"I love the sense of satisfaction that I get when I’ve done a swimming workout or race, and know that I gave my whole being and heart to God in every moment of the swim. It’s the best worship I can offer him."
Mit Gott im Rennen
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Helmfried Riecker, Haenssler, 2006 ISBN (10) 3 -77751-4505-2 [ Book in German - title means Racing with God]
Helmfried Riecker was the founder of the German sports ministry - Sportler ruft Sportler now called SRS Pro Sportler. The book is the account of a life in ministry and in sport as Helmfried continued to complete as a trials motorcyclist all though his time at SRS.
Helmfried is a role model for ministry in sport, by a Christian involved in the sports culture - as opposed to those who do not value sport but only see it as "a tool for evangelism." When Helmfried says, "Somehow, I could not imagine life without being involved in sport", (Page 152) many will not understand what he is talking about, others will rejoice and resonate. Who can be most effective in reaching competitive sportspeople, surely a Christian who shares their passion for the sport.
His thoughts on how faith and sport came together are instructive. For him being a Christian meant "being completely honest with officials" (Page 114), to the extent of informing them of faults which should have been penalized that they might have missed. Before important competitions he prayed that he would rather lose than treat an opponent unfairly" (Page 122)
The book demonstrates a constant integration of faith and sport. Helmfried prays for people and for races. It is equally natural for him to pray for wisdom in solving technical problems with his bike.
One thing that amazed me was that Helmfried was pioneering sports ministry years before anyone else had thought of it. In 1977 thirty-three people attended a Christian Trials training camp in Belgium and a year later he organized an 8 day multisport summer seminar (Page 127-8) he started doing services at Sunday races in 1974.
I welcome this book as a documentation of the origins and development of one of the pioneer ministries in world sports ministry. The book has two negatives. There is too much information on the technical aspects of Trials motor-cycling. That the book is only in German, makes it inaccessible to most readers.