I thoroughly enjoyed watching the FIFA World Cup. For a few weeks, it seemed as though the world had come to North America. The beautiful game was played across Mexico, Canada, and the United States, bringing together people from every corner of the globe. Through television and social media, millions shared in the excitement, reminding us how interconnected our world has become.

As I watched the matches, I found myself reflecting on my own soccer experience growing up in South Africa. Recently, my grandson asked me about my days as a soccer player, and his questions brought back memories that have stayed with me for decades.

I attended a small country school where soccer was a passion shared by many students. One year, our team advanced all the way to the inter-school championship final, only to lose. We were disappointed, but I still remember our principal gathering us together after the match. Rather than focusing on defeat, he encouraged us by saying that the following year we could win the inter-school championship.

His words inspired us. The next year, we returned to the final. This time, I scored the winning goal. In the excitement that followed, someone ran onto the field shouting, “Kevin Keegan!” I had no idea who Kevin Keegan was at the time, but I later learned that he was one of the world’s celebrated soccer players. It was a memorable moment that still makes me smile.

Watching the World Cup reminded me that sports have a unique ability to unite people across cultures, languages, and national borders. For a brief season, the world gathers around a shared story.

That reflection also led me to think about my calling today. The world may come to North America through sporting events, media, migration, and global connections, but my vocation is to engage the world through theological education.

For many years, Christian mission was often described primarily in terms of “going.” While there is certainly a biblical call to cross boundaries and bear witness to Christ, mission is more than movement. It is also presence. It is learning, listening, receiving, and being with others in ways that reflect the incarnational ministry of Jesus.

As a Global Theological Educator with International Ministries, I have the privilege of partnering with churches, seminaries, and Christian leaders around the world. These relationships are not one-way exchanges. They are opportunities for mutual learning and reciprocal transformation. I teach, but I also learn. I share, but I also receive. Together, we seek to discern what God is doing in our diverse contexts.

This vision reflects the growing reality of world Christianity and International Ministries’ commitment to mission “from everywhere to everywhere.” God’s mission is no longer understood as a movement from one center to the margins. Rather, God is at work through believers from every nation, culture, and community, calling us into relationships of shared witness and mutual flourishing.

The World Cup reminded me that the world is closer than ever before. Yet while global events bring people together for a season, the gospel creates a community that transcends every border and endures for eternity.

The world came to North America through soccer. By God’s grace, I continue to participate in God’s global mission through theological education—not merely by going, but by being present, building relationships, and learning alongside sisters and brothers from everywhere as we follow Christ together. The world came to North America through soccer.