquainted with our ministry, I will explain it a bit.
Every Saturday evening, from 5-7 men ages 27 and up can come play soccer at the local gym. If a guy has a group of friends he already plays with; they can all come as a team. If a guy doesn't have a team he plays with then Andrey finds a spot for him somewhere. The event begins with a small devotional by Andrey or one of our pastors or deacons followed by prayer. 60% of these men are non-believers, many of their wives have already accepted Christ, but this is the first contact these guys have with people from our local church. (It is very difficult to get a man to attend a church service, unless he already knows someone at the church.) This is one of our first step ministries.
Tonight after soccer, the men will be going to the sauna together. Sauna is big part of the culture here, especially for men. Some of our pastors and deacons will be going with them, to build more contact with these guys.
Even as I write this I know how funny it probably sounds. However, this really is ministry. In the past year and half almost 30 women have accepted Christ, theough the ministries of our local church. We are praying for the salvation of men, and we believe that through bonding with Christian men they will be more receiptive to the Gospel message.
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