The Vice President of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes West/Central Africa Global Region, Vincent Asamoah, traveled from Uganda to Texas, and spoke at Baylor’s Chapel on Monday.
Asamoah was introduced by Niesha Nixon the coordinator for Worship & Chapel.
“After starting a church in 1992, Vincent attended and completed studies at a local seminary in Ghana. In 1999, he became the national youth director for the Ghana Baptist Convention. In 2005, he found himself traveling for the first time to Waco, Texas where he earned a M.Div. from our very own Truett Seminary,” Nixon said.
In May of 2009, Asamoah said he returned to Ghana with his wife and children with a feeling that God had a plan for him. Asamoah said that he felt that God was calling him to start a sports ministry, specifically with basketball, in Ghana, even though he had no background in competitive sports.
Asamoah said he did not have the money he needed to start the sports ministry, so he planned to take a job for a year as well as managing the Shoot 4 Life foundation he created. Asamoah said he ended up working his job for over three years, when he realized he was only doing the work for the money. He said he decided to be honest with the director and said he was not working there because he enjoyed it anymore.
He said that the director appreciated his honesty and decided to help him and invited him to Atlanta, Ga. In Atlanta, Asamoah said he met with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes executive director for the Metro-Atlanta area. Asamoah told him the story about his ministry, and how he has been working because he does not have the money or the resources to sustain his calling as well as his family.
Shane Williamson, the president of Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) visited Ghana to see what Asamoah was doing.
“He told me that I had something good going on. For someone who has been with FCA for 15 years to say they saw something good in my ministry, that was very encouraging to me,” Asamoah said in an interview.
In 2013, Asamoah began a partnership with the FCA and has been working with them since then. In 2017, the FCA gave Asamoah the responsibility as the Vice President of FCA’s West/Central Africa Global Region. This includes around 24 nations that Asamoah serves through FCA which he says is a blessing.
Asamoah said that if it were not for him coming to the United States to study, he does not believe he would be working in sports ministry at this time. He said attending Truett Seminary gave him the opportunity to work in this field.
“As somebody with no background in sports, we have very much evolved in basketball, in fact, we are celebrating our 10th anniversary this year, and we are hoping that we will introduce a basketball league in our nation.” Asamoah said. He hopes that the nation will also create a national basketball team, because the nation only has soccer teams.
Asamoah said if anyone feels God is calling them to Africa he has contacts available for those who want to help or be involved. “If you feel that God is calling you to come to any of these places, I will say that I am more than happy to serve you in whatever way I can. I will assure you that if you are to come to any of these nations, I will find the right connections for you, get you in contact with the right people,” he said.
