International Sports Chaplaincy Federation (ISCF) director and Southern Illinois University Sports Chaplain Roger Lipe writes…
As part of my role with FCA I oversee the development of sports chaplaincy in the Balcans.
The day we first arrived in the Ukraine we met Andrei. He and another man Oleg had been involved in sports for many years. He told of a recent story, when visiting the Ukrainian government’s sports department, “The Director asked us to help him provide Sports Chaplains to Ukrainian sport. ‘Like we have in the military.'” reflecting, “We had little knowledge of what that meant.”
This gave me the opportunity to begin to explain and train Andrei, Oleg and a number of other local men and women in Sports Chaplaincy.
Most recently the department has formally certified sports chaplaincy as an official part of sport in their nation.
The international Sports Chaplaincy network (ISCF) will continue to assist Andrei and Oleg (and their team) to see the ministry thrive and Sports Chaplaincy Ukraine (SCU) established to assist with its’ rapid growth. Similar stories are emerging in PNG, FIJI, Guatemala, Sri Lanka, India and Kenya.
Photo Above (From Left to Right): Ross Georgiou (SCNZ), Roger Lipe (FCA), Andrei, Sue Morris (SCNZ), Richard Gamble (CEDE Network USA)