Sports: A Universal Language

I've been pleasantly surprised to find that in many African countries English is widely spoken, especially by the youth. Tanzania, however, was an exception to this rule. Swahili is their official language, and while English is now being introduced in many schools, it has still not taken root as much as in other parts of Africa. So, I was forced to quickly pick up some Swahili if I wanted to communicate with a lot of the youth I spent time with. In their broken English and my broken Swahili, we were able to communicate...sort of. Here's an example of a short conversation I had with one teenage boy:

Me: Who's your favorite basketball player?

Boy: I 14 years old.

Okay, so it didn't take too long to realize that we really weren't communicating. So, we scrapped that conversation and decided to try a more universal language: sports.

I don't care what you say, foosball is a sport...and it's awesome!

Basketball was also a big hit!

Barefoot basketball on an eight-foot hoop. Good times.

That's the thing I love about sports--they are the universal language. I was able to connect with these youth so much more through sports than I would have been able to through broken conversation (see conversation above). Through sports, I believe God has given us an incredible opportunity to connect different cultures around the world and to reach young people for Christ. For you sports lovers out there, ask yourself this question:

How can I use my love for sports to expand God's kingdom and impact lives for Christ?