JOHANNESBURG, South Africa – “The World Cup is over, but South Africa is still here,” said a missionary with the International Mission Board (IMB) serving in Johannesburg.

The prayer of IMB urban missionaries in South Africa is that God would use the soccer World Cup to draw attention to the lost people of the nation’s cities.

IMB missionaries minister in five cities that were hosts of the 2010 World Cup: Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town, Durban and Port Elizabeth.

Wade Coker, the lead IMB strategist for southern Africa, said the Gospel was shared with thousands of people across South Africa, and hundreds made decisions to follow Christ. In Cape Town alone, Coker cited 287 people receiving Christ.

“To me the most critical work and sometimes the most difficult work in these types of events is going to take place now in the coming month or two,” Coker said, “and that is following up the decisions and … gathering the people together in Bible studies and in new outreach groups.”

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — The stadiums now stand silent; the vuvuzelas packed away. Tourists are boarding planes, heading home to jobs and families. Media outlets are unplugging computers and loading up gear, ready to move on to the next big event.

Spain may still be celebrating their historic World Cup victory, but 31 other nations are already more focused on 2014 and how to do better next time.

With an anticipated cumulative global television audience of over 26 billion, it seems practically the entire planet has been soccer-obsessed for the last month. A question lingers in some believers’ minds: Does God really care about the World Cup?

During the tournament, countless ministries shared the Gospel throughout South Africa, and we know God cares about the many souls who entered His kingdom, as well as those still searching.

But does He care who wins the World Cup?

Thank you for praying for South Africa during the World Cup. God has demonstrated His power in amazing ways. The Gospel was proclaimed freely and with eternally significant results throughout the nation. Those who wanted to perform animal sacrifices inside stadiums, believing this would please their ancestral spirits, were prohibited from doing so. Efforts to legalize prostitution came to nothing, and prostitutes moan that business actually waned during the event. The problem of human trafficking has received nationwide attention, and more individuals and organizations are becoming involved in efforts to curb it.

Please continue to pray for South Africa. Particularly remember the urban centers, where problems of unemployment, poverty, violent crime, racism and human trafficking demand urgent attention. Intercede for new followers of Christ, for whom learning to walk with Him is particularly challenging in a country with these issues.

Stay connected to South Africa, and learn how God is at work on the African continent by visiting www.africastories.org and www.imbafrica.org.

The World Cup is over (sigh) and the nations are departing from South Africa. The Great Commission is once again “out there,” and South African believers must rejoin followers of Jesus around the world in focusing on the Lord’s command to take His Gospel to the ends of the earth. Pray that insights gained and lessons learned during the past month will be implemented in evangelistic efforts both within and without South Africa. Rejoice that God’s Word promises every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

DURBAN, South Africa — Partially-clothed children of all ages dart between people and cars, playing in the streets and alleys. The children are a mixture of European, Indian, African and Indonesian descent, and their eyes are striking, ranging from bold blue to jaded green to the deepest black. Playing outside all day trails dirt and mud across their faces, hands and legs, leaving decorative swirls on their bodies.

Coming from broken homes and distracted parents, the children are often left to roam the streets, learning how to live on their own. The “broken homes” in South Africa are often unlike the traditional American definition in which parents have split up; here, “broken homes” mean broken circumstances. Crime, drugs, alcohol and prostitution are only a few of the coping mechanisms many of these young people employ when trying to deal with physical and emotional abuse, rape, grief and parents who are drug dealers.

Moses, the church planter in western Africa who has been showing films about Old Testament characters and then recordings of World Cup matches, reports a lot of interest in both the films and the matches in the predominantly Muslim village he has been visiting. Moses has asked for concerted prayer on Sunday, the final day of the World Cup. He plans to show the villagers a movie about the life of Christ. Pray that hearts and minds will be open to the truth about Jesus and that viewers will clearly understand the Gospel presentation at the end of the film. Moses requests we particularly pray for the village chief and his son. Read more about this outreach effort

Read Part I

CAPE TOWN, South Africa — Bruce and Sheri Erickson were missionary kids who met in boarding school in Kenya. After college, they married, had two children and were public school teachers in California.

Almost five years ago, the Ericksons felt God leading them to work with foster children. One family in their church had just taken in a foster baby girl, Madison, whom Bruce and Sheri began spending time with.

Unsure of God’s purpose for them in the three-month-old baby’s life, Bruce and Sheri prayed how they could be obedient to what God might be leading them to do.

Many South African churches didn’t plan extra activities during the World Cup—they were already extremely busy with their regular ministries. These continued without regard for the high profile tournament going on around them. Desiring to make a difference in their communities, these fellowships are reaching out to the jobless, homeless, impoverished, and vulnerable, showing the love of Christ in tangible ways.

Other churches intentionally planned outreaches with a World Cup theme. They organized events that would keep children safe and happy during the long school break. Big screen showings of the matches enabled churches to draw in community members and share the Gospel with them.

When the World Cup is over and life returns to normal in South Africa, pray for churches to have a new vision of how to meet the challenges of sharing their faith with those who don’t know Christ, of discipling new believers, of trusting God to provide and stretch meager resources, and of tackling social issues in the communities around them.

CAPE TOWN, South Africa — He was a missionary kid from Ethiopia and Kenya. She was also a missionary kid from Kenya. Now, Bruce and Sheri Erickson are missionaries ministering to young people with their three kids in Cape Town, South Africa.

Bruce was born in Ethiopia and lived there until he was 10, when he and his family returned to the United States for a time due to unstable political situations in the country. After two years, they returned to the mission field to serve in Kenya, where Bruce met his future wife in boarding school.

Sheri was just a teenager when her family left the U.S. for Kenya to serve in medical missions.

Television sports commentators relish sharing trivia about teams, players, stadiums and coaches, and those covering the 2010 World Cup have been no exception. The Internet has given them access to information that sometimes I’d just as soon not know, but they do frequently point out interesting facts and firsts. This is the first World Cup held in Africa. For the first time a European team will win a World Cup held outside the continent. This will be a first-time World Cup win for either Netherlands or Spain.

As special as these firsts are, none of them compares to the life-changing experience of first trusting Jesus as Lord and Savior. We have hundreds of new brothers and sisters in Christ because they took that first step of faith during World Cup outreaches. Praise God they have come into His family. Continue to pray they will grow in their relationship with Christ and that they will lead others to take that first step of faith in Him.