1 QUOTE

“I start early and I stay late, day after day, year after year, it took me 17 years and 114 days to become an overnight success.”

- Lionel Messi

1 NOTE

Our family thoroughly enjoyed the 2026 World Cup tournament. We are a sports family but do not follow soccer closely. We play lots of tennis, Kara plays golf (I try) and my favorite hobby is dynasty fantasy football. For the record, the NFL starts in 51 days. For the FIFA World Cup we embraced our countries of origin. Unfortunately, Korea did not make it out of the group stage. In back-to-back games both Japan and Netherlands were knocked out. That was a rough afternoon!

A young couple in our church, Adrian and Valeska Munguai really helped us understand and enjoy the tournament. Adrian is a huge fan (and he knows the backstory on every player). Valeska’s father is a professional referee. We spent a ton of time together watching the tournament. Our family peppered them with questions, listened closely to their answers, and even joked we should FaceTime Valeska’s dad when one game hit a super-intense controversy. As I reflected on the last 39 days, with our friends I don’t know how much I would have embraced the tournament.

Following Jesus and participating in the local church carries similar dynamics to my watching the World Cup. I knew soccer is so important to many, but I never knew why. I didn’t know any of the players, the history, or the colors and nuances of the game. In the same way, non-Christians know God is important, but they don’t where to start regarding the Word, church and what daily faith looks like.

I needed Adrian and Valeska to personally translate World Cup so I could learn to love soccer.

Our non-Christian family and friends need personal translators to fall in love with God.

1 QUESTION

Did you have a faith-translator who helped you see and experience the beautiful gospel?

Until Next Tuesday,

John