TOGO, April 23, 2007 — The recent staging of the African Football Federation’s Under-17 Africa Cup tournament in Lomé provided an ideal opportunity for the Bible Society of Togo and other Christian organisations to bring God’s Word right into the heart of this very high-profile event.
Photo: Bible Society of Togo/
Macaire Gbikpi
Volunteer distributing biblical materials during the African Football Federation’s Under-17 Africa Cup tournament in Lomé, Togo, in March 2007.
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Teams and their supporters from South Africa, Burkina Faso, Eritrea, Gabon, Ghana, Nigeria, Tunisia and Togo itself gathered in Lomé for two weeks in March for a tournament which culminated in a narrow victory for the Nigerian team over the host nation. Throughout the tournament, the Bible Society and its partners ensured that appropriate Scriptures were available to all those who wished to receive them. They also organised prayer sessions at which the tournament and all those involved were dedicated to God.
Under the banner ‘With God, we will achieve great things and save souls for his glory’, the partners organised a busy schedule to ensure that God’s Word was seen and heard as widely as possible. As well as organising prayer sessions, they set up stalls at various sporting venues from which biblical materials and testimonies of Christian sportsmen and –women were distributed and they sold Bibles and a range of appropriate Bible-based items. During the opening ceremony and the various matches, the Bible Society distributed more than 5,000 copies of the booklet Plus précieux que l’or (‘More Precious than Gold’) in both French and English. It also showed the film Demeurer vainqueurs (‘Keep on Winning’), produced by the United Bible Societies’ Area Service Center in Lomé and featuring testimonies from leading African footballers, at a venue set up close to the Kégué stadium where most of the matches were played.
Following their strong performances in this event, the teams from Nigeria, Togo, Ghana and Tunisia will go on to compete in the Under-17 World Cup in South Korea in August and September. The Bible Society and its partners plan to continue their links with the players and support staff and, if possible, to provide specially designed Portions.
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