Rowing School in Uruguay has to move

The rowing school we serve alongside in Uruguay has to move, but it uses this as a chance to set up the base of the Christian rowers of Uruguay.

As the city builds new houses at the lake, the rowing school has to move to the other side. They will use the space there to build a house which will become a training and meeting point. It will be used to hold service and multiply the work of Christians in rowing. This place is going to be a center for professional rowing as well as the identification for Christians in sports.

An architect is volunteering to plan the building which is a great support to the rowing school. One of our team members went to better equip and empower them to get permission for building the house and set up a team of people who will build it.  

For the first time this year, the rowing school will have their own team participating in an official regatta. Their coach did high level rowing on his own and is now a professional coach.

Trip to Uruguay

In September, we visited a rowing school in Uruguay and got the assurance for a location where we will establish a new rowing school. At this new location in Montevideo, we have the chance to build a bigger rowing school and therefore reach more people. Children and Youth with a passion for sport will train in rowing and at the same time hear about the Good News. Besides the rowing school, we also visited many former pro soccer players and their families. The soccer players were known through a previous relationship that our staff member had as a mentor to these athletes.  They held a special service for these athletes (talking about subjects related to sports).  After the service, many people said they wish they could have such a special service for athletes more often.

Snowboard Camp in Austria

30 Snowboarders met for a camp at the Kitzsteinhorn in Austria. Despite minus 20°C, fog and lots of snow, they were blessed by good weather when they needed it for the camp’s snowboard contest. Having bad weather most of the time made them value sunshine and rainbows and seeing God in all His glory. All in all, the camp was amazing, and they never had to make use of their bad weather plan.

Snowboard Camp in Austria

30 Snowboarders met for a camp at the Kitzsteinhorn in Austria. Despite minus 20°C, fog and fall of snow, they were blessed by good weather when they needed it for their camps snowboard contest. Having bad weather most of the time made them value sunshine and rainbows and seeing God in all His glory. On the last day, they wanted to have a closing contest. For this contest, they needed a clear view on the run for seeing the obstacles und jumps that had to be made by the Snowboarders.  The morning before the contest started there was no clear view at all.  After a 30-minute lunch break, the sky cleared, the sun came out, and the view was perfect. What great timing! All in all, the camp was amazing, and they never had to make use of their bad weather plan.

Summertime 2018

“Summertime” is a festival for people that are involved in action sport teams. The program includes sports like biking, skating, or climbing, but more important, relaxing. In an informal atmosphere, people lay in the sun, talk about God and the world, and have a service with worship and testimonials from Action Sports. There is a concert and a party that lasts until sunrise. All in all, it is a weekend of meeting people whose hearts beat for living in action sports and faith authentically. What differed this summertime from the last one was that the participants created the vision of SRS Unbound Action Sports: “We ignite the action sports community to explore real freedom”.

2018 Wheelchair Basketball World Championships

An international team of sport mentors (chaplains) served at the 2018 wheelchair basketball world championships in Hamburg, Germany. This tournament is the biggest Paralympic event after the Paralympics itself. The team contained eight people from: Great Britain, France, Germany, Netherlands and Japan. All chaplains got a complete accreditation from the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation. The chaplains spent most of their time in direct contact to the athletes. The base of the chaplains was a big tent in which athletes, coaches, and visitors got the chance to meet for a talk, to pray, or get Christian books and other resources that were related to sport. On the last day, there was a service right in front of the tournament sport facility.

Summertime 2018

“Summertime” is a festival for people that are involved in action sport teams. The program includes sports such as biking, skating, or climbing, but more important, relaxing. In an informal atmosphere, people lay in the sun, talk about God and the world, and have a service with worship and testimonials from Action Sports.

Gymnastics Camp 2018

For the second time, the SRS Gymnastics team hosted a gymnastics training weekend for girls in Germany. Besides the intense and professional training, learning about values in sport was a main part of the camp. The focus was on the values of: respect, worth and trust. The girls, aged 10 to 17, made big steps forward in training. Athletes and coaches enjoyed spending the weekend in community with other gymnasts. One girl said, “Doing gymnastics with other believers was incredible! Being in the gym three days in a row was amazing.” The next gymnastics camp will take place in a new gymnastic facility in February 2019.