"Barca or Real?"
That was one of the first questions we were asked when we moved to Guatemala. Of course, like many of you, our reaction was "What?"
Barcelona or Real Madrid...two European soccer teams that the country of Guatemala is obsessed over. You can't live in Guatemala and not have anything to do with soccer, so we picked our side and are now fans of a team we once knew nothing about.
The point is, Guatemalans love soccer. And I mean LOVE.
Being from the south, specifically the panhandle of Florida, I know what it means to be passionate about football. Growing up, I was a football coach's daughter. My Friday nights were spent in a stadium cheering on my high school football team and my Saturday's were (and still are) spent watching college football.
While I still very much love American football, now most of my days are spent around the other kind of futbol.
As Mitch and Esaú were strategizing a way to reach the men in the communities we work in, something dawned on them; Guatemalans love soccer. They love to talk about it and watch it, but mostly they love to play it!
From that simple, yet obvious conclusion, we decided to start a soccer tournament between the 4 villages we're involved in. After only 2 weeks of planning, our soccer tournament commenced!
Every Saturday until May 9th we have over 90 men showing up to play soccer. Before the games begin, Mitch and/or Esaú have been sharing the Word of God with them.
This has been one of the coolest things we've done so far. We have been blown away about how excited these communities have been about this tournament. Because of this, we've been able to eat meals with several men and their families. Many of them are starting to bring up spiritual conversations as well.
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