THE action at Sabina Park moves to a new pitch today as scores of Christian ‘soldiers’ bowl off their game plan to win souls for the Lord and promote healthy living.

HOPE 2007, the multi-denominational group of Christians who last month undertook a massive clean-up campaign across the Corporate Area, will be taking their evangelistic efforts to new levels during the staging of Cricket World Cup 2007.

On Monday, co-chairman of Hope 2007 and Jamaica’s lead facilitator of Caribbean Sports Reach, Reverend Percival Palmer, said the group would be unveiling the interactive side of its efforts in the upcoming days in its HOPE Zone, which will operate from the St William Grant Park facility in downtown Kingston.

“We will be using the friendship evangelism method to share in a non-threatening way. It’s to make the initial contact with locales and visitors alike and evoke curiosity, and then we will get a chance to share. So it’s not overt evangelism per se,” Palmer explained.

He said the Zone, which was formally launched in the Trench Town Community on Sunday, will be opened on non-game days, specifically March 14, 15, 20, 22 and 24.

“At the HOPE Zone, we will have activities like face painting, music, drama, exchange of country pins, counselling and testimonials from sports persons, not only cricketers,” Palmer told the Observer.

In addition, the group says it will be collaborating with the health ministry to hold presentations on violence prevention as well as carry out HIV/AIDS testing.

In the meantime, Palmer said the group was working on having brochures and information packages placed in the hotels in the Corporate Area to alert visitors.

Palmer said while there were no plans to have individuals from HOPE operating from inside the cricket venue, the group would use the facilities at the neighbouring Bethel United Church of Jesus Christ Apostolic on South Camp Road to operate an outreach centre.

“We are looking to have the church open so that if somebody needs to go to a church, it’s right across from the venue and they can walk in if they need to,” Palmer said.

Stating that he did not expect language differences to be a major barrier, Palmer said the intention was to “show the Church that in order to minister, it had to get close to people”.

“We are showing to the Church that in order to minister, you have to go close to people and so we are showcasing different methods and models in terms of doing evangelism, in terms of persons who are converted, we hope they will use the models in their countries,” he said.

In the meantime, the HOPE 2007 co-chair is optimistic.

“We believe that we have gotten off to a good start with regards to the opening ceremony [Cricket World Cup], and I believe it is our time to shine. I keep saying it may be cricket, but God is up to other things in terms of what He is doing in our society. We are still expectant that even before the World Cup is finished, we are going to see some great things happening in terms of Jamaica and the rest of the Caribbean,” Palmer added.

The umbrella group, comprising Christians drawn from various denominations, partnered with the Kingston and St Andrew Corporation (KSAC) on a massive four-day, clean-up campaign in February to prepare Kingston for the games. The effort has since spread to other parishes, including St Catherine, and will continue into Montego Bay, St Mary, and Port Maria in April before spreading islandwide.

Meanwhile, Palmer said the work being done by HOPE 2007 would be replicated in Barbados, St Kitts and Guyana, some of the regional countries where the games are to be held.

The ICC Cricket World Cup began in Kingston on Sunday, and is expected to draw to a close on April 28 with the final games in Barbados.

HOPE is the acronym for Hospitality, Outreach, Prayer and Empowerment.