OUR STORY
Gary & Narissa Saint-Fleur Director and Founder.
Soccer has been a passion from the time I learned to walk or maybe even before that. Growing up in Haiti, how can one not fall in love with soccer? When I moved to the United States in 2003, many believed that I had the soccer skills to make it professionally, but they also had doubts that I would make it for the simple fact that I chose not to play on Saturday, my Sabbath. However, I did not give up on my dream. With my faith in God and the support of my family and friends, I was able to get the opportunity to play professionally. Still, I decided that my God was a better option. I thought professional soccer was for me but God had better in store. He soon lead me into the Occupational Therapy Program (OT) at Howard University. As an OT, my role is to help clients live life to its fullest. Being in this program lead me to realize one of my gifts are helping and serving others.
I started helping others before I knew how much it meant to help others in need. At a young age, my father taught me that being rich does not always bring happiness, but having enough to live and serve would bring the reward of joy to life. Serving is something that was instilled in me while growing up in Haiti. I am the first out of 6 children, and my father wanted us to help others with the small amount that we had and I didn’t understand it then. I did not know how I would or could contribute but God revealed to me the right way to get it done and you are now experiencing the product through Kingdom Goals.
Then in 2007 I met my wife Narissa Thomas. She has a masters degree in Business Administration. Narissa was born in Antigua and we have a lot of island experiences in common. We have similar goals “to serve wherever the Lord leads us”. She has been on many mission trips that has inspired her more to become a servant for God’s Kingdom. There are so many ways we can give back to others, we just have to ask God to show us. Narissa loves children and she has pushed and encouraged me even more to use my gift (soccer) to help others.
I went back to visit Haiti for the first time in 2010, and I was close to losing my life as the earthquakes happened 20 minutes after the plane took off. I lost many friends and family during the earthquake, but God preserved my life.
In December 2011 I took my wife to Port-De-Paix, Haiti to visit. She was amazed and touched, by what she saw. She fell in love with the city and most importantly the people. She wanted to come back and serve the community in anyway possible. Once we came up with the ideas, I didn’t have to explain to her why and where we should start.
In August 2014, we were inspired to open a nonprofit organization. We decided to combine our gifts and passions (soccer & serving) to help reach out to the communities in need. Then as we sat in the park one day brainstorming, the name “Kingdom Goals” came to us. We plan to use soccer as a tool to impact underprivileged communities by focusing on training the children. Through soccer, we believe that we can change lives and help these children accomplish their goals.
I have met people that have helped me, and many have said that “I helped you because I remember the days when your father helped me”. With that phrase we were able to come up with our vision “Creating a chain reaction by helping others, help others to positively impact the future of the community”.