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Background
All my life I loved the sport. In all shapes, at all times and in all places.
About ten years ago, I earned my certificate as a personal trainer, and I was working as one for just a bit. Nevertheless, my passion for the sport is still in my heart.
In 2014 after I become Christian, I found sport not only to be a great opportunity to hang out with friends but also to do a little bit of outreach.
Some firm friendships have created around Boot Camp I was organising in the park and some great in the church where I was running KeepFit class.
How does outreach work through KeepFit class?
If you checked my post on How to run football group, you would find below quite familiar.
We can have various aims. We can scream from upfront that we are Christians, or we can be lukewarm whole life and say what we believe in only when questioned.
You may want to do social events in your church or invite people to the Alpha course, or pray with people before a game.
My choice is to be a good Christian and disciple.
Matthew 5:13-16 (NIV)
Salt and Light
13 "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.
14 "You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
And I think that it is working. Those who are not Christian in our group know what I stand for. We get to know each other. We have dinners together, go to the pub and share lives.
I am clear that if they have questions, they can ask, and I will be happy to answer them.
Some of the guys stopped coming to class because of different reasons. Some became friends and even after they finished training with us, we are still in touch. Some asked more questions, came to church and become Christians over time.
I the past, the church was a bridge placed halfway between the world and God.
Nowadays, the world got so far away from God that we need to build bridges between the world and a church.
Money
To make things accessible, I never ask for money. I let people know about the costs and what other people choose to donate, but there is no condition on it. This approach helps to include those who for some reason, can not contribute financially.
There is always some cost related to running an event.
If you can get a church room for free, that's already a success.
Equipment can cost up to a couple of hundred pounds. I started at about £50 and then as donations came, I was buying more and more equipment.
But you should never be worried about it. If you look at it as a ministry, time and money become irrelevant.
Practical things
Time of week - Monday-Friday pattern is the best. On weekends, I always had less people.
Time of the day - Anything between 6:30 pm - 9 pm will be okay. 7 pm-8 pm I see as perfect. It's late enough so people can get back from work etc. and is not too late to not have an evening of rest.
Place - Any community hall.
Space - Minimum 270 square feet (25 square meters) is needed for 5 - 6 people to be comfortable. Maximum depends on how loud can you scream your instructions :)
Additional - In every place, I look for a safe environment. That is a must. Even the floor, Laminate is the best, carpet or wooden wood floor is OK. I don't like concrete. I find it necessary to have a point where I can attach TRX and battling rope. Rope can be attached to secure doors. I would not recommend attaching TRX to a door, even though it often comes with little converter thingy.
Best, if the room has some column or pillar where the rope and TRX can be wrapped around. Remember to make sure that things are safe.
Communication - I tried Facebook groups and pages. I ended up on Whatsaap. I found that 1 hour talking to people face to face, brought more people to class then 1 hour of posting things on Facebook.
Equipment
Below you should see images and links to products on Amazon. If those are not displaying, it means that your ad-blocking extension is interrupting it. You can see them by pausing your ad-blocking expansion.
That is a "budget" range. Most of those items are the same one I use for a couple of years now. Some of them have smaller or bigger wear on them now, but in general, it is an excellent all-weather set. I strongly recommend them. If you have any questions about any specifics, send me an email, and I will be able to answer your questions.
More information
There are some good websites that can help you with your sports outreach. Some of them are:
If you like what I wrote above, then please read a bit more about me on other pages of this website.
If you need some help, feel free to contact me.
And lastly, if you see some value in my ministry, and would like to partner with me visit my Support page and support me. I am rising my salary and every little bit count.
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