"Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own, you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body."
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
Often times when people ask us what kind of ministry we do in the Dominican, they don't understand exactly what we mean when we say "sports ministry". We want to share just one of the wings of ministry that we are involved with via Simon, one of the members of the G.O. Ministries Dominican/Haitian Sports Outreach Crew.
After an 8 year career in the professional basketball league in Santiago, Simon came to us and said he was interested in starting a little business that would be a great opportunity for outreach. Simon wasn't the best player in the pro league, but he was arguably the strongest and most physically fit. So after taking classes and receiving his certificate to become a licensed Personal Trainer, he wanted to open his own gym. He found a guy that was selling some old equipment and his plans were to build the gym behind his parents' house in a rural community called Don Pedro. In this drug infested area, there is a large number of teens and young adults that hang out in the streets without much to do. Simon's dream is to provide for them a place where they can take care of their bodies, as The Bible tells us to in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, as well as present an alternative activity where they can spend their time and energy. He began to build and the response has been wonderful.
Inside this gymnasium you can find a couple of stations for bench press, incline press, decline, dumbells, shoulder press, squat wrack, stationary bicycle, abdominal workouts, two dogs for security, a rooster that runs around and a gecco that arrives in the morning and leaves for lunch in the afternoon. On the mirrors, Simon has written bible verses and motivational quotes such as, "Dios es tu fuerza"..."God is your strength". He has made his gym affordable as it only costs 20 pesos per visit (57 cents). Will, Mike and Eric (other American sports missionaries) visit Simon 3 mornings a week to encourage him and receive a personal workout from the master himself.
As we've said before, the purpose of our ministry is to get behind the Nationals (Dominicans and Haitians) and encourage them to do ministry amongst their own people. Simon came to us with a vision and a passion, so we are standing behind him in his fitness ministry and so are you. Because of your generosty, we were able to provide Simon with some financial aid to get this gym up and running. We thank you and he thanks you!
Simon is just one of eight guys we are working with in the area of Sports Ministry. His passion is to teach the message from 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. Every Saturday we study a book called The Disciplines of a Godly Man with these young men in order to keep each other accountable in our journey to become men of God. As the year goes on, we will continue to introduce you to these men so you can see who they are and what they are doing. This is sports ministry and we are here to love, encourage, disciple and provide the needs of the Dominican and Haitian men that have a passion for their people. Please enjoy as we take you on a tour of Simon's gym through the pictures below.
Love,
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Will and Audrey
