Victory Beyond the Cup in Seattle
Watch Parties and Preparations for Outreach
by Mike Chapman
Photos by Mick Haupt
Over a year ago, key Christian leaders in the Seattle area met to pray about sharing God’s love with their city during the upcoming global soccer tournament. Out of that grew Victory Seattle, a partnership using Victory Beyond the Cup resources to mobilize and equip churches and individuals across the greater Seattle area to work together to share the good news of Jesus.
Last night, June 12, Pastor Jesse Bradley, former professional soccer player and co-founder of Victory Seattle, and his church, Grace Community, hosted one of the first large church watch parties in the country. The event serves as a model and inspiration both to other churches and to his own congregation to host their own watch parties in their homes. The church provided soccer-related games and crafts for children, soccer skills competitions, soccer-related giveaways and free hamburgers, hot dogs, and potato chips.
More than 200 people showed up to watch the game televised live from Los Angeles on large screens in the church’s sanctuary. During halftime, Pastor Jesse shared his personal story of how he came to follow Jesus and invited others to trust in Christ. The church is providing 100 free Victory Beyond the Cup home watch party kits so church members can host similar parties at home over the next five weeks for their friends, neighbors, and co-workers.
New Life Church in nearby Renton, Washington, also hosted their own watch party, including pizza, with over 60 people in attendance.
Preparations continue for Victory Seattle’s various outreach efforts around Seattle’s Lumen Field this Monday, June 15, for the global soccer tournament match.
Five hours before the 12:00 p.m. match, several ministries and church volunteers will meet at Adoration House near the University of Washington to pray together, explain projects to join for the day, and travel together to the stadium area via Seattle’s light-rail system.
A couple of the participating partner ministries for Monday’s match include:
TryPraying: Because fans will be lining up outside Lumen Field hours before the match, TryPraying volunteers will offer prayer and give out hundreds of free foam fingers and 5,000-plus TryPraying - Soccer/ Football Edition booklets. This pocket-sized, seven-day prayer guide is designed for people who may not be religious. Written by a former Cru® staff member, it helps a person pray about things important to them and invites them to trust Christ with their life. It even includes seven soccer player testimonies. Each of the 20-plus volunteers plans to interact with at least 100 soccer fans before they enter the stadium.
Compassion Washington: This ministry fights human trafficking and shares the compassion of Christ through free mobile healthcare clinics across Seattle. They have recruited volunteers to ride the light rail system to and from the stadium over and over, hours before and after the match, distributing literature on how to recognize and report human trafficking. Compassion Washington and other local churches and ministries will also have volunteers stationed and available in the large pedestrian zone around Pioneer Square, just north of the stadium, where thousands of soccer fans are expected before and after the match.
Pray for God’s blessing, anointing, and protection over everyone involved, all the volunteers, and especially the 69,000 soccer fans attending the match.
