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Well my week of orientation is now complete. I need to make one correction from my last post because I have learned that my host family is definitely not Afrikaans, as I have now had my first real encounter with true Afrikaans, which have an extremely unique accent. My host family, however sound much more European as Dave comes from Switzerland or somewhere near that part of Europe.
Now that we have that cleared up I am going to give you a rundown of everything that happened in just one short week. On Monday I arrived at the office and met all of the staff and went over how run a coaching clinic, tournament, and perform sideline ministry. On Tuesday we went to a coaching clinic to assist the Grove City College girls soccer team, which I learned is a d3 school in Pennsylvania. We assisted the girls at a primary (elementary) school which was extremely diverse. I worked with the preschoolers and had fun running around and teaching them how to dribble a soccer ball. Tuesday afternoon we went to Mamelodi, which is a poor black neighborhood about a half hour from the AIS office. We performed "The Good Life Game", which is a game that relates soccer to teach the kids about the dangers of human trafficking. Wednesday we played 3v3 at a local park near the AIS office and went through more of the orientation material. Thursday we went to Leeuwkop Hope Academy, which is the prison ministry of AIS. It was amazing to listen in on the prisoners bible study section and then to observe their training inside of the prison. At the end of the practice the AIS staff members played a game against the prisoners. It was a great experience and I will be attending the prison this coming week as well. Friday we went to an Afrikaan school across the street from the office and performed "The Good Life Game" once again. Mamelodi and the Afrikaan school are complete opposite areas, with Mamelodi being mostly poor and black and the Afrikaan school being all white and upper class. The contrast in South Africa is always noticeable. Saturday we went to teach coaches at Mamelodi on how to perform specific sports ministry events during the World Cup, which is only two weeks away.
It was an amazing week of orientation and it was great to get my feet wet by attending so many different areas. Also Praise God as I was able to purchase a World Cup ticket for a quarterfinal match in Johannesburg! Hopefully it will be Spain vs Italy 😊 This week I will be working in the office to get ready for the playing tour that I will also be participating in. I am not sure on whether or not I will need to raise more support so please be in prayer about the playing tour. AIS is also not sure where I will be placed after the tour so please also pray for my future location. God Bless!
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Larry Fox
non-member comment
Thank you for sharing
Matthew....just wanted to say thanks for sharing. It sounds like you are really staying busy and you are really going to have a wonderful opportunity to share the Gospel. I'm assuming that you get opportunities to play some soccer. I will try and catch the Spain and Italy game if possible. This is going to be such an amazing experience for you. I'm so proud of you for being willing to embark on such an adventure. Please keep us posted. We want to know everything you are doing and how you are getting along. We are praying for you often. Love you! Uncle Larry.