By Thonny Fabien
PLH Haiti Operations Manager
As planned, The Project Living Hope National Christian Soccer League has come to the end of its first season. One final championship match will take place in December. We thank God for providing the opportunity and seeing it through to completion. We want to thank also PLH for their belief and trust they have put on me to do the work of God. Sports are an effective way to make disciples who, in turn, make disciples for Christ. Sports can be used to transform lives of the athletes; change the mindset of people; help children learn fast; and help people turn their back on alcohol, drugs, smoking, violence, etc. The PLH National Christian Soccer League seeks to draw people to Christ and bring peace to the communities. The league is structured to create opportunities for the athletes and facilitate long-term development in the country.
“I coach soccer because I never want children to participate in bad things. Like Thonny says, Coach De Vie “Coach of Life”. When I first heard that term, I felt good because when you are a coach of life you always talk to someone to help them make good decisions for their life. I’m not an expert in playing soccer, but I was a player and I love soccer. I am not an expert player, but in talking to them, I am an expert. I’m the moral coach.”
As a leader, I always take note of the fans reaction; players, coaches, and referees actions; and the team organization. What critical and positive things do they do? How are they responding or reacting to each other? And what do I need to change or teach in the future? I see that the winning team is always celebrating, enjoying the game, and happy; but the losing team leaves the field sad, unhappy, and tired, and they complain that referees contribute to their failure. During a loss, the fans sometimes support their teams but sometimes they are mad and ready to fight. That’s the struggle with sports. We can’t have an environment like that!
What can be done differently? And how we can use sports not to follow culture but to create our own culture? We need passion for community development. We need to be courageous leaders who step up. We need to see how the community does things and we need listen to them as well. We need to continue to train coaches and referees training to be servant leaders. If we make a positive influence on the coaches, the coaches will influence players and the players will soon influence their families and community. The whole community can change step by step. We need a movement where we share one vision and step up to difficulties and bring results.
“I was born to play soccer. I’ve always loved to play. My dream was to become a big soccer player. But there was no opportunity for that. Then I wanted to be a big coach. Even though I never had training to be a coach, when there was a team in this area, I always went to practice with them like a coach. I always had in mind to be a great coach, but I didn’t have the opportunity. But thanks to God, PLH came, and now I will try to be like I imagined before.”
Therefore, through sports we will create our culture by investing our time into the life of the people. Our goal is to see a nation transformed through sports. Here are some positive steps we have made through the work Project Living Hope is doing so far:
For the first time, we have a national Christian league in Haiti.
Players and fans watch the games and hear the gospel.
We prohibit use of alcohol at our soccer games.
We create opportunity for the players to perform and live strong values, such as: serving one another, working as a team, protecting the environment, and living a life of integrity.
We create opportunity for the players and coaches to maximize their talent.
We equip leaders to do their work and we engage them into the work of God.
We create opportunity for players to visit other parts of Haiti.
We have created a leadership team with servant leadership training and high expectations.
We create an opportunity for vendors to come and sell food and drinks at the games.
We create a movement of sports where disciples can be made through sports and play.
Our goal is to extend the league to every area of Haiti. We want to see the whole country using sports as a tool to transform lives through Christ. We want to see our Christian athletes be a model for their teammates, proclaim the gospel, and make disciples for Christ. We want to create a movement of Christ-like servant leaders throughout Haiti.