We are beginning to pray through our 6th theme: SPREADING THE GOSPEL THROUGH SPORTS, MEDIA AND CULTURE.
Sport et Foi (“Sports & Faith”)
Location: Rhône-Alpes
Represented by Couly Dieng
Current Context
Sport et Foi Rhône-Alpes is a branch of Sport et Foi France. Our vision is to see those who love sports also love God. We are part of the Go+ France coalition of evangelical churches and charities.
We coordinate four regional sports groups in Lyon, Saint-Étienne, Valence and Grenoble, cities with populations of between 130,000- 1.4 million. Our mission is to organize events with church youth, include local clubs, host “Make Sports Your Ministry” missionary teams and train Christian athletes.
We’ve assisted young Christians in soccer training centers by using friendly matches as opportunities to share the Gospel. We’ve also supported refugees through sports, sharing the Gospel and offering them community assistance. Additionally, we encouraged church sports clubs to use sports as a means of discipleship.
Actions taken and results achieved in 2024
We toured the Rhône-Alpes region with Ensemble 2024 to encourage churches to organize projects for the Olympic Games. We celebrated the 10th anniversary of Sport and Faith: Rhône-Alpes, where the mayor of a local neighborhood heard the Gospel for the first time and requested a signed/dedicated New Testament copy. To coincide with the Paralympics, we focused on raising disability awareness within churches.
We’ve seen growing church support for the vision of using sports to share the Gospel. We’ve built strong relationships with clubs and local groups. What’s more, our prayers for ministry servants in the sports world have been answered, and we’re grateful for the addition of new leaders. In Grenoble, for example, under the leadership of Philippe Pinto, close to 60 people meet every week and share their testimonies, including 20 non-believers, and around 20 people referred to us by local churches.
Sport et Foi is an essential link in the chain of a church’s various outreach activities. We have helped many non-believers discover a new life in Christ and our initiatives have enabled many Christians to give new meaning to their lives.
One mom told us about her daughter, Elia, a very athletic girl who wanted nothing to do with church. However, after attending one of our multi-sport tournaments, she connected with a church youth group. A few months later, Elia was baptized and even met her future husband within the church community.
Projects in 2025
We began moving the headquarters of Sport and Faith from Rhône-Alpes to Lyon to support the development of a sports ministry there, as we did in Grenoble. We’re keen to find solutions for professional athletes, especially young athletes, whose schedules don’t always allow them to attend church. We would like to train and accompany the athletes in our groups with the Stadium book, which contains 24 Bible studies and a guide to helping a teammate discover Jesus.
Prayer requests
1. Pray that hundreds of athletes come to Christ in the next 3 years.
2. Pray that church leaders will embrace this vision of sports ministry so others will be equipped and sent to serve in this ministry.
3. Pray that we will be able to recruit several people dedicated to the world of sports, which touches over 70% of the general population.
Further information
1. Sport and Faith website: sportetfoifrance.org
2. Stadium” Bible study guide for athletes: www.readysetgo.tools/en/library/readysetgo/60144ec5-c542-4c3a-8f7e-d84a55581fca
Issy-les-Moulineaux Evangelical Armenian Church youth group
Location: Issy-les-Moulineaux (92)
Represented by Joël Mikaelian and Alphée Liadzé
Current Context
Our church’s youth group meets every Friday evening. We begin with a time of worship, led by our young people, then the pastor or a guest shares a message from God’s Word and we close with a time of fellowship. We also organize special events, including outreach opportunities in our town.
Actions taken and results in 2024
A central activity in 2024 was a sports evangelism event during the Olympics, hosted in partnership with the city. The event was aimed at local and regional amateur athletes and consisted of a tournament featuring multiple sports, the screening of the film ارابههای آتش and a worship service open to all.
Through this event and our organization, we saw God touch souls and transform hearts. We distributed Gospels tracts specially prepared for the athletes at the Olympics. Most of the athletes in attendance were not Christians, but they received the Word of God and heard the Good News. We were able to pray for several people, some of whom were positively impacted. We maintained a stand throughout the day, where missionaries were available to answer questions about God and share their testimonies of their lives in Christ. At the end of the day, we held an outdoor service in the neighborhood sports complex. Young people prepared the service, we offered praise to God, and all were able to utilize their talents in God’s service, touching lives and furthering His Kingdom in our city.
This year, our main achievement was the growth of our group through new members. Young people in our neighborhood are being reached and receiving the Word of God every week through our organization. We’re striving to host more outreach opportunities including street evangelism events like our “street cafés,” and we’ve also distributed food to the homeless in the city.
The theme of this year’s campaign, “Regeneration,” speaks volumes for our organization, as we are noticing an inner renewal among our young people. A revival is taking place, young people are being transformed and getting involved. Our vision is for young people to go further in their relationship with God, to take risks to grow in their faith.
Many lives have been transformed through our ministry. One person in particular, was living far from God, lost and looking for happiness. She met Jesus, made a commitment to God, gave her life to Christ, renouncing her old life. Now, she uses her singing talent in God’s service, leading times of praise and worship
Projects in 2025
In 2025, we have a vision that God will continue to transform lives. We want to reach more people, be open to others, and share our faith with those in France. Our vision for the next five years includes group growth, street outreach, and God’s confirmation of His Word through signs and wonders.
Prayer request
Pray that hearts will be ready to receive Christ’s love. May people be renewed in their faith and prayer life.
Additional information
Evangelical Armenian Church website: eeaissy.com/wp
Holistic Sports
Location: Mainly in Rennes (35), Mulhouse (68), Toulouse (31), Bordeaux (33), Paris region, Montpellier (34)
Represented by Joël Thibault
Current Context
Holistic Sports France is a ministry dedicated to serving sports professionals and semi-professionals (top-level athletes, coaches, PE teachers, etc.). Its mission is to reach those in the French-speaking sports world, through three key objectives:
Actions taken and results achieved in 2024
In 2024, over 4,000 middle and high school students heard about Jesus through conferences held in private schools, and 2,500 accepted a special “Eternal Victory” sports New Testament. Concretely we’ve facilitated:
We also organized close to 50 Bible studies with top athletes. We witnessed 4 of our members become part of the chaplaincy team for the Paris 2024 Games (Olympic and Paralympic) and we were able to support new athletes from France and abroad.
We produced 6 programs focused on “the Olympic dream”:
Our main goal is to see athletes regenerated by the Holy Spirit as they listen to the Gospel. We’re motivated to achieve this goal through weekly one-on-one meetings and small-group Bible-sharing sessions.
A professional female athlete contacted us through our new holistic sports website. She had heard about us when one of her club teammates was featured on our podcast, Décrassages.* We helped her discover the Christian faith, and after several months of discussions, she placed her trust in Christ and was baptized. We then connected her with a local church, which she joined. (*décrassage means both “warm-down” in a sports context and “clean-up / stripping away” more generally).
Projects in 2025
Prayer requests
1. Pray for the preparation of discipleship resources in 2025, for an official launch in 2026, for an exponential impact until 2030 and the organization of a spiritual retreat and training time for top-level athletes in the summer of 2025.
2. Pray for the recording of Décrassages podcast programs and the impact of the testimonies of Christian athletes.
3. Pray for the preparation of a documentary on the Christian faith in top athletes and the recruitment and training of new leaders in order to multiply disciples in sports.
Further information
1. Holistic Sports on the Impact France website: impactfrance.org/holisticsports
2. Holistic Sports website: holisticsports.fr
3. More than athletes website: plusquesportifs.org
Persian 
English 
Afrikaans 
Arabic 
Bengali 
Chinese 
Dutch 
Finnish 
French 
German 
Gujarati 
Hindi 
Indonesian 
Italian 
Japanese 
Kannada 
Khmer 
Korean 
Malay 
Marathi 
Nepali 
Panjabi 
Pashto 
Portuguese 
Romanian 
Russian 
Spanish 
Swahili 
Tamil 
Telugu 
Thai 
Urdu 
Vietnamese