Jose is on the far right. Alberto is in the center.
I met Jose Hernandez in late fall of 2014. He was selected by Flint Groves Baptist Church to lead their new Hispanic Ministry that was to launch in January 2015. Flint Groves is in Gastonia, NC, outside of Charlotte and home to 11,000 Hispanics. Flint Groves is also a CSO Network member whose sports ministry is headed by Ashley Buchanan. When we met, we talked about Jose’s desire to reach families and the value of sports to do so. He was overwhelmed at the time with getting the ministry off the ground and any further sports discussions were put on hold.
I connected with Jose again in April 2015 after Tim Conrad from UW Sports Ministry, a CSO Ministry Partner, called me in the spring to tell me that UW planned to do a camp in the Gastonia area that summer and had a slot open for an evening camp. I immediately thought of Jose and Ashley and the possibility of doing a Hispanic camp at Flint Groves.
I contacted Ashley with the idea. She ran it by Jose. Next the four of us – Jose, Ashley, Tim and myself – met at Flint Groves to further discuss the idea. We talked over the idea of the camp – logistics, marketing, volunteers, etc. In the midst of all this, I could tell Jose was hopeful but really unsure as to how it would go.
The next time I saw Jose was the third night of the camp at Flint Groves during the first week in July. He was beaming with joy and anticipation. The day before, when I called Ashley to find out how the first night of camp went, she acknowledged that Jose was worried. He had done his work in getting the word out but really didn’t know if anyone would show. Turns out, 36 children came that first night. The number grew to almost 50 the second night as word spread.
As I stood there watching these precious children 
– most of whom had never been exposed to the good news of the Gospel – the beauty of partnership impressed me. These children were learning about soccer, singing songs, and hearing about the amazing love of God evidenced in Christ Jesus, all in an atmosphere of fun. The workers from UW Sports Ministry who led the camp did their part. The twenty volunteers from the church who supported the leaders and led small groups did their part. Jose and his wife, Angela, did their part in connecting with the parents who dropped off their kids and stayed to watch the fun. Ashley did her part by recruiting those volunteers and supporting the whole camp effort during the week. The church did their part in opening their hearts and lives to these new friends. Tim Conrad did his part by writing the curriculum and living this vision for the last 20 years of UW. God did His amazing part in making all this happen and opening the hearts of the children who responded to the messages throughout the week.
And yes, even CSO had a part.
I tell you this story because it illustrates what we so often do. We cast the vision of sports to pastors like Jose and then connect and equip them to fulfill that vision. We work with sports ministers like Ashley – in her case for the last 7 years – to help them become leaders with vision – gospel centered sports ministry vision. We introduce churches like Flint Groves to partners like UW to help equip those churches to effectively use sports – in this case in a summer camp environment. At CSO, we envision, equip, and connect local churches.
While the camp was going on that Wednesday night, I talked with Jose about the experience and the need to build on what was happening during the week. I asked him who might help him carry this initiative forward through something like a soccer clinic or academy in the fall. He introduced me to Alberto (pictured above), a soccer referee who had come to the camp, and we discussed such possibilities. He expressed excitement to be a part of whatever went forward.
Before I left, I also talked with Ashley about the idea of her overseeing this building on this initiative. She was already thinking about a soccer league either targeted or inclusive of these Hispanic families, something Flint Groves hadn’t done before. (This league is actually starting this September!)
I drove away that night praising God, grateful for the chance to play a part in the building of his kingdom through the beauty of partnership, all made possible by this gracious God through the bridge of sports!!!
