Tournament Joys

At a recent small tournament, Wild Hope's Nyota FC took first place for both the U17 and U12 teams. We were very proud of them! The photo above shows the U12 team (in blue) waiting to collect their trophy :-)

The longer we know these young men, the more we learn about their lives. The more we learn about their lives, the more we want to see them succeed in both football AND life. Their community is a challenging place in which to find joy and hope, but we know it's not impossible.

Please join us in prayers of blessings for these guys, and for our efforts to do increasingly more than sports alone for them.

The crowd of impressionable young ones looks on.


The goals we made for the pitch come apart and get carried home so that they don't get stolen.


The team enjoys a little post-game chat.

A Little Dinner Party

On Tuesday night we threw a little dinner for the Nyota Football Club boys. Out of respect for Ramadan, we ate late and had a nicely reserved kind of gathering.

Still, there were plenty of smiles as Coach Toby passed out prize shirts to different players who shone at the tournament a few weeks ago.

How blessed are we to get to come alongside these young men in an effort to face and overcome the challenges of their situations?

Hint: Very Blessed!

Chickens and Champions

Wild Hope's adopted football team (soccer to those of you who live in N. America) is all about chickens and champions at the moment :-)

As you know, we are partnering with these young men from an economically challenged area of Arusha because we are so impressed with their determination and self discipline in sports as they seek a way to rise above the challenges of the circumstances they live in.

The latest with Nyota FC is that they have launched a chicken rearing project with a micro-loan from Wild Hope. Byron and Peter have helped them with their plans, looked at all the angles with them and generally been there to advise and encourage. Now the first batch of chickens have been raised and sold and the second batch are housed in the hen room where they cluck their way to chubbiness.

Profit from the project will help with team costs for things like new cleats, transport etc etc. The team here at Wild Hope is proud of the guys for their creativity and hard work in this.

We're also proud to say that the team just won the cup in a local tournament sponsored by our friends at Young Life. Yesterday afternoon we watched the Nyota boys pull off a 3-0 victory in the final match. What a rush! The guys danced after every goal and the crowds of kids who were there to watch went wild!

Later, as we crammed into the tiny passage way outside the hen room, (this area has become the club house!) we told them what great examples they are to the young kids growing up around them. Holding their big trophy cup up high and singing their victory songs, the team looked to us like the champions of the world :-)

Lots of Gear!

Wild Hope was just given 250 nice soccer jerseys, plus LOTS of shorts, socks, warm-up outfits and goalie gear!

The lovely Lynzi Blacker of u2u donated what she had collected from the AYSO league in Santa Ynez Valley so that we can outfit future teams!

The photos above show our Small Nyotas before uniforms and after :-) These uniforms were brought over in a separate donation by another group. Now we have matching sets for an additional 8 teams, and many more in mixed batches.

We are so thankful to Jez and Lynzi at u2u!

Big Party for Small Stars

Wild Hope proudly sponsors the Small Nyotas (Small Stars) soccer team of Arusha.

These guys from the struggling neighborhood of Unga play on an under-17's league team coached by a dedicated and very-young-himself local.

We love that involvement on the team is giving these young men a sense of self respect and self worth, a new level of personal discipline and something to look forward to and be proud about. We love the way we see this team being used to raise the standard of hope in the community. We love that we helped to sponsor the East Africa Youth Football Tournament and our Small Nyotas came in 3rd place!

Picture it: one day you're on a rag-tag team in mismatched t-shirts playing in one of the worst areas of town. Not too long after coming into relationship with Wild Hope, you have uniforms and you're playing in a beautiful and impressive stadium, taking third in a major tournament!

Most games are still played on the haphazard field down in Unga, but we're seeing good stuff happen on this team.

A few weeks ago Wild Hope celebrated with them by throwing them a Soccer Banquet at a local restaurant. Peter wrote that they had a blast! Skyler printed team and individual photos for everyone and there were t-shirts for prizes.

Keep the Small Nyotas in your prayers. They live in a community ravished by HIV/AIDS. We want to see their whole lives transformed and there's only one way to go.... Up!