Global Community Games - Alan Gray

Global Community Games (aka Kids, Teen & Family Games) 2010

In around 170 countries, over 5 million people have been reached through the various initiatives which come together under the heading of Global Community Games, (GCG) www.globalcommunitygames.com. For our purpose these are Kids, Teen and Family Games. 

The vision behind this programme is to see agencies, Churches, Christian community and local community in a partnership to share Christ's love to all. The idea is to run a programme in a number of communities simultaneously and bring them together at the beginning and end for an Opening or Closing Ceremony. The shape and duration of your event depends on facilities and imagination.

Following last years launch the decision was made to re-brand under GCG, the realisation that last year the terminology 'Kids Games' in the UK carried with it too much negative baggage for 'youth' or secondary age pupils.  

For the second year a partnership between Youth for Christ and the Church of Scotland in Annandale and Eskdale saw communities reached with the gospel in both England and Scotland. This year the team in Langholm were also joined by a group of 2 adults and 9 youngsters from La Semilla de Trigo in Spain, which added to the international flavour.

2010 saw an expansion as we grew to 7 communities, Langholm, Canonbie and Lockerbie remained from last year and were joined by Lochmaben, Longtown, Gretna and Ecclefechan. 

Each of these communities are relatively small rural towns/villages and are separated by some distance. An area approximately 200 square miles with the challenges associated with church in rural and dwindling communities therefore smaller congregations and a decreasing number of young people. There are though a number of faithful folks who continue to pray, encourage and support the work.

One of the many key elements of CGC is to engage the community with a number of events. At the start of our week, on Sunday afternoon at Langholm Rugby Club, we had 'Family Games' as our Opening Celebration. All the communities were invited to attend and around 100 people participated in a range of games, heard a short talk and then enjoyed a BBQ before heading home to their own venue for the week. 

Each morning in the seven venues, local residents, supported by a team of young Christians from across the UK would deliver a two hour Kids Games programme. The details of a wide range of resources can be found at www.kidsgames.com and all are free and very comprehensive. We chose the theme of 'Champions Change their World' looking at the characteristics of heroes from the Bible.

The material is aimed at primary school age and is designed for fun, using experiential games to aid learning, Bible discovery and arts and crafts. The venues also worked on their banners for the Family Games Closing Celebration.

In the afternoon each venue had the benefit of qualified coaches in a range of sports delivering a coaching programme as well as an opportunity to participate in a range of alternative fun games. This part of the week was advertised as Teen Games and was aimed at the teenagers, secondary school age, and included a short coaches water-break talk or testimony to enable the youngsters to hear some Christian message. 

There are a number of distinctive's about GCG, one of those is the Compassion Project. This is an opportunity for the team to bless the community in which they have served during the week with an act of compassion. On one afternoon in each of the communities the normal sports time was given over to the compassion project The projects varied from singing and visiting old folks in a care home, bulb planting, litter picking and clearing gravel at a tourist spot. All of these had a tremendous impact on the team and the locals.

The attendance and the distances folks chose to travel to attend, even crossing the Border, was for some very symbolic and a real testament to the power of the gospel and this ministry. This was an incredible number and a brilliant end to a great week. All ages participated in a range of games and took part in the WWBC and the 12x10 relay, followed by a short talk and a BBQ to close.

It will be a while before we are able to see the impact of these 'Games' but we are aware of some who made a commitment to follow Christ and we can already see the impact across the communities.

In this, the decade of sport across the UK, GCG would appear to be a tremendous initiative to act as a catalyst to reach across communities and ages with the gospel. I am happy to chat further about how this may work in your area.

Contact Alan Gray at  Alan.gray@yfc.co.uk or website www.yfc.co.uk