Pictured above: Pastor Howard Harden, First Baptist Church Homestead, worked with an Arabic translator to create a sign advertising free World Cup souvenirs in Arabic, drawing curious fans to the outreach.
MIAMI— Thousands of soccer fans streamed toward Hard Rock Stadium for the FIFA Club World Cup match between Saudi Arabia and Uruguay on June 15. Dressed in team colors and waving flags, they came expecting an unforgettable sporting event.
Waiting along one of the main walkways were volunteers from five Miami Baptist Association churches with a different purpose: making the name of Christ known.
Recognizing the rare opportunity to reach people from nations that are often difficult to access with the gospel, members from First Baptist Church of Homestead, First Baptist Church of Cutler Ridge, Parkway Baptist Church, Northside English Church and Bethesda Church of Pinecrest partnered to distribute gospel literature and New Testaments in Arabic, Spanish and English.
For Rick Martinez, associational mission strategist for the Miami Baptist Association, the outreach reflected a simple conviction.
“When you have an opportunity like the World Cup, where literally thousands of people are coming to Miami, it’s important that we see the opportunity before us, what God is doing, and ask ourselves, ‘What can we do, even if it’s a small thing, to play a part for the sake of the gospel?'”
A vision born in a local church
The outreach began with a conversation.
Howard Harden, pastor of First Baptist Church of Homestead, approached Martinez after recognizing the unique evangelistic opportunity the tournament presented.
“The Saudi Arabia Uruguay game presented a unique opportunity to share the Gospel,” said Harden.
“These efforts are best when they’re birthed from within our churches,” Martinez said. “Howard really was the catalyst. He brought the opportunity to my attention, and as I prayed about it, I thought, ‘Of course. This is a natural thing for us to do.'”
Martinez shared the opportunity with churches across the association, inviting English, Spanish and Haitian congregations to participate. Although the outreach took place on a Monday afternoon, requiring volunteers to step away from work, representatives from five churches committed to serve together.
“It was really cool,” Martinez said. “We had English churches, Spanish churches and a Jamaican Caribbean church all working together.”
Reaching nations that came to Miami
The group intentionally chose the Saudi Arabia versus Uruguay match because of the unique spiritual needs represented by both fan bases.
“We could never go into Saudi Arabia and freely preach the gospel or hand out gospel tracts in Arabic,” Martinez said. “When closed nations come to us, I think we would be negligent if we didn’t try to do something.”
Saudi Arabia remains one of the world’s most restricted countries for Christian witness, while Uruguay is considered one of the most secular nations in the world.
“Again, it was an opportunity to hopefully get gospel information into the hands of people from Uruguay and people from Saudi Arabia,” Martinez said. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
Volunteers distributed hundreds of gospel tracts, New Testaments and soccer-themed evangelism resources provided free through the North American Mission Board. Many of the materials included QR codes directing recipients to online gospel presentations.
Making every moment count
The atmosphere outside the stadium was energetic as thousands of fans hurried toward kickoff.
The team positioned themselves at a busy intersection where nearly every fan would pass by.
Pastor Harden even worked with an Arabic translator to create a sign advertising free World Cup souvenirs in Arabic, drawing curious fans to the outreach.
Some approached expecting tickets. Instead, they received World Cup-themed gospel literature.
Because of the constant flow of people, lengthy spiritual conversations were rare.
“As much as we would have loved to sit down with fans and have full gospel conversations, that wasn’t the scenario,” Martinez said. “The best we could do was get gospel information into people’s hands.”
Still, Martinez believes God can work through even brief encounters.
“I’ve heard plenty of testimonies where somebody came to know the Lord through a gospel tract,” he said. “We gave out hundreds and hundreds of gospel tracts and New Testaments. I just believe the Lord did something with one or more people that we’ll never know about because God’s heart is for the nations.”
Churches serving together
The outreach also demonstrated the value of cooperation among local churches.
Parkway Baptist Church, located near the stadium, opened its campus for volunteers to gather, pray and organize before walking to the event.
“They graciously allowed us to use their property as a launching point,” Martinez said. “Not only that, they sent two representatives to be part of the outreach. Different churches played different roles, and that was really neat.”
For Martinez, the day also served as a reminder that missions is at the heart of the church’s calling.
Having previously served as an International Mission Board missionary, he said the outreach brought back familiar memories.
“As we were walking to where we were going to set up, I truly felt like I was on the foreign mission field again,” he said. “I felt like a real missionary again.”
He was also encouraged to serve alongside believers who were stepping into evangelism for the first time.
“I feel like we are at our best when we are being missional,” Martinez said. “Whether it’s here in Miami or overseas, that’s my sweet spot.”
An opportunity that continues
Although volunteers left tired after several hours in the South Florida heat, Martinez described it as “a good kind of tired.”
“When we expend ourselves for the Lord, we can always give thanks for that.”
He hopes the outreach encourages more churches to view international events as strategic gospel opportunities.
In addition to the matches themselves, Martinez pointed to FIFA Fan Festival at Bayfront Park, which runs through July 5th, as another venue where churches can interact with fans from around the world in a more conversational setting.
“I would encourage churches that if these types of opportunities happen in their backyard, they can strategically know months ahead which events would be the most strategic to attend,” Martinez said.
For one afternoon in Miami, believers from different churches came together with one purpose. Whether through a brief conversation, a New Testament or a gospel tract placed into someone’s hands, they trusted that God could use even the smallest act of obedience to make Christ known among the nations gathered at their doorstep.
