Monday Soccer Game Turns Into a Pathfinder Club in Brazil

On Sunday, September 27, 2026, two teenagers reached by FutBíblia, a Bible Soccer project in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, were baptized, according to the South American Division (SAD) of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, which described the ceremony as the project's first result. FutBíblia is a Monday-night soccer game paired with Bible study, launched in March by the couple Amanda de Almeida and Vladimir Rodrigues in the São João Batista neighborhood. More than 40 boys turned up for the first gathering, and in April the group grew into the Sírios Pathfinder Club, with nearly 50 children and teens. The SAD news portal Notícias Adventistas published the story on September 30, and the Adventist News Network (ANN) carried it to an international audience on October 5.

📰What is FutBíblia (Bible Soccer) in Belo Horizonte?

According to Notícias Adventistas, the SAD's news portal, it all started in March 2026 in São João Batista, a neighborhood of Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais. Amanda de Almeida and Vladimir Rodrigues were uneasy about how many local teenagers spent hours on the street, within reach of drugs. The couple chose to invite them to small Bible study meetings, hoping to talk to them about Jesus. The project's name joins two Portuguese words, futebol (soccer) and Bíblia (Bible).

Their reason was close to home. Amanda told the SAD that the two of them raised their own children in that neighborhood and followed the stories of many boys who ended up in crime. Prayer came before any plan: “We prayed that God would give us direction on how to attract the boys,” she said (free translation from Portuguese).

⚽How did a Monday soccer game become a Pathfinder Club?

The couple built on what the boys already enjoyed. Since they were used to playing soccer on Saturdays, Vladimir proposed a Monday-night match, with the Bible as part of it. Every game opened with a message and a prayer, the SAD reports. More than 40 boys came to the very first one.

A club was the plan all along. One month after the first game, the organizers began bringing the boys to church to form a Pathfinder Club, which Vladimir called the project's main goal. The Sírios Pathfinder Club was made official in April 2026 with nearly 50 children and teens, according to the SAD.

📅What does a week at the Sírios club look like?

As new volunteers joined, the activities spread across the whole week, from Monday to Sunday. In the schedule the SAD describes, each day has its own role.

The tutoring idea came from Amanda's brother. In a conversation with the principal of the neighborhood school, he heard that the kids were having trouble with their subjects, and he offered to teach. Classes run on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, Amanda told the SAD. The format is close to the one in our guide to community tutoring run by the Pathfinder Club.

Weekly schedule according to Notícias Adventistas, of the SAD (Sept. 30, 2026).

📖Why did 40 personalized Bibles make a difference?

The Friday meeting was meant for the youngest children, those under the club's minimum age. The hurdle was a practical one. Participants outnumbered the Bibles, so the kids read in pairs and nobody could keep studying at home, the SAD says.

Help came through Vladimir's circle of friends. An acquaintance of his who sells books and Bibles became interested in the project and, with backing from another person, secured a donation of 40 small Bibles. To make the gift feel special, the couple designed their own stickers, and every copy carried a prayer written for the boy or girl who would receive it.

Testimonies published by the SAD show the effect. A boy who came to know Jesus at the Monday games said he has changed even the way he speaks, now prays three times a day and plans to read the Bible at home with his mother. A girl who did not play soccer, and only came along to be with her friends, was one of the first to join the club and says she is already getting ready to serve as a unit Counselor.

💧How many FutBíblia teens were baptized?

Two. On Sunday, September 27, 2026, two teenagers reached by the project were baptized, the SAD reported three days later. The report does not name the church where the ceremony took place, and it records the hope that other young people will make the same choice later on.

For a teen who follows this story and is thinking about taking the same step, baptism in the Seventh-day Adventist Church is a personal decision that usually comes after Bible studies. The article baptism: what it is and how to know if I'm ready walks through that path at a calm pace.

🗺️What does this story reveal about clubs in Minas Gerais and South America?

Sport as a way in also shows up at another club in Minas Gerais. On September 24, 2026, the same SAD portal covered the Ityrapuan Pathfinder Club in Lavras, Minas Gerais, which opened a free jiu-jitsu program to the community. Residents of all ages started coming to the training sessions and spending time with the Pathfinders.

Interviewed for that report, Pastor Jeferson Silva, who leads Pathfinders and Adventurers in eight South American countries, credited the club with a reach the church would hardly have on its own. According to Club Management System data cited by the SAD, 75% of the members of Pathfinder and Adventurer clubs in South America are already on the membership rolls of the Adventist Church. That leaves 25% who are not yet members.

I see the club as an agency that wins people for JesusPastor Jeferson Silva, Pathfinder and Adventurer director for eight South American countries, to Notícias Adventistas (Sept. 24, 2026, free translation from Portuguese)

🧭What can leaders of other clubs learn from FutBíblia?

The Belo Horizonte story leaves clues for anyone thinking of starting something similar. The starting point was a habit the boys already had, and the goal of opening a club was clear from the first game. After that, the project answered real needs in the neighborhood, such as struggles at school and the lack of Bibles.

A community project only becomes an official Pathfinder Club once the local church approves it and it is registered with the Conference or Mission. The guide how to start a Pathfinder Club at your church lays out the steps, and the article on friendship evangelism helps keep the focus on people while respecting each family's timing.