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Sports Resources
Deo Gloria has worked very closely with Christians in Sport since its inception in 1980 and has sought to support and encourage them in their work.
Leaflets
In 1991 we partnered with them in producing testimony leaflets of Christian Sporting personalities. These leaflets proved to be extremely popular with over 250,000 being distributed in outreach over the next 15 years.
Beginning with footballer Cyrille Regis the leaflet series also featured, Kriss Akabusi (Athletics and TV), Bernhard Langer (Golf), Gavin Peacock (Football), Va'aiga Tuigamala (Rugby Union & League), Apollo Perelini (Rugby League), Jonathan Edwards (Athletics & TV) and Alison Nicholas (Golf).
Videos & DVDs
In 1997 Deo Gloria entered into partnership with Christians in Sport, Christian Television Association and SP Trust in producing a video featuring six Christian Sporting Personalities entitled More Than Champions.
It was presented by Kriss Akabusi and featured Golfer Bernhard Langer, Footballer Gavin Peacock, Rugby Player Va'aiga Tuigamala, Athlete Jonathan Edwards and Athlete & star of TVs Gladiator's Judy Simpson.
Each person spoke openly of their Christian faith and what it was like being a high-profile sportsperson, with its pressures and 'ups and downs', and how their faith affected this.
Souvenir Tournament Guides
Between 1996 and 2000 Deo Gloria partnered with Christians in Sport, Christian Publishing and Outreach (CPO) and the Christian Enquiry Agency in producing glossy, full-colour souvenir guides to the major football tournaments: Euro '96 (The Ultimate Goal), World Cup '98 (To Be the Best) and Euro 2000 (Euro 2000).
In 2002 we produced glossy, full-colour souvenir pocket tournament guides in partnership with Verité CM, Christian Enquiry Agency and Verité Sport. As part of this project we also produced a Video and DVD with the same title, narrated by John Motson, with Football action, history as well as interviews and testimonies of Christian players. This was done in conjunction with Christians in Sport and Christian Television Association.
World Cup 2002 (The Ultimate Goal), Euro 2004 (The Ultimate Goal), World Cup 2006 (Kick Off 2006) and World Cup 2010 (Twenty-10).
The Road to Glory – Pocket guide to Barclaycard
Premiership 2003-04
This booklet was based on the
previous, well tested, idea of producing a guide with fixtures, history etc,
along with some testimonies of Christian players and a short gospel outline.
The idea of the booklet was have something that was high quality and acceptable
to the football fan and not too pushy – a kind of pre-evangelism booklet.
‘The Road to Glory’ was produced by Deo Gloria in
conjunction with Christians in Sport, Damaris and Verite CM for the 2003-04
Football season. It was the first time we had produced anything for the
domestic football scene (although the Premiership is watched world-wide). All
our other projects of this type have been for World Cups or European Football
Championships (see below).
The take up on these booklets
were slightly less than we had hoped, about 12,000 were distributed.
The souvenir tournament guide format has proved to be extremely popular. Each guide included:
- History and Statistics of the tournament
- The qualifying path of the finalists
- Full fixture list, with dates, times and venues, to be completed by the user as the tournament progresses
- Details of all the venues of the tournament
- Football facts, stats and quizzes
- Brief testimonies, stories and quotes from Christian Players
- Outline of the Gospel in a non-pushy contemporary manner
- Options to find out more through the Christian Enquiry Agency
The guides have worked on their own as a general give-away, or as part of an outreach event using football. Stuart Weir of Verité Sport says "Showing tournaments on a big screen and giving everyone attending a souvenir booklet is a great way for churches to connect with people."
Since 1996 approximately one million of these sports booklets have been distributed in outreach worldwide.
More Than Gold
Deo Gloria Trust was involved in the More Than Gold coordinated outreach at the London 2012 Games.
Partners
Christians in Sport
Verité CM
Christian Publishing and Outreach (CPO)
Christian Television Association
Christian Enquiry Agency