CEDE Sports has some exciting news to share with their friends, family, supporters, chaplains, and churches. They have “acquired” or “merged with” or “united with” International Sports Ministries (ISM).
After over 20 years of ministry, these two organizations are merging under the CEDE Sports name. They have always been on the same team, and now the Lord has led them to combine their talents and personnel to accomplish more together than they could have separately.
“This is a unique opportunity to work together with another organization that has the same vision and desire to work with sportspeople.” Arménio Anjos, President of International Sports Ministries stated. “With this merger, we see a bright future ahead as we bring together resources and people committed to God and enthusiastic about sports and church ministry.”
Because of ISM’s global presence, CEDE Sports saw this as an opportunity to expand their ministry to additional locations across the globe. With teams in Niger, Argentina, Portugal, Colombia, Paraguay, Italy, Angola, and Mozambique, they knew ISM would be a perfect fit to help them spread their ministry to people they have not yet reached.
The idea of merging started over a year ago when Arménio and Bob Dyar, CEDE Sports Founder/CEO, met during the Global Sports Chaplaincy Summit. They immediately saw similarities in how they approach the work God put on their hearts to do with chaplains and churches. The more they talked, the more those similarities revealed themselves, leading them to this decision.
In addition to the global expansion, they also look forward to other benefits in this merging. As they combine their back-office capabilities and share ministry resources, they can streamline processes, increase their effectiveness, and intensify their focus on doing ministry.
For the past 25 years, Arménio and his wife, Elizabeth, have been involved in sports ministry in Portuga and the USA, among other locations around the world. He has served as an official sports chaplain at the Olympic Games, European and World Championships in Athletics as well as the All African Games. Arménio has been serving as the President of International Sports Ministries and serves on the board of the Major Sports Events Chaplaincy Commission. He will now serve as the Director of International Sports Ministries for CEDE Sports beginning April 1st.
CEDE Sports has been focused since 1996 on mobilizing churches and chaplains through sports. Before 2010, their chaplain ministry focused primarily on the Joe Gibbs Racing organization. In the last 10 years, CEDE Sports has taken on a very strong leadership role in these two key areas of sports ministry: churches and chaplains.
Since 1990, Bob and his wife, Connice, have been involved in sports ministry. While serving as Executive Director of Ministries at Christ Covenant Church, Bob led a team in developing the SOAR ministry. Since 1993, he’s served as a Sports Chaplain, first as Executive Director for Motor Racing Outreach and beginning in 1996 as the Lead Chaplain for Joe Gibbs Racing. Bob continues to lead CEDE Sports in now his 30th year of sports ministry.
We are thrilled to have Arménio and his team joining CEDE Sports. Together, Arménio and Bob are confident that this “merger” will not only well-serve their ministries, but help further their missions to mobilize churches, chaplains, and people through sports around the world.
