French striker Olivier Giroud of Chelsea FC (England) has publicly talked about his experience with the Alpha Course.

In a video shared on Twitter by Alpha founder Nicky Gumbel, Giroud pointed out that “doing the Alpha online this last two months was a fantastic experience”.

According to Giroud, “to share my faith with friends I invited to do Alpha in a  not threatening way, I really enjoyed it, and I'm pleased my friends could enjoy it also. That's the spirit!”.

“I highly recommend it. Don't hesitate to do it. It's fantastic and you won't be disappointed. Be blessed and keep being a blessing”, Chelsea footballer concluded.

Many thanks to @_OlivierGiroud_ for his kind words and example of inviting his friends on the @alphacourse online pic.twitter.com/WTOqgjOTY9

— Nicky Gumbel (@nickygumbel) July 1, 2020

Not the first time

It is not the first time that Giroud shared his faith publicly. Last year, he, along with several Christian players including, Lucas Moura, David Alcibiades and Paul-José M'Poku, organised a gala event in London, to raise money for the persecuted Christians.

“It is unimaginable to see so many persecuted Christians in the world today. It's amazing to have numbers like that. We have to talk about it. There needs to be awareness”, Giroud underlined during the gala.

The French striker has a tattoo with the first line of Psalm 23 in Latin (Dominus regit me et nihil mihi deerit: ‘The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want’), in his right arm.

“Every time I read the words of the Holy Bible, it makes me feel grateful”

He says he is “very grateful to have the opportunity to live my dream. To live every single day for me is a day blessed”, he said after winning the 2018 World Cup with France.

“Every time I read the words of the Holy Bible, it makes me feel grateful about everything that has happened to me, and positive”, he added.

Alpha courses exploded during the pandemia

Online Alpha course sign-ups tripled in the UK due to the coronavirus lockdown. Last month, the head of Northern Ireland Alpha, Jonny Campbell said that, since the pandemic started, “there are now 1,500 digital Alpha courses running in the UK” .

Although they “have never done Alpha online before. And we didn't really think it would work […] everyone seems to be loving them and nobody's dropping out, which is another extraordinary thing”, the director of communications for Alpha International, Mark Elsdon-Dew, told British news website Premier.