World Relief Memphis, Greater Memphis Fellowship of Christian Athletes Host 12th Annual Cup of Nations Soccer Tournament & Family Festival

Longstanding community event expands to include family festival cultural experience

Contact: Lauren Rasmussen, media@wr.org, 802.310.4255

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Last Saturday, October 24, World Relief Memphis and the Greater Memphis Fellowship of Christian Athletes just wrapped up another successful annual Cup of Nations and Family Festival, drawing over 1400 registrants from across Memphis. The event featured 16 teams representing different countries, international food from vendors across Memphis, and family activities. The team representing Senegal won the tournament, with the team representing Sudan coming in second. 

The Cup of Nations soccer tournament was launched in 2014 and has become a community staple. This year’s free event added a Family Festival component for neighbors to connect through international food, music, dance, cultural experiences, kids’ activities, and friendly competition. Vendors featured Memphis local businesses, including MyCityRides, Wiwis Hot Dogs, Kalola’s Custom Designs, Matcha Moment, Sweet Eye Coffee, Sana Sweets, BACA, Frutimania, Argento Foods, Las Delicias, Diana’s Delights, Alibaba Mediterranean Grill, Parker’s Concessions 901, MingXia Dumpling and Blue Nile Ethiopian Kitchen. The event featured performances from Casa Art, DLR Dance Studio, Tredwell Elementary Dual Language Program & Kindergarten, and Rumba Room. 

“The annual Cup of Nations tournament is a tribute to the many cultures that come together to make Memphis such a vibrant city, and we are thrilled to help bring about another successful event,” commented PJ Moore, office director of World Relief Memphis. “This is Memphis at its best: friendly sportsmanship, amazing food, fun for the whole family, and a blending of cultures. World Relief Memphis is in the business of welcoming our newest neighbors, compelled through our faith in Jesus, and we couldn’t have asked for better partners in welcoming our neighbors to this event than Fellowship of Christian Athletes and Bellevue Baptist Church.”  

This event is always free to attend and brings hundreds of neighbors together to celebrate the cultures that make Memphis unique. Last year, roughly 350 participated or attended. This year, more than double that number attended, with over 200 tournament participants, over 150 volunteers, and many others. 

“One of the gifts that God gave Bellevue is an incredible piece of property, and we are honored to use it,” commented Ben Mandrell, senior pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church. “We are thankful for the partnership with World Relief Memphis and FCA – what a beautiful day we shared in getting to serve such a diverse group of athletes and their families.” 

Fellowship of Christian Athletes West Tennessee Director Jeremy Wilbur commented, “It has been a great partnership that allows FCA to use our strength through ministering to athletes and people in sports while allowing World Relief Memphis to do what it does well and minister to the international community.” 

To learn more about World Relief Memphis and get involved in events like this, visit: worldrelief.org/Memphis. 

About World Relief   

World Relief is a global Christian humanitarian organization whose mission is to boldly engage the world’s greatest crises in partnership with the church. The organization was founded in the aftermath of World War II to respond to the displacement crisis in war-torn Europe. Since then, for 80 years, across more than 100 countries, World Relief has partnered with local churches and communities to build a world where families thrive , and communities flourish. Since the 1970s, World Relief has partnered with local churches to welcome and serve hundreds of thousands of refugees and other immigrants throughout the United States. To learn more, visit worldrelief.org