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With Copa America recently occurring, soccer in the Americas has been a prevalent topic. 

In their own way, a crew from Winchester just got to participate. 

Thanks to The Scarlet Thread Missions Guatemala, youth from Winchester recently headed to the North American country of Guatemala to introduce people to Jesus through the sport. 

“We have this desire to take players to Guatemala and share…the love of Jesus and play soccer,” said Gloria Contreras, a former missionary who helps operate the organization, along with her husband, William.

While the Contreras family has been taking teams to Guatemala for several years now, the development process was years in the making. 

In 2013, while sitting with fellow church members, Contreras first discussed how she and others could combat poverty and other challenges in Guatemala. 

Three years later, after meeting and marrying William, the two discovered a shared passion for soccer and spreading the message of hope through the Gospel. 

Finally, in 2022, they took their hopes one step further by taking more than a dozen George Rogers Clark High School students to Guatemala, an event they have done twice more since. 

For William Contreras, a Guatemalan American who will be entering his first year as a girls’ soccer coach at GRC after spending time as an assistant boys’ soccer coach, seeing the event come to fruition has been especially rewarding. 

“At first, I was a little nervous and scared to take a group of teenagers or young kids to [the] country…I knew that they would like it because it’s so different from what it is here,” he said. “The thing that we both have in common is the love of God and the love of soccer.” 

For this summer’s journey, The Scarlet Thread Missions Guatemala team took together four girls and twelve boys. 

While competing with local teams, the group referenced the Gospel and how it connects with them in multiple ways, such as through the words of Revelation and Isaiah 52:7. 

The latter verse, from the New Testament, is heavily emphasized by the organization. 

According to the New International Version, it states, “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, ‘Your God reigns!’”

For those who’ve attended, the experience has been met positively. 

Plus, it has benefitted the Contreras family, with son Luca even participating in soccer in Guatemala. 

“Every single goal we scored, we donated to the players [to] help them get new cleats, soccer gloves, goalie gloves [and more],” he said. “We [have] helped raise money for them, and I think they really liked it.” 

Along with making a further impact in the community, the organization continues looking toward the future. 

“We would love just to continue to take teams down…whether it be from schools, universities, [or] clubs…and just let them experience it,” Gloria Contreras said. “Our heart is to continue to do that.”