Sports Fiesta is an annual event for young people organized by the Foursquare Gospel Church at Sabo. This program mixes sports with evangelism to share the Christian message with teenagers.
The fifth edition, Sports Fiesta 5.0, took place recently at the University of Lagos Sports Centre. It brought together teenagers from Foursquare churches, other denominations, and the surrounding community.
This program started in 2021. It uses sports to build relationships with teenagers while also offering worship, teaching, prayer, counselling, and personal interaction.
Participants, mainly aged 13 to 19, were divided into four houses. Each house represented a key teaching of the Foursquare Gospel Church: Jesus Christ the Saviour, Jesus Christ the Healer, Jesus Christ the Baptizer with the Holy Spirit, and Jesus Christ the Soon-Coming King.
The houses competed in team sports, track and field events, fun games, as well as mind and social games.
Red House was declared the overall winner with 12 gold, five silver, and nine bronze medals.
Yellow House came second with 11 gold, 15 silver, and four bronze medals. Blue House followed in third place with 11 gold, six silver, and nine bronze medals.
Purple House finished fourth with five gold, nine silver, and 13 bronze medals.
Aside from the sports, the program included worship, teaching, prayer, and an altar call. Pastors and counsellors were there to talk with participants, listen to their issues, and offer guidance.
The organizers explained that the event aimed to create a safe space for teenagers to bond while receiving spiritual and personal help.
For this fifth edition, the organizers took a more direct approach to evangelism. They moved teaching and counseling into the individual houses instead of having everyone gather in one place.
This setup allowed for smaller groups and better interaction between teenagers, pastors, and counsellors. The sporting events were adjusted to allow more time for prayer and evangelism.
Medical personnel were on site during the event, and meals were provided for all participants as part of the welfare arrangements.
Since it began in 2021, Sports Fiesta has grown from a simple idea of bringing teenagers together for sports to a wider program that combines competition, fellowship, and Christian evangelism.
The organizers say their goal is not just to find sporting champions. They want to use sports, which attract young people, as a way to build relationships and address their spiritual and personal needs.
This fifth edition kept the competitive spirit while focusing more on personal connection, counseling, and evangelism.
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