The Olympics as an Opportunity for Mission! Japanese Sports Bible 2024 Production Project

現在の達成金額：1,109,000円
目標金額：1,000,000円
支援数：89
残り時間：
達成率：110％

Have you ever heard of the term “sports ministry”?

Sports ministry is a ministry that sees and uses sports as a tool for evangelism in the same way as music and art.

Data shows that more than 75% of Japanese people have been involved in some form of sports (including spectators).

However, there are few opportunities for people involved in sports, including children who participate in sports club activities on Sundays, to connect with the church.

In order to overcome this situation, we, the organizers of this project, are networking and cooperating with those who support missionary work through sports.

Project Objective

“The Word of God to those involved in sports!”

The Sports Bible is part of this effort. The year 2024 is an Olympic year, and although it may not be as close as the Tokyo games were, it will be a great opportunity to proclaim the gospel during the world’s largest sporting event. We will create a Japanese Sports Bible with testimonies of Christian athletes and portions of Scripture, to be able to distribute it to people who love sports, most of whom have never been connected to the church or who have left the church.

History of the Japanese Sports Bible:

2015: The first ever Japanese “Baseball Bible” was published with testimonies from many professional baseball players, including Matt Murton and pitcher Dennis Sarfate, which would later become the Japanese Sports Bible; revised editions were reprinted in 2016 and 2018.

2019: The Japanese “Sports Bible – Rugby Edition” was published to coincide with the Rugby World Cup in Japan. It featured testimonials from rugby players and other various athletes, as well as the manga “Messiah,” and was distributed to local rugby teams, schools & universities, and various other locations.

2021: In conjunction with the Tokyo Olympics, the Japanese “Sports Bible 2021″ was published, featuring not only the testimonies of athletes, but The four Gospels and a devotional guide. A total of 18,000 copies are distributed and used throughout Japan.

Book contents:

A6 size: 176 pages (tentative)

Breakdown: Testimonies of athletes (64p), Gospel of John (56p), Manga (24p), Devotional + Q&A (17p), Resource Guide (12p)

Testimonies: 16 Christian athletes (tentative)

Bible: Gospel of John (Bible Society of Japan joint Japanese translation)

Manga: “Spread Your Wings” sports evangelistic manga (excerpts)

Devotional: FCA’s devotional guide “FCA: The Heart of an Athlete”.

Q&A: about the Gospel and salvation

Resource Guide: JiSP and FCA activity guide, information on resources such as the Drama Bible listening app, Buttobi kids Bible, Children’s Bible App, etc.

About Returns:

Thank you card
Sports Bible gift
FCA merchandise gift
On-site sports classes/clinics
and many more!
*We do not ship overseas.

Target Amount:

1,000,000 yen (~$7,000 USD): All funds will be used for production of the Japanese Sports Bible 2024.

Sponsoring Organization:

Japan International Sports Partnership (JiSP)
A network of sports ministries, JiSP promotes the 10×10 vision and works with sports ministry organizations in Japan and abroad to advance the Kingdom through work of the Gospel in and through sports.

Fellowship of Christian Athletes Japan (FCA Japan)
FCA Japan is a sports ministry organization that supports athletes and coaches, that conducts discipleship small groups for sports people (huddles), events such as sports camps & clinics, trainings, and produces sports ministry resources – to lead every coach and athlete into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ through the influence of coaches and athletes.