World Cup Outreach Sparks Gospel Conversations

The world is coming to Kansas City and other North American cities this summer for World Cup Soccer. Victory Beyond the Cup and the Blue River-Kansas City Baptist Association are ready to welcome the world.

Victory Beyond the Cup hopes to turn watch parties, neighborhood gatherings and shared cultural moments into outreach with lasting gospel conversations.

A national initiative spearheaded by Cru, the effort is getting believers into the game by using the tournament as neutral ground to build community and spark meaningful faith conversations. Cru is partnering with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Alpha USA, I Am Second and other ministries to equip 100,000 individuals and 10,000 churches to engage in this cultural moment.

“With so many people interacting with the World Cup, whether watching with friends, checking scores or even attending a game in one of the United States’ host cities, the opportunity for Gospel impact is too large to miss,” said Heather Reddy, executive director of Victory Beyond the Cup. “By removing barriers and making it easy to host and be involved, our hope is that we will see a lasting change, one that persists long after the winner is crowned.”

Area Baptists are also spearheading a focused effort on the games.

“The World Cup is not just a soccer tournament,” Pastor Nic Wilson of First Baptist Church, Peculiar, says. “It is a divine opportunity to spread the gospel, not just in Kansas City but literally across the world for decades to come. It’s almost unfathomable the scale of what’s happening.”

Wilson is leading ministry efforts for the association.

“Out of that 650,000 to a million people that are coming through (Kansas City) the large majority — 75- to 80 percent — are going to be people from outside the United States,” he told The Pathway. “There are countries coming to the United State that are places we can’t actively send missionaries to. They want to hear about America. They’re open to what Americans do. They want to see the culture. This opens a massive door for the gospel.”

Multiple Missouri Baptist agencies are coordinating to meet the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of fans, teams and other visitors. The World Cup provides the opportunity to be involved foreign missions for a fraction of the cost of going overseas, Wilson said.

“I was talking to a team that’s getting ready to go to Africa,” he said. “They’re going to spend 10 days in Africa. “o get over there and back it’s costing them almost $4,000 a person.

Our hope and our goal is that there are countries transformed because people in Missouri went outside and shared the gospel with people that were in their community for a soccer game.”

Rob Pochek, who leads the Missouri Baptist Convention’s Prayer and Evangelism team, said his group is ready to assist individuals and churches in evangelism preparation. Churches and mission teams that want help in evangelism training can get it through his team, in person or by video.

His team also possibly can help churches acquire other gospel outreach resources. “We’re helping with evangelism grants to underwrite some of those (evangelism tool) purchases,” he said.

The World Cup gives Christians “an amazing opportunity to do gospel evangelism work in our own backyard,” Wilson said. “We feel burdened for this opportunity the Lord has placed in front of us. I want to see nations and people groups transformed because people in Missouri have shared the gospel.”

As for Victory Beyond the Cup, they’re providing free physical and digital hosting kits — with a hosting guide, recipes from a variety of countries, prayer cards and conversation starters — to help people feel confident. The kits are available in French, English, Spanish and Portuguese, allowing kingdom conversations to occur across cultural lines. Pastor kits also empower churches to engage their congregations in the initiative. Mighty Networks, an online digital community, allows participants to connect with others taking part from across the country.

Five billion people are expected to watch the FIFA World Cup this summer, and both ministries think believers can spark meaningful conversations, connect across cultures and share the hope of Christ, right where the game begins. For more information, visit www.VictoryBeyondtheCup.com and blueriver-kansascity.org.

–Alan Goforth