Intramural Soccer
Urban Impact was able to return to two locations (Richie McCabe in the morning and Northview Heights in the afternoon) this fall and had a wonderful season for 90 students! Many families expressed their joy that we had our soccer program since their children were itching for activities after a long year where many activities were shut down. God answered many prayers throughout the season, including limiting fighting and holding off rain on Saturdays!
Players rotated through three stations: skills, Bible, and games. Our Bible lessons covered a different parable of Jesus each week; it was encouraging to see kids come to understand God’s character through these stories. During the parable of the unforgiving servant, the kids verbally and physically reacted to the fact that the servant who was forgiven much did not forgive the man who owed him little. Then, the light bulb went off in one of our player’s head – he realized that if he doesn’t forgive others, he is just like the unforgiving servant who he resented in the story! He told us about how he decided to forgive someone that he was angry with; it’s amazing to see how God works in the minds and hearts of these students!
Intramural Basketball
Fall 2021 was an exciting season because Urban Impact brought back our beloved Outreach Basketball program which focuses on reaching as many students in our community as possible. This season we met in four gyms across the North Side to give youth an outlet to play basketball, eat dinner together, and hear the good news of Jesus Christ. We had a lot of new students that had to learn our culture of creating a loving atmosphere. Through prayer, there was a drastic breakthrough across all the gyms. We saw students encouraging one another and choosing to react calmly during games. One student had been kicked out for poor behavior early in the season but decided to give her life to Christ a few weeks later during Bible time. Overall, the more we prayed this season, the more God showed His face. Prayer is powerful and we are grateful for the breakthrough we have seen in our program and in the lives of our youth!
Football Fest
Football Fest was relaunched this year with great success! The morning started off with cold rain and we were wondering if any youth would be attending the event. While the weather initially appeared to threaten the day’s festivities, God answered the prayers of our staff and volunteers and the rain stopped and youth began to arrive at the field. The festivities included a bounce house, food, music, football, and a gospel presentation by the Director of Athletics, Seth Reichart. We were also blessed to have two students from Performing Arts sing the National Anthem. There were a total of 70 student participants, 43 in 6th-12th grade, and 27 in 3rd-5th grade. Waymaker Church from Virginia served at the event and brought 20 volunteers. The gospel of Jesus Christ had a great effect on the 20+ youth who committed their lives to Jesus and also a positive effect on the historic Manchester community.
Urban Impact’s football program leader was able to establish a relationship with key community leaders and God even opened the door to share the gospel with a local drug addict. Toward the end of the day, an obviously disturbed man began walking down the alley toward the field. Coach Seth was notified and approached the man to intercept him before he could disrupt the event. When he approached the man, it was clear that he was high on drugs and under spiritual attack. The police were already called, but while we waited for them to arrive, Seth was able to take authority in Jesus name over the situation and share the good news of Jesus with the man right there in the alley. Jesus broke through the strongholds in a powerful way and after the man heard the gospel he said, “I need to repent and give my life to God.”
We are thankful for a successful event, but we are even more thankful for a gospel with the power to change lives!