About

SportQuest Baton Rouge is a high energy inner city sports evangelism project established in 2012. Each summer, high school, college, and young adult athletes come to Baton Rouge to lead a sports camp for over 200 children from the Gardere neighborhood. During a 4 day training camp, the coaches are trained to weave the gospel into sports instruction so they are prepared to model Christian life and challenge Gardere youth to play with purpose.

Alongside the sports camp, the SportQuest team completes service projects in Baton Rouge, from helping turn an old church building into a Christian school for Gardere youth, to assisting with a playground installation at the school, and volunteering at a local youth summer program.

Gardere is a low-income, inner city neighborhood in Baton Rouge. Although many of the families are struggling, there is a strong sense of community and desire to help the youth overcome obstacles to success. Located in the deep south, Baton Rouge is a racially and socially segregated city, where African Americans and other minorities face racism and discrimination and often find themselves trapped in deteriorating neighborhoods and a failing public school system. These social problems can leave communities feeling hopeless, but as Christians we know there is GREAT HOPE and EVERLASTING LIFE in the gospel of Jesus Christ, and that true healing of social ills is only found in relationship with Him. This is the truth on which SportQuest Baton Rouge is founded.

SportQuest Baton Rouge partners with multiple churches and community organizations because we believe that denominational and racial diversity can be leveraged for the glory of God. When God’s people work together to do ministry, ministry gets done!! Furthermore, when people see the body of Christ working together in unity and love, they see a community they would like to join. Some of our partners include The Gardere Initiative, Gardere Youth Alliance, Gardere Christian Community School, Connections Ministry, The Chapel, Faith Chapel Church of God, Iglesia Aposento Alto, and Istrouma Baptist Church.

Interested in finding out more about SportQuest and/or joining the SportQuest Baton Rouge team? Check out www.sportquest.org to see more of what we are about and to sign up to be a SportQuest coach next summer!