Barnabas Ministries UK

Joel Ward
CRYSTAL CLEAR ABOUT MY FAITH!

He may be a Premier League player, but growing up in a Christian family has helped Joel Ward understand about what matters in life

Premier League ace Joel Ward has a message for football fans: Christians aren’t weirdoes!

The Crystal Palace full-back was part of the Eagles‘ promotion team in 2Ol3 and impressed in his first year in the top flight under new boss Tony Pulis.

Ward, 24, is a committed Christian who believes God has helped him reach the top. He wants to use his influence as a believer to help spread the gospel message.
He says, “For me [l want] to be able to be an influence in the world of football, in my club, in the league and lower leagues; to be able to stand up and to be known as a Christian. Christians can be into sports — we’re not weirdoes. We are normal people. l don’t think I’d be where l am if I didn’t have my faith. It’s probably been the biggest part of my life and in my career so far. l was very lucky, I’ve been brought up in a church and my parents were heavily involved in church and so was l from a young age.”

Ward joined the Selhurst Park outfit from Portsmouth in a £400,000 move. He is popular with their fans and has dreams of playing for England — but football isn’t the defender’s only priority.

“l realise football isn’t necessarily everything,” he says. “l grew up in a church and I’ve always had a passion for making an impact and being an influence in people’s lives, in a positive way and through the church.

l realise for a boy I’m blessed to do what l do but the most important thing for me is impacting and influencing lives in a way that is positive and for the good.

Growing up, football was always on Sundays and up until l was 16 I’d only played once a month and as a kid it was tough, because l love football. All l wanted to do is play, but my parents always told me to keep working hard, keep my head down and to keep moving forward.

“God’s my rock. When you’re injured or when you’re not on form or all the things that could go wrong are going wrong one at a time, at least God has my back, l can rest on him.

“I want to play at the higher level and one day wear the shirt with three lions. That will be a dream come true! I’m just going to keep my head down, keep doing what l do and work hard with all l have. No one knows what the future holds.”