I must be honest with you and admit that reflecting on this past week’s spiritual happenings is difficult in the midst of last night’s event.
I’ve been making my way through the book of Jeremiah, which is proving to be a slower read than Isaiah. I thought chapter 18 was especially interesting. Sometimes in the past I have wondered why God chose to do something when he said he wouldn’t, or something to that extent. But Jeremiah 18:7-10 declares the forgiving nature of God, amidst our sin.
On the ministry side of things, I did not play football (soccer) this past thursday evening. Usually on thursday evenings we lads play football at the local youth club with the local guys. This has been a relatively new thing to do, as this past thursday was the third or fourth organized game. I decided I wasn’t going to play, because I figured that sooner or later, we Americans would need to drop out, because we won’t be on the team forever. So, this past thursday was the night I stopped playing. As I was watching the game, I was standing by a more difficult group of kids who weren’t playing in the game. I talked with them about their favorite movies, music, etc. I wasn’t exactly welcome, which is understandable as I’m more or less a stranger. But I was trying to get some sort of conversation about God started. One came about when one of the kids asked out of the blue, as it were, “you believe in God?” I said “yes.” He then said “then why doesn’t He do anything?” I responded, but the other kids around gave their answers louder than I gave mine. Their answers weren’t anything close to mine, if you can imagine. The God conversation then died, and I wasn’t able to resurrect it (pun intended). That brief dialogue, however, is a “success story” here; the fact that kids talked about God, if only for a few seconds, is a rarity on this mission field.
Now for what has been on my mind for the past few days: the Manchester United vs. Arsenal match I attended on saturday evening. If you know anything about United games, you know that tickets are sold out a year or two in advance. How, then, did I get a ticket? Well at one of the Churches I assist is a man who is “football mad” Subsequently, he has a whole network of friends who follow United passionately. One of these friends had two tickets to this saturday’s game, and wasn’t able to make it. So he sold the tickets to this man I work with, and this man sold one to me. I began talking openly about it this past friday. You need to understand that everyone here knows football. Some (certainly in the minority) follow Manchester City, but most follow Manchester United. I was meeting with an elderly gentleman and mentioned that I was going to the match. For the next thirty minutes, this older man talked with me about this year’s team, the importance of this game, etc. Before saturday, United was ranked second, five points behind—you guessed it—Arsenal. So, this game was immensely important. So it shouldn’t surprise you then to know that I had to find things to distract myself on saturday before the match.
Finally the car pulled up to our house, and the man taking me waved. I ran outside and hopped in the car, but we didn’t say anything aside from the brief hellos. The sports radio station was on, announcing that
Ronaldo was not playing. Ronaldo is the star play for United. So, the best player was not going to be playing in the most important match of the season. This daunting news was expressed in the stands when I entered. The man who took me was clearly apprehensive about it. I asked him what he thought the score would be, and he said “hopefully one-nil” (1-0) with an anxious tone. I walked around Old Trafford, which is the name of United’s stadium, as the guy who took me explained a lot of different things about it. We then took our seats—third row from the pitch (field). Because the pitch is elevated, I was sitting at eye-level to the player’s knees. I didn’t mind, as I had never been to any major sporting event with seats so close to the actual players. Right bef
ore kickoff, the Arsenal section of the stadium started singing, at which time someone walked onto the pitch and began to sing one of United’s chants: “Take me home, United Road, to the place I belong, to Old Trafford, to see United, Take me home, United Road…” If you’ve ever seen a European/UK football match, or more appropriately, if you’ve ever heard one, then you know they sing the entire time. That is an understatement if there ever was one. The whole of the United supporters erupted in unison with this man on the pitch, raising hope for the match.
Then the players entered through that famed tunnel, walking next to their opponents, which is tradition. Then the crowd started cheering “Glory, glory, Man. United” a few times. A minute or so later, the match began. The first couple of minutes were terribly exciting for me, as it was my first time at a European/UK sporting event, and I was “taking it all in.” But the guy who took me wasn’t singing, as he was deeply concerned that United would lose. Then there was a shot, and a United player dove and “headed” the ball in the net. The stadium erupted with cheers and everyone began singing “Glory, glory Man. United.”
It is with sheer excitement that I say that three points later, United defeated the number one team four-nil. No one, and I mean no one, expected such a victory. Needless to say, once the match ended, the whole crowd erupted in song, and didn’t really stop singing, even as I walked back to the car. The whole parking lot was singing “take me home, United road.” I walked back into my house a half hour or so later with no voice, but amazing memories.
There are more photos in the “Browse My Photos” section.
