Moscow - Baseball
The baseball outreach ministry, sponsored by the Fory Charitable Trust, is led by Sam Galanov. Here, in Sam's words, are his thoughts on what he does.
"My name is Sam Galanov. I live in Moscow, Russia, student by social status, missionary by calling. I host a weekly talk show on a local Christian radio station and do all kinds of outreach activities. One of them, that has been very successful, is baseball for street kids. Once a week I come down to my neighborhood with basic baseball equipment provided by the Fory Charitable Trust. For approximately three hours I play baseball with local teenagers. Baseball is an absolute unknown game for Russian kids, but it is very fun and entertaining. Because nobody knows even the basic elements of the game, I bring my fellow Christians who have played the game before to coach the kids. That creates an amazing atmosphere where kids not only get to play sports but also get to fellowship with Christian people.
After the game we usually have a small Bible study for those who want it. Sometimes there are none, but sometimes by room cannot fit everyone in who comes. It is interesting to see how churches and missions try to come up with complicated programs that require a lot of energy, time, and money. Often when the show is done and the event has happened, personal touch was never established, and people that had a chance to hear the most important news and to get to know people who know Christ, are leaving to have Mexican food with the same emptiness they came to the event with. Jesus made the great commission very applicable and clear. Spend time, take care of, and teach about the kingdom. That's what we do with the street kids, in a city of 17 million people, where less than 1% call themselves Christians."
