When you’re a kid playing team sports, having a real uniform makes all the difference. That jersey says you’re part of a team, you belong, you’re official.
For a group of youth in Malawi, a country in east Africa, that experience has now come to life, thanks to sports uniforms, balls and equipment that we recently shipped there in partnership with Robertsdale Church of the Nazarene.
Angela Stephens, the Y’s Youth and Family Services Director, also serves as associate pastor at Robertsdale. She explained that the Churches of the Nazarene in east Africa host sports ministries for children. Through these ministries, they teach game skills, sportsmanship, and teamwork, while also sharing the word and love of Christ.
The church identified the need for the youth in Malawi, one of the poorest regions in Africa. There, children often play without uniforms and with old, flat soccer balls. Our YMCA and the City of Pensacola partnered to donate uniforms and equipment, and Robertsdale Church of the Nazarene covered the cost to ship the items to Malawi.
“Please send my regards to all who contributed towards this,” said Mwakilasa Kaponda, District Superintendent. “We are so happy, and it is my hope that this will help so many of our children. Please remember us with your prayers and support, as you have done, and we will also keep you in ours.”