Orphan Helpers looks for new ways to reach abandoned and incarcerated youth. We also look for ways to collaborate with other groups, churches, and organizations to multiply our impact. That’s why we’re excited about a new partnership with Sports Outreach, a Christian non-profit based in Lynchburg, VA.
“The Orphan Helpers team in El Salvador was blessed beyond measure with the training that Humberto and the Sports Outreach team recently provided,” said Andrea Schuitema, Orphan Helpers Program Coordinator. “As we work to add a soccer program to our Success Academy in the juvenile detention centers, it’s been an answer to prayer having such expertswilling and able to work with us in program development.”
One goal of the program is to connect with all youth inside the detention centers. Another goal is to get more youth enrolled in the Orphan Helpers Success Academy in the year ahead.
Through the Sports Outreach program, youth will learn Christian values as they play sports. They will experience how peace, respect, and co-existence can be accomplished in a fiercely competitive and harsh environment.
“During our visits to the detention centers in El Salvador, we have directed sample trainings for the young offenders and trained the coaches who will lead the sessions,” said Humberto Alferez from Sports Outreach in El Salvador. “We are very pleased to see how God is using our ministries to reach more incarcerated youth for Christ through the soccer program inside the detention centers.”
The staff of Orphan Helpers received Sports Outreach certificates after three days of classroom and practical training on “Introduction to Sports Ministry”. Training took place inside the detention centers and at the Sports Outreach training facility in El Salvador.