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Over 1,000 kids were able to spend part of their summer playing sports while learning about Jesus through Athletes in Action's summer camps.
Steve Klassen is the regional director of Athletes and Action Youth Initiatives and says that the primary focus was basketball, volleyball, and soccer.
Klassen says getting into the different communities is important for Athletes in Action. "We're in Winnipeg, Winkler, Steinbach, Niverville, Morris, and Morden. We're not expecting people to accommodate us and commute an hour and a half. In the case of Winkler or Morden, three hours round trip to try and bring their kids out to experience our camps. We go out to those communities and we've got a great relationship with several of the school divisions as well as some community centers and churches that open their gyms to us."
When Klassen looks back at the summer, one memory stands out. "I think one of the big things that I celebrated this year is the fact that we overcame the big challenges that came. It seems that God likes to use big challenges at the very beginning of any season to remind me that He's the One that's in control and the outcomes are not my responsibility. My job is to continue to move forward and be faithful with what I'm given."
While the last couple of years brought their own struggles, with Klassen being in the hospital and losing his cousin the year before, this year would bring its own challenges which would be financial. The grant that many non-profits rely on, was significantly reduced.
"While some were cut to zero, we were blessed to receive some. But it really changed the planning part of our season because that money covers the bulk of our staffing costs. When I'm planning how many camps we're going to run, it's largely predicated on how many staff can I hire because we have to have certain ratios. We want to make sure that we're available to build relationships with kids so we can't have one coach for 20 children. It's one to seven or one to eight."
Mixing sports and faith
Not only do the Athletes in Action camps focus on sports, but they are a great opportunity for the coaches and staff to share Jesus with the kids.
"Play has this incredible capacity to break down barriers, and it doesn't matter whether it's a board game or you introduce a ball into a group of kids. You can take kids from any social background and introduce an element of play, and there is bonding that happens almost immediately," Klassen says.
As Klassen has been able to hire professional athletes as coaches, he says that has helped draw kids to the programs. "Sports has this incredible capacity to break down barriers. We also have the luxury because I am very blessed in the coaches, that I've had an opportunity to hire. I have professional and university athletes that coach for me, all of whom are Jesus-loving Christians and many kids from every walk of life will tolerate Christianity in order to find themselves in a place where they can share space with those athletes. We gain access to the lives of kids who would never find themselves in a vacation Bible school or in a church setting outside of a funeral or a wedding. And the trust factor that is built through play gives us the opportunity to share our own stories because vulnerability provokes vulnerability."
With camps wrapped up for the year, Klassen says that the focus in Manitoba shifts. "This really becomes a fundraising season for us. There's a lot of planning and work that goes into our spring and summer programming. I hire an entirely new staff every year. Basically we try and get our funding to a healthy level by the time December 31 rolls around."
Anyone interested in helping Athletes in Action financially or wanting more information can do that here or by calling Klassen at 204-474-1718.