We should all look for Jesus in our God-given passions. Andre Dobson, the son of missionaries, grew up in Calcutta, India and Cairo, Egypt. After his family moved back to the States, football became his favorite sport. He played running back at a small college before becoming a teacher and coach.
I met Andre and his son Trey at L’Arcada as he led his sixth summer of American football camp. Trey, an eighth grader quarterback, was making his second trip to Spain, re-uniting with friends who greatly impacted his life two summers earlier. Using his sport as a vehicle for sharing Jesus with young people, Andre has also started a football camp in neighboring Portugal.
In Spain, as in many other countries in the world, if you throw a ball to an athlete, the kid will likely let the ball bounce off his chest and kick it. But American football has a following in Europe. The NFL has recently promoted the sport there with the hope that it might approach the popularity of soccer. Even under the blazing summer sun of Spain, Andre loves to teach a novel sport to kids with a heart to learn.
What I noticed quickly about Andre was his love for people. Not only do other American coaches often join him, but guys from Spain who attended the camp when they were teenagers also volunteer to assist. Some of these young men play in an American football league in Barcelona. Andre’s sense of humor and genuine kindness draw people. When kids find out that Jesus is the One who leads their coach’s life, they take notice.
A goal of all the L’Arcada Sports Camps is to reveal that there is a God who created us, who loves us, and who has a purpose for us in Christ. For teenagers, it is often fun activities, relationships, and selfless love that help create the spark. Andre has established deep friendships in Spain that began with a sport, but progressed to a different level.
God loves such connections. The day before Karlyn and I left camp, Andre invited everyone to L’Arcada’s newly built swimming pool to participate in an important event. Trey told his parents he wanted to be baptized, and that he wanted his Spanish friends to be present. So we all celebrated a young man being buried with Christ in a nation not his own. Though many miles separate, Trey knows he has brothers and sisters in other parts of the world who love him and are part of his spiritual family.
May the light of Jesus so shine in us that others will take note and glorify our Father in heaven.
“For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” II Corinthians 4:6
“Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:16