I Thought I was Blessed
“I thought I was blessed. They said they were blessed more.”
Isn’t the Lord good to us that He blesses us in innumerable ways, and in ways we often don’t expect? He is a great God – both here in the United States and around the world, even in tiny little countries like Lesotho.
Mahooana is the leader of Sports for Life Lesotho, a partner organization of FCA. For the last several months, he has been planning a Coaches Time Out (CTO) marriage retreat, and he would be the first one to say that he was nervous. He wasn’t sure how best to do it. He wanted it to be a meaningful experience for the coaches and their spouses, but he had never attended a CTO, so how would he know what to do? He reached out to me for help. As a connector between our Northland and Southern Africa teams, I did my job and connected him to Russ Bahr, Area Director for Central Wisconsin. Russ and Mahooana met in South Africa in December of 2023 and have formed a solid friendship.
Russ and Mahooana had a couple Zoom calls where Russ shared what worked for him in Wisconsin, and Mahooana was able to adjust that for his culture. The results of the CTO were nothing short of amazing. The event started at 7 pm on a Friday evening, but several of the couples came from such a distance that they did not arrive until 10 pm. Mahooana brought food to their rooms and told them he would see them in the morning.
The next day, the group of 10 coaches and their spouses were served by Mahooana’s board and heard from three pastors on how to love each other well. The second in command at the police department (a key community official) also shared about the hard things that can happen in marriage and how to avoid those things (by staying close to Jesus and loving each other well). The teaching time ended before lunch, and the group set out to do some fun activities.
However, during those activities, something unexpected happened. The group craved more of the teaching. They wanted more group discussion. They needed to sit with their fellow coaches and their spouses, share their experiences with each other, and talk about how to love well.
So that’s what they did. They reconvened over dinner and spent the next several hours discussing their experiences and how they can be better spouses. One coach shared that often when he goes to bed the night before a game, he is usually thinking through strategy for the game and not about his wife. Then after the game, if his team lost, he always wanted to be alone. But after the discussion, he realized that there are people in this world who love and care about them as coaches, and he needs to be with them instead of trying to be alone. He was so grateful to Mahooana for pouring into him. He said people often forget about the coaches, so for Mahooana and his board to serve them in this way was really special.
The group was supposed to leave town at 9 am Sunday morning, but they all lingered until mid-afternoon because it had been such a positive experience. Many of them said they need something like this at the start and end of every season because of how taxing it is to be a coach and the spouse of a coach. Each one is ready to return for the next CTO.
Mahooana got emotional when talking about it. He said, “My heart was touched to see how the guys responded. It was amazing. I want to thank all the people I have connected with to make this happen. They have touched so many hearts besides mine. I thought I was blessed. [The coaches] said they were blessed more.”
FCA’s Northland Region provided funds for this CTO as well as Coaches Bibles, The Four bracelets, and other gifts. The lead coach for the U17 team in the district received an extra special gift: a soccer ball that Mahooana had gotten from Swayze Waters in November (Swayze is an FCA staff person who is launching a One Ball project in East Africa and was kind enough to share one of these balls with each Southern Africa teammate. Mahooana has been holding onto his until just the right moment). Mahooana said, “I felt like if I give him that ball it has the chance to be played or shared by all U17 kids in the district. That One Ball can be kicked by so many kids.”
10 coaches, 10 spouses, Mahooana and his wife, the pastors and board members, and the Northland Region are so very blessed. We have such a tremendous opportunity to come alongside the work God is doing throughout Southern Africa: CTOs like this, camps, tournaments, and numerous other ways to bring the hope of Christ through sport. It is a blessing to be a blessing.
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