NAIROBI, Kenya — Godfrey Masolo Madegwa was part of a group of Christian missionaries who were in Russia for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. A strange phenomenon he and his colleagues noticed in that country was that the authorities had covered crosses on churches, so it was difficult to identify places of worship.

In addition, they were handing out sodas and condoms to the millions of fans who had poured into the country to watch the games.

“Curiously, there were cartons and cartons of Coca-Cola and condoms at every street corner,” he recalled, ”and all one needed was to walk to the carton and pick the two items. … From this experience we purposed that in the next major sporting event we would be attending, we would try our best and tell those present about the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

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That next big soccer tournament is currently taking place in the African country of Ivory Coast. The Africa Cup of Nations, which kicked off on Jan. 13, features 24 national teams from across the continent. Madewga is part of a contingent of chaplains who will provide spiritual encouragement at the tournament.

The team of pastors will organize events — with plans to involve players, coaches and fans — throughout the tournament, which ends on Feb. 11 with the final.

Madegwa and his team are hoping they will get the chance to talk to the players and share the gospel with them. They are also planning to organize a soccer tournament while there.

“We are going to hold the tournament, share the gospel and distribute Bibles to those who will attend,” he said.

A life devoted to soccer and God

Madegwa, 51, is a soccer fan and former player. He played semi-pro at Landshut Football Club in Coburg, Germany, in 2008.

“An injury locked me out of the game and (I) later tried rugby — but another injury made sure I dropped the sport,” he said.

Madegwa, who serves as a deacon at Parklands Baptist Church in Nairobi, has also played soccer at Parklands Sports Club in the Kenyan capital, among other places. His journey into sports evangelism started after a sterling career with the United Nations Environment Program, where he worked as sports and environment officer until 2015.

“For some strange reason my boss did not renew my contract, and after a lot of prayers I felt God wanted me to move on,” he said. “In fact, I felt God telling me to do what I am passionate about and what would bring him glory.”

As a result, Madegwa teamed up with a friend, Joseph Kinyua, to start a factory manufacturing soccer balls. In addition, they would train teenagers to be better soccer players. The program even involved a Bible study.

The program — called “365 Soccer Programme” — began at the Nairobi Primary School. The name was derived from the fact that Madegwa and Kinyua had initially envisioned a situation where they would be committed to soccer and God every day of the year.

But the pandemic disrupted the flow of things. Soon after, there was a change in the school’s leadership and the group had to look for a new base ground, finding themselves at the Gikambura Stadium, just outside Nairobi. However, the conditions proved untenable because of safety concerns.

“Our trainees would lose valuables to a bunch of marauding boys from the locality,” he said. “The same boys would also smoke weed in the open, and we felt we were exposing our charges to vice at a young age.”

They soon moved again, finding a home at Thogoto Teachers’ College, where they are currently located.

Using sports to spread the gospel

Madegwa said he credits Solomon Gacece for his interest in sports evangelism.

“He is the father of sports evangelism in Kenya and Africa,” he said of Gacece, who once headed the Association of Evangelicals in Africa, a pan-African organization headquartered in Nairobi.

Gacece himself is a veteran sports chaplain after having taken part in the All-African Games, Commonwealth Games and many other regional and international competitions. He belongs to an elite group of sports evangelists that include former Watford and Manchester United chaplain the Rev. John Boyers and Alex Ribeiro, the chaplain Brazil who won the 1994 World Cup in the United States.

Ribeiro had a promising career as a Formula One driver. Many Brazilians saw in him a successor to the late Ayrton Senna, who died during a 1994 in Bologna, Italy. Ribeiro also suffered a near-fatal accident on the race track. The only part of his mangled car that made it unscathed was a plank with the words “Cristo Salva” (Christ Saves), his motto.

It was after that accident that Ribeiro got a call from the Brazilian Football Confederation offering him the chance to serve as the chaplain at the 1994 World Cup in the U.S. He chronicled his experiences from that summer in the book “Who Won the ’94 World Cup?” published two years later.

Sane’s pre-tournament Islamic wedding

While Madegwa hopes to spread Christianity at the tournament, Senegal hopes to defend its AFCON title won in 2021.

Even if they fail to repeat, team captain Sadio Mane will still have something to smile about after tying the knot on Jan. 7 with his girlfriend Aisha Tamba in a colorful Islamic/traditional African ceremony in his home country.

Like Mane, his wife Aisha, 19, is a practicing Muslim.

Mane, 31 is a former star with English Premier League side Liverpool and later Germany’s Bayern Munich. He is currently playing for Saudi Pro League club Al-Nassr, the same team that also features Cristiano Ronaldo.

Unlike his high-earning colleagues (his pay at the Saudi club was disclosed to be $830,290 per week), Mane eschews buying expensive items such as cars. Instead, he invests in building and uplifting his community back home in Senegal.

“I built schools, a stadium; we provide clothes, shoes, food for people who are in extreme poverty,” Mane said. “In addition, I give 70 euros per month to all people in a very poor region of Senegal, which contributes to their family economy. I do not need to display luxury cars, luxury homes, trips and even planes.”

Tom Osanjo is a Nairobi-based correspondent for ReligionUnplugged.com. He is a former parliamentary reporter and has covered sports, politics and more for Kenya’s Daily Nation newspaper.