“Fútbol” Propels Outreach, Opens Hearts

Story by Edwin Manuel Garcia / Photos by Toril Lavender

Just a few days after Peruvian missionaries Anthony Araujo, Junior Souza and Richard Prada arrived in Lewisburg last year, they activated an informal soccer league to mingle with the town’s Latino immigrants. At first, only a handful of players showed up to kick the ball around, but the program grew—and fast.

On Sunday evenings, at least 20 to 25 players descend onto the field next to a community hospital and, on Wednesday nights, at a local gymnasium for indoor games.

“Some people might think we’re wasting our time playing soccer, but it’s not like that,” Araujo says, stressing that the most popular sport played in Latin America acts an opportune icebreaker. Case in point: the soccer programs in the five Mountain View towns where the missionaries work are now drawing about 100 players. Of those, nearly 25 are receiving Bible studies.

“Hispanics like ‘fútbol,’ so if you have a choice between inviting them to church or playing soccer, they’ll take soccer, that’s the hook,” Araujo explains.

Araujo is quick to point out that the real purpose of the soccer program is get to know immigrants—not to score goals. “When we first started, the games were rough. We would get kicked—hard; there were injuries,” he notes. Little by little that changed as the immigrant players noticed the missionaries played a cleaner version of the game. Nowadays, says Araujo, the players are more courteous, no longer swear and, when they accidentally knock someone down, apologize and help them up.

Photo caption: Theology students (back row) Johnatan Marrufo, Cesar Valqui, Richard Prada, Junio Souza, (front row) Anthony Araugo and Joel Atoche bond with community members through "futbol."

Read more: From Peru to Appalachia: A New Kind of Missionary