2019 has been a year full of World Cups, with the Men’s Cricket World Cup starting in May, the Rugby World Cup finishing in November, and the Netball World Cup and FIFA Women's World Cup over the summer months. This has created an incredible and unique opportunity.

The buzz around the World Cups has been contagious, so why not use the remaining Rugby World Cup to reach sportspeople in your local area. “How?” you might ask. Through putting on events like a sports quiz, a touch rugby tournament or showing some of the matches on a big screen. The possibilities are endless!

There are 10 million people in the UK alone playing sport each week across 150,000 clubs. What a mission field right on our doorsteps. Why not get your teammates along to an event to not just enjoy the Rugby World Cup but to hear a message worth so much more, the Good News of the gospel. It might just change their lives forever and increase the reach that we as Christians involved in sport have in our local area.

So, getting to the nitty gritty of putting on an event. You’re not in it alone - we’re all in the work together and that is why we’ve released a new Rugby World Cup add-on to our already freely available Sports Mission Pack. The add-on includes quiz rounds for the Rugby World Cup and The Two Sides of Sport film featuring former international rugby players Garin Jenkins and Jonathan Webb, as well as schools and sports tournament material. So you’re not left unequipped; we provide you with the essentials so you can use the unique opportunity that the Rugby World Cup creates to share Jesus with your teammates.

The stories of how the Sports Mission Pack has been used to put on an event around previous World Cups are plentiful, and here’s just one to encourage you as you look to get on board with this opportunity yourself.

Newcastle Baptist Church hosted various events around the FIFA World Cup matches and organiser Tom shared his experience of the events saying:

“During half time we ran our own 'adverts' with inspirational stories from Christians in Sport, including the video ‘The Greatest Event in the World’ which was shown before and during each match. This had a great response and one person who doesn’t normally come to church said, “I was annoyed when the church people started playing a Jesus video but it was actually very interesting!” Our best event was a curry night during England’s match against Belgium where 40 or so people shared a massive takeaway and cheered on England. Food and football is always a good combination! Our plan is to use more Christians in Sport resources for the Rugby World Cup later this year, including posters, videos and some school resources.”

Will you make the most of the opportunity and use the Rugby World Cup as a springboard to share the gospel within your sporting context?