Josephs & Daniels of the Marketplace (1) - Kaka

A devout evangelical Christian, Kaká became engrossed in religion at the age of 12: "I learnt that it is faith that decides whether something will happen or not." He suffered a career-threatening and possibly paralysis-inducing spine fracture at the age of 18 as a result of a swimming pool accident, but remarkably made a full recovery. The next year, Kaká made his comeback on the pitch, when he came in as a reserve-substitute in the Torneio Rio-São Paulo final match and scored two goals, among them the match-winner, in less than five minutes. He attributes his recovery to God.

This year, He famously removed his jersey to reveal an "I Belong to Jesus" T-shirt and openly engaged in prayer moments after the final whistle of Milan's 2007 Champions League triumph. Kaká previously sported the same shirt during Milan's 2004 Scudetto celebration and after Brazil's defeat of Germany in the 2002 World Cup final, and had the same phrase, along with "God Is Faithful," stitched onto the tongues of his boots.

During the postmatch celebration following Brazil's 4-1 win over Argentina in the 2005 FIFA Confeferations Cup final, he and several of his teammates, among them backup keeper Gomes and defender Lucio, wore T-shirts with "Jesus Loves You" printed on them in various languages.

Kaká is a member of the organization Atletas de Cristo ("Athletes of Christ"). His goal celebrations consists of him pointing to the sky as a sign of thanks to God after every goal, and is proud that he was a virgin when he married. Since November 2004, he has served as an Ambassador Against Hunger for the United Nations World Food Program, the youngest to do so at the time of his appointment.

Recently, in response to Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bundchen's assertion that in the modern age, "no one" stays a virgin till their wedding night, Kaka simply replied that he and his wife were glad to be virgins when they got married as “it tested our love”.

“The Bible,” continues Kaka, “teaches that true love waits until marriage, and if our life today is so beautiful, I think it is because we waited.” Kaka added that while “there are always temptations”, the sacrifices that he and his wife made for each other have been more than worth it. (extracted from Wikipedia)

Cool dude.

The market place needs more like him. Christians who are at the top of their professions and yet not ashamed to stand for God's truths and values. Highly visible folks who can be the type of role models to our kids.

People who are not afraid of being ridiculed for standing firm on God's values instead of following the ways of the world.

Thanks Kaka, for shining for Jesus. May the Lord's face shine upon you always, and may you continue to bring His light to the people through the world of football.

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