Serving Through Cricket
"Over the summer, I had the privilege of going overseas on a missions internship in South Asia. While there, I learned various gospel-sharing strategies, one of those being through the sport of cricket. Cricket is a vital part of South Asian culture, and some of the pastors would use playing cricket as a means of building relationships with those who are unbelievers. The entire time I was in South Asia, I was thinking about ways my life would look different after this experience, and I quickly realized that a lot of what I was doing this summer could be carried over to the states.
"I knew there were South Asian students at OSU, and I realized that starting a cricket ministry could be an effective way of building relationships with these students. So, I brought this idea back to my roommates, and we brainstormed ways to do this.
"We’d determined there wasn’t a cricket field in Stillwater because the international students would typically play in parking lots. Then, we realized our house had the space to play cricket in the backyard. So, we mowed down parts of our yard, went to Lowe’s, bought PVC pipe and dowel rods, and constructed our cricket field.
"Our hope is that Christians would develop relationships with international students by putting our two communities together. Through playing cricket, we hope showing an interest in the international student’s culture would help them desire to know more about ours, including Christianity. This has been not only an opportunity to meet international students but also to invite others and include them in this sport so important to the international students’ culture.
"We have seen the Lord work in phenomenal ways. Many CollegeLife students are consistently making an effort to be a part of international students’ lives through having meals or tea together, working out, and even attending some of their religious festivities. Through this, some international students have started participating in CollegeLife events and hearing about the gospel through our people. It has been such a joy getting to be a part of this, and it only grows every time we play. This has encouraged me to seek after making more small adjustments in my life for the sake of the gospel (1 Corinthians 9:19-23)."
"I knew there were South Asian students at OSU, and I realized that starting a cricket ministry could be an effective way of building relationships with these students. So, I brought this idea back to my roommates, and we brainstormed ways to do this.
"We’d determined there wasn’t a cricket field in Stillwater because the international students would typically play in parking lots. Then, we realized our house had the space to play cricket in the backyard. So, we mowed down parts of our yard, went to Lowe’s, bought PVC pipe and dowel rods, and constructed our cricket field.
"Our hope is that Christians would develop relationships with international students by putting our two communities together. Through playing cricket, we hope showing an interest in the international student’s culture would help them desire to know more about ours, including Christianity. This has been not only an opportunity to meet international students but also to invite others and include them in this sport so important to the international students’ culture.
"We have seen the Lord work in phenomenal ways. Many CollegeLife students are consistently making an effort to be a part of international students’ lives through having meals or tea together, working out, and even attending some of their religious festivities. Through this, some international students have started participating in CollegeLife events and hearing about the gospel through our people. It has been such a joy getting to be a part of this, and it only grows every time we play. This has encouraged me to seek after making more small adjustments in my life for the sake of the gospel (1 Corinthians 9:19-23)."