With the arrival of spring, the sports life of the Christian Soccer Club Nadia has again reached a fever pitch. The number of children’s groups has increased to 4: “Kids,” U10, U11, and U12. Thanks to the atmosphere of acceptance, unity, care, and respect, the boys who come just to play soccer with their friends also stay on the senior teams (Youth, Nadia-1, and Nadia-2). All those boys are very different: their ages, their abilities, and their life stories. In the club, they have the opportunity to train, make friends, play together, and read the Word of God. And for the coaches, it is also an opportunity to be with the youth, support, listen, participate in their lives, and preach the Gospel to them.

U11 — a Team of 11-years-old Boys

As soon as the good weather comes, soccer tournaments will begin on large fields. In March, the U11 team (coach Dmytro Sosnovsky) successfully performed at the tournament in Netishyn, losing only in the final to a local team. It was a good experience, valuable time for communication, positive impressions, and pleasant tiredness.

In May, the U11 played in three tournaments. One of them took place in the village of Bugryn and was dedicated to the Heroes of Ukraine. The coach and organizer is a war veteran who now works with children. It was unusual that, in addition to the game, the boys had the opportunity to taste delicious Kulish, plant their first trees, take a walk around the village, and even go fishing.

Adult Teams

The older boys, coached by Pavlo Ozarchuk, played in the regional championship among young men for the first time. Two girls, solid soccer players and diligent listeners in Bible classes, have joined the team from a different team.

The Nadia-2 started the season in good shape and with a very good internal motivation. It has already become a good tradition to stay after the matches: play other games, chat, watch soccer, and even grill kebabs together. This helps build trusting relationships between the coach and the players and also opens up space for frank conversations and spiritual fellowship.

U10 — Sports Lessons of the Team

The U10 team participated in two tournaments. First was the “Arsenal Cup” in the village of Barmaki near Rivne. The team easily won its group and reached the final, where it met the strongest school in the city — Veres. After an unsuccessful start (got scored on right away), the boys quickly recovered and turned the game around to the encouraging cheers of their parents: 1:1, 2:1, 3:1! After such a score, the coach let the substitutes play, but they also managed to score a fourth goal! As a result — a solid victory!

Winning is always a nice experience, but what happened at the awards ceremony was even better. When the players of Veres were being applauded, at the initiative of coach Tom Merchant, the boys supported their rivals with shout-outs of “Well done!” This was an unexpected and touching moment because, for people in the world, it is common to humiliate and “troll” the losers.

After some time, the team went to a tournament in Netishyn, where they won only fifth place. Despite the disappointing result, an interesting event took place there. The tournament organizer approached the head coach, Oleksandr Honchar, and asked who, in his opinion, was the best player on the team. And there was a boy on the team who was not playing very confidently yet, but his diligence, perseverance, and desire to play were impressive. And God gave the coach the idea to choose him. You should have seen the face of this child during the award ceremony! He held the trophy of the best player in his hands as the greatest treasure and could not believe his luck! This is how grace works!!! We cannot earn with our own efforts what God generously pours out on us. All that is required of us is to admit our weakness and inability! Only then are we happy in Christ!

 

The Influence of the Gospel on the Lives of Children

No training session at the Nadia Club takes place without a Bible lesson. Sometimes coaches assign children to teach Bible lessons, and at the initiative of the children! It is always nice to watch 8–9-year-old children teach a lesson to their peers, trying to interpret biblical texts! Who knows, maybe in the future one of these guys will become a coach at Nadia and will serve children and youth!

And it is also so exciting to see how the Gospel makes an impact on the lives of children, and Nikita’s story is an example of this. A little over a year ago, Nikita began to show a desire to come to know God. This was seen in his desire to attend Sunday worship services, Sunday school, midweek meetings, assist at practices, and various events. His school teacher suggested that he take part in the Bible Scholars Olympiad, noticing his interest in Scripture. His coach, Dmitry Sosnovsky, is very happy to see positive changes in this boy’s life. Over the past two months, he has received two personal awards as the best player of the tournament and the best scorer, which is nothing but God’s care. The coach prays that this boy will receive the greatest and best award — to be on the team of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to have a personal relationship and friendship with Jesus!

The Next Generation of Coaches

The Lord is already answering prayers for the next generation of coaches. For example, the boys Pavlo and Dmytro are already involved in working with children’s and youth teams. They have a good reputation among the older boys, and they gained authority and respect among the children. It is clearly seen that God is working in them, changing their character, and it is our great dream that these boys will truly surrender to Christ, follow Him, and continue their ministry in the future.

 

Tournament in Irpin

It is impossible to get around the special time that the soccer players spent at the tournament in Irpin. For over eight years, Christian clubs from all over the country have been coming here to spend time together playing their favorite game. In addition to soccer, it is always an opportunity to meet with fellow coaches, ask about their lives, encourage them, pray together, and share challenges and blessings. During war, we all face many challenges, and even this time, when the teams were at the tournament, sirens were blaring all night, and Kyiv was being shelled with drones and missiles. Unfortunately, because of this, many teams cannot come to such events and are forced to stay at home. Such tournaments are an opportunity to talk directly with children about war, death, injustice, courage, and sacrifice, to pray together for victory, and to seek comfort in the Gospel.

Prayer Is our Strength

There are guys in the Nadia club who defend our country; they are military men who serve in various units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Through sports, we can serve such people: be there, listen, help, encourage with the Word, and pray for God’s advocacy and protection.

We also continue to pray for the Nadia Park project. After the activity in the fall, work on the large field was put on pause. We found ourselves facing some financial decisions that need to be made: we pray, and we ask God for wisdom!

 

Thank you for your support!

May the Lord bless you!