As the second round of group games begin, host nation Germany have continued their impressive start to their World Cup campaign, with a 1-0 win over Poland.

|PIC1|With still a game remaining in the group stages, Oliver Neuville put Germany into the last 16 with a goal in the first minute of stoppage time, leaving Poland pointless after two games.

Ecuador also booked its place in the next stage of the tournament with a comprehensive 3-0 win over Costa Rica.

As the World Cup now looks towards England’s game against Trinidad & Tobago, with the latest news coming out that Wayne Rooney has been declared fit by independent medical experts to play a competitive part in the game, the Christian outreaches currently operating at the World Cup has been apparent, with more and more ministries arriving across Germany’s major cities to share the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Campus Crusade for Christ has already been active in its evangelistic campaigns with a number of resources already out and more outreach projects getting underway.

The CCC's media ministry Global Media Outreach also recently launched an evangelistic website (www.jesusandtheworldcup.com) to direct soccer fans to the joy of knowing God.

Bernie Bitter who works for a Christian sports ministry, Sports Outreach Africa, based in Johannesburg, South Africa described his involvement in outreach projects during the World Cup.

|TOP|Bitter said, “In my own church we have a big screen showing. We have [a player] that has played 66 times for South Africa as our guest speaker. The idea is that it is a men’s evening. We invite as many men to come as possible. Many of them will be from outside the church, but they have a passion for football.

He continued explaining: “We will show some of the football and then we will have a testimony from the soccer player, and then we will use that as an opportunity to challenge people to receive Christ as their personal saviour.”

Also as part of the ministry Bitter is working in, he described outreaches to prisons and schools where the team coaches football to the inmates, and they would use this platform to talk about a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Throughout the 2006 FIFA World Cup, which will continue till 9th July, international prayer networks, churches and ministries all over the world will be in prayer for the spiritual transformation of Germany, the security of the event, and the international evangelistic outreach.