UK Mission Trips: Sports Ministry +

Join us as we partner with communities across the U.K.—multiplying sports evangelism, discipleship movements, church-planting initiatives, and outreach ministries that serve trauma-impacted and at-risk youth.

The Spiritual Need in the UK

Having produced some of the world’s finest and most notorious Christian leaders, the UK has a long and tumultuous history with Christianity. Undoubtedly, it has played a vital role in shaping the region into what it is today. However, its influential foothold is slipping—beginning with the younger generation.

• Currently, 37% of the United Kingdom’s population of 64 million identify as non-religious, and in the young adult population, that number is as high as 70% per a British Social Attitudes 2018 survey.
• According to Operation World, England is experiencing the ninth slowest rate of church growth of any country in the world. Many churches are in a state of decline and are considering closing their doors as secularism, postmodernism, and Islam replace historic Christianity.
• Those who identify as “Christian” are now a minority (46.2%), down from 59.3% a decade earlier, while Islam adherents have grown from 4.9 percent of the population to 6.5 percent.
• 59% of young people in the UK never attend religious services, and nearly two-thirds of young people in the UK never pray, according to The Guardian (‘Christianity as default is gone’: the rise of a non-Christian Europe)
• The greatest relative increase of any religious affiliation has been for Shamanism. 8,000 people in the UK identified as Shamanist in 2021, compared with just 650 in 2011. Shamanism itself is defined on its UK website as “not a religion, more an authentic expression of mankind’s spirituality.”
• 75% of churches in the UK have no “youth provision at all” (*no youth groups, no youth workers, resources, etc.)

UK Drowning in Spiritual Darkness

During the 19^th century, hundreds of missionaries carried the gospel from England to nearly every corner of the globe as a great religious awakening began to expand. Today, however, the nation that once stood as a lighthouse of truth is drowning in spiritual darkness. Yet amidst such spiritual destitution, God is on the move through “American Sports Camps” in the UK. Sports camps are being used to help plant new churches, revitalize churches in atrition, develop youth ministries, and strengthen disciple-making communities.

Missional Focus

Our missional focus in the UK is to help the local church and community leaders engage disconnected youth with fresh expressions of the Gospel and make disciples of Jesus among their young population. Breakaway has been a catalyst for multiplying sports ministries and sustained youth outreach in Northern Ireland and England.

Ways you can be praying for Breakaway partnerships in the UK:

• For local churches and church plants endeavoring to reach and disciple young people in their communities.
• For youth camps and sports ministries to effectively engage youth with the Gospel and build lasting relationships of faith.
• For chaplaincy programs and volunteer training, equipping those who serve marginalized and at-risk youth with wisdom, compassion, and endurance.
• For our training initiatives for youth workers, as we equip leaders with trauma-informed approaches to minister effectively to young people who have experienced adversity and loss.
• For God to raise up a new generation of passionate Christ-followers, youth leaders, and mentors who will carry the mission forward.
• For intentional “next steps” in spiritual growth to be implemented alongside sports camps and outreach events, helping young people grow deeper in their walk with Christ.

Fill out our Mission Trip Inquiry Form.

Support our teams in the UK