Canadian Mennonite
Volume 11, No. 19
October 1, 2007
Representing the Saviour
Love of soccer leads convict to Jesus
CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA
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Sinethemba Gcwabe spent four years of his young life as a prisoner at Pollsmoor Prison near Cape Town, home to some of South Africa’s most dangerous criminals and roughest gangsters.
Although designed with a capacity of just over 4,000, the current inmate population is more than 7,000. Many who serve their sentence at Pollsmoor, where illicit drug use is common, come out hardened in their life of crime. Some families of prisoners cut off contact with their relatives during their imprisonment, as powerful and violent gangs replace family contacts.
But Gcwabe’s story has taken a different path. During his last year in prison he applied for the prison ministry program of Ambassadors in Sport, a Christian sports ministry that originated in England in 1990 and now works in countries around the world. At Pollsmoor, Ambassadors works through a program called Hope Academy, which has been granted space in one of the cell blocks.
The slogan of the African program of Ambassadors in Sport is “Bringing hope through soccer.” That’s what they did for Gcwabe. With nothing to do and little to look forward to, he wanted a chance to play soccer. When he applied, he knew that Ambassadors was a Christian organization and that the young men in the program spend a significant amount of time each day doing Bible study—but it was the daily soccer practice and games that attracted him.
One of the staff that Gcwabe met was Sivuyile (Juju) Tabata, an associate pastor from Way of Life Church in Khayelitsha Township, who works part-time for Ambassadors in Sport. Most of the Ambassadors staff come from other countries to serve for a year or two in South Africa, but Tabata understands where the prisoners are coming from. He lives in the township where their families live. He understands their culture, their life experiences and he speaks Xhosa.
Some of the young men that Tabata works with have never been to school. They have few skills and they come from dysfunctional families. It takes time to win their trust, but in prison there is time. Along with the other staff, Tabata works with the prisoners through structured Bible study and discussion times. They sing together in worship and for the joy of singing. Ambassadors provides a safe place for the prisoners to talk and they celebrate holidays as a “family” together.
But the main attraction for prisoners like Gcwabe is still the soccer. While other prisoners at Pollsmoor do very little with their recreation time, those in the Hope Academy program get lots of time to practise their skills, develop leadership and teamwork, and compete with each other in this very popular sport. Tabata says that teaching values, attitudes and skills in life and in soccer are closely related.
Christopher Malchas has worked for many years in the prison section that includes the Hope Academy cell. A Christian who calls his work “stewardship of people in God’s image,” he says, “Whatever [the prisoners] have done, they have done and it’s wrong, but we love them as people.” And through the work of Ambassadors he has seen the prisoners learn to treat each other as persons.
Malchas affirms two of the activities of the Ambassadors program—music and sports. Both activities teach teamwork, and as the young prisoners play soccer and sing together, he says, “‘I’ becomes ‘us.’”
“Now,” Gcwabe says, “I play soccer to represent Jesus.” Through the ministry of Ambassadors he has “developed a heart to share with other guys,” which is a new development in his attitude. Besides developing his soccer skills, he has learned how to coach, and when he was made captain of the team he learned how to take leadership responsibility.
Now that he is out of prison, Gcwabe finds it hard to live out the values and beliefs that he gained from Ambassadors in Sport. But Tabata continues to mentor him and he has become involved in Way of Life Church.
Way of Life Church and its pastor, Xola Skosana, dream of having a sports academy become part of their ministry. Mission workers from Mennonite Church Canada Witness and Mennonite Mission Network are working with Way of Life Church to bring these dreams to reality.