On the Lebanon-Syria border, more than two million refugees are trying to start a new life after escaping the war. After losing everything, including family members, they gradually begin to dream of the return to a normal life. To help build opportunities to make these dreams a reality, a group of Adventist Brazilian volunteers went to Lebanon to begin a ministry to provide education and hope to refugees through activities like soccer playing and training.
Winners - Play for Life is an initiative that aims to promote the physical, intellectual, social, and emotional development of Lebanese and Syrian refugees who are in the city of Majdal Aanjar, Lebanon. Currently, the project has eight employees, who work in different areas, such as: management, administration, education, nursing, and communication.
Right now, soccer training is under the leadership of Pastor Carlos Alberto Batista, a former professional soccer player, who has played for clubs such as São Paulo, Santos, and Fluminense.
“Due to the political, economic and health crises that we have faced in Lebanon in 2020, only male and female soccer classes have been implemented so far,” explains João Colares, one of the missionaries at the head of the initiative. In the future, other courses will be offered, such as English, computer and sewing classes.
Colares says that the dream of the missionary team is, in fact, to start sewing, English and computer classes as soon as possible, as well as expand to another city, thus being able to serve more people. Another desire is to receive groups of volunteers on short-term missions. “We also want to make it possible for more young people to have access to higher education, in Adventist universities around the world”, he points out.
All activities of the Winners project are 100% funded by supporters of the ministry. If you’d like to support the ministry, there are three ways to do so. The first way is to become a volunteer and join the group in Lebanon. The second option is to donate financial resources to the project through the website winnersplayforlife.org/doar. The third way to support the Winners project is to follow the ministry on social networks (click here and follow now), share the published content, and also pray for the initiative. For more information and details, visit: winnersplayforlife.org
You can read the original story from South America here.