Buhay Sports - Jesus is Life

Final Day in Cagayan de Oro

2010-06-21T01:24:00.000-07:00

Our last day in CDO allowed us to reconnect with a long-time ministry partner who we had just worked with last month. Our friends in the Christian Businessman's Fellowship had scheduled us through Thursday, but our flight left on Saturday morning so we called Pastor Noel to help us connect with some Pastors and Churches to evangelize in their area on our last day.

Our first 2 games were at a small court in Barangay Bugo. Our first game was played against some kids from a local Christian orphanage. To keep it as fair as possible we only fielded the 6 smallest players on our team, but it was still a blow out. We played a set score, and the final was 30-16. After the game, we just had a sit down with the 6 orphans and did our best to try to encourage them in their Christian walk. All of them are professed Christians, so we gave them New Testaments and prayed with them. They seemed encouraged that we took the time to talk to them and we were happy to meet some of our Christian brothers.

The next game was at the same court against some of the adults from the community. The game was no match on the basketball side of things, but with the heat and sun it was fairly difficult to get people to come out. We did our best to put on a good show and try to make as much noise as possible to spark the interest of anyone who could hear us. In the end, we may have had 75 people there. We did our normal presentation and Micah F shared his testimony. We made sure everyone got a tract, even people watching from close to 100 yards away from across a field. We won the game 40 - 28.

One of the more interesting things about our 2 morning games was an older gentleman that we met. When we first arrived he was very excited to see some Americans in his little village. He ended up being the ref of our game, and while his calls were suspect, his friendliness and hospitality were not. After our two games, it was about 11 am, which in US time would have been 10 pm CST Thursday night. Those NBA fans out there will remember that this was about mid way through the second half of game 7 of the NBA finals between the Lakers and the Celtics. We ended up inside the man's house and watched the last 45 minutes of the game huddled around a TV in his tiny living room area. It was pretty exciting and we were all going back and forth about which team we wanted to win.

Following the game was over we headed out to the van we rode in, while we were leaving I saw Pastor Noel talking to the man. Noel shared with me later that this man had accepted Christ many years ago, but had not been serving Christ for many years. He told Pastor Noel that he felt like Zacchaeus, and was so encouraged that we had spent time in his home he vowed to return to serving God then and there. We connected him with the local pastor who we had partnered with for that game and we are confident that this pastor will help get him back on the right path. What a blessing that God allowed us to be a part of this story. I don't remember the man's name, but please pray for the Bugo Zacchaeus, as well as the many other people who heard the Gospel on Friday morning.

After the game we headed to the local church and had lunch: The Pinoy equivalent to rotisserie chicken... so good! We had a chance to pray with the local pastor and gave him a good size love offering to help with his family and his ministry in Bugo.

We had a chance to rest at the hotel before our last game of the trip, then we headed back out to the Barangay Hall in Bugo. It started out with a small crowd, but by the time we got to half time, the place was pretty full. I would say that over 400 people were there and we handed out at least that many tracts. Micah G shared his testimony and Pastor Noel gave a Gospel presentation in the local dialect. The other team was very physical and played very hard, but in the end, we managed a 77-62 victory. Please keep all the people in Bugo in your prayers. Those who heard our Gospel presentation as well as those who did not but might come into contact with one of the pastors there.

The final game of this trip went great and we know that God is going to use it to enlarge His kingdom. It was however, a bittersweet ending to what I guess could be called a bit of an era. One of the people who have been instrumental in starting Buhay Sports and bringing it to where it is today, played his final game as a full time missionary in the Philippines. Daniel was on our very first trip over 4 years ago, and while we wish Daniel the best as he follows God's leading back to the states (June 30), we hope God will bless his plan to continue coming back for short term trips in the future. Thanks Daniel for all the work you have put into making this ministry what it is, we are blessed that God allowed us to benefit from the talents and abilities He blessed you with.

We have another trip starting July 14! Please keep us in your prayers as we prepare for another great opportunity to share the Gospel with many who have not heard, and many who need to hear again!

Rain Rain Go Away... Day 4 Recap

2010-06-17T09:34:00.001-07:00

Today was our last day with the Christian Businessman's Fellowship in Cagayan de Oro. We met up with a friend for lunch and then met with another fried for ice cream after that. We had some free time at the mall for a few hours and then we headed to our game. Thankfully, our game was just across the street from our hotel at Capitol University.

As we were heading to the court, I looked up and thought that I was sure glad that we were playing in a gym. It has rained every night since we have been in Mindanao and it looked like tonight would be no different. As we got closer to the court, I was disappointed to see that we were in fact, not playing in a gym, or even in a covered court. It was wide open. As our team huddled together to start the game, we said a quick prayer asking God to hold off the rain and give CJ the right words to share with the crowd at half time. Even as we were walking onto the court drops were starting to sprinkle down on the court. It was disappointing, but I just thought: "keep praying, God is in control of this." We were praying the whole game, and while the clouds never left and there was a little bit of lightning in the distance, after a few seconds of sprinkles, there was no more rain. It was amazing to see God answer that prayer within moments.

We got the game started against the Capitol College Varsity team. We extended the lead up to 10 or 15 on a couple of different occasions, but these scrappy players kept coming back and we had to hang on to win 85 - 80. CJ shared at half time, and because of the rain we had already handed out tracts to everyone in case we did get rained out. A local pastor again shared a message of salvation and led the crowd through the sinners prayer. The local businessman's fellowship and church members will be following up over the coming days/weeks/months. I hope we get a chance to hear how many people accepted Christ, but we know He did not hold off the rain for nothing! Keep Capitol University in your prayers!

CJ Sharing his testimony with the students and players from Capitol University. It is amazing how intently people listen when they know you can do a 360 dunk.

Our team listening as the local pastor shares the gospel with the spectators in their language.

Here is some of our team with the opposing team. Most of us were probably getting dragged off for other photo ops.

Finally, A Little Break!

2010-06-17T09:26:00.000-07:00

This morning we woke up and headed back to Cagayan de Oro, the city we had originally flown into. We had to leave very early so Kirk could get to the airport in time to catch a flight back to Manila and then get to class at Ateneo. We met up with our hosts in CDO, the Cagayan de Oro Chapter of the Christian Businessman's Fellowship. After we dropped Kirk at the airport we headed to the hotel where we will be staying for the rest of the trip. We finally had some real time to relax. Up to now, it has just been a few minutes here and there, but because we had left so early we had a good amount of time at the hotel before our next appointment. We ate lunch together as a team at Pizza Hut. Real Nice!

We headed to our game at 4:30 pm in Barangay Puerto. We arrived about 5:30 and there were a few people around, but there was no opposing team to be found. We waited and waited and by 6:45 there was still no team. I talked to our hosts and told them that if no one was there by 7:00 we would just do a dunk contest and play some games with the kids instead of playing a full game. I am not sure if that had anything to do with it, but the team showed up right at 7. One benefit of sitting there so long was that word had gotten out that there were Americans at the court. By the time the game started there were close to 2000 people crowded into the little covered court.

This is just a small section of the crowd. See how people squeeze in just to get a glimpse of the game?

Mark getting mauled by fans who want pictures, or autographs... or a lock of his hair

We had a great game, and while it was not a close score, the rims were back to regular size and CJ and Josh were able to keep everyone excited with some dunks (mostly CJ). The final score was 84 - 64. Micah F shared his testimony at halftime and we gave tracts to everyone. A local pastor shared a Gospel presentation and we invited everyone to visit the local church on Sunday. Pray that the words we spoke and the tracts we gave out will lead someone to give their life to Christ or stop in to church on Sunday and hear more about it.

Vince handing out tracts to spectators in Barangay Puerto

Tuesday: Big Games and Big Waterfalls

2010-06-17T09:00:00.000-07:00

We woke up today at 6:00 AM to meet our hosts from the Iligan City Businessman's Fellowship. They have a weekly meeting where they play and this week they invited us to join in a quick game with some of their friends. By 7:30 we finished a short friendship game which we won 62-40. Immediately after we played a local barangay team that was made up of several local star players. Although it was 8:00 in the morning we had a pretty large crowd. It was by far the most competitive game of the trip and we came back from a 20 point deficit to win 132-120. Afterward, Kirk Long was able to share his testimonies with the local players and some of our security team that has been following us around for the last 2 days.

Our team posing with the guys from our morning games in Iligan City

Daniel with the guys from the Army who were assigned to our team while we were in Iligan City. No worries parents, this is just something that the local mayors like to do to make us feel welcome. We weren't really in danger, although, it should help you sleep a little better at night knowing we have 24 hour armed guards :)

After our game we had meetings with the local mayor and the congressman of the area. Then were able to take in some sightseeing and we visited Tinago falls. Tinago Falls is a great local waterfall where we were able to swim and cliff dive. Some of the missionaries who have grown up in the Philippines said it was the nicest nature spot they have seen in all of the country.

All of the guys who made the journey to the waterfall. It was a blast! There were a few kids who showed us how to climb the rocks for a good high jump into the water.

When we returned from Tinago falls we headed to our 3rd game of the day. As we pulled up to Tibangan court we could hear that the crowd was ready for us. The court was completely packed with well over 1000 people. Vince Burke challenged the crowd to give their lives to Christ at halftime and we handed out tracts to many eager fans. Generally we are able to get the crowd excited with lots of dunks, but the goals at this court were well over 10' 6" high... no one was dunking tonight, but the crowd stayed excited because the game was close... after a few scares, we pulled out an 85-80 victory.

As we left the game we headed to a short dinner where we were able to meet with our opponents in a smaller setting and Daniel was able to share the Gospel with them. Please pray for these players as we challenged them to make a decision for Christ.

June 2010, Trip to Iligan City and Cagayan de Oro, Mindanao Island

2010-06-17T08:38:00.000-07:00

Today was a long, long day. We woke up at 2:00 a.m. to meet up and load the van for our trip to the airport. We headed out at 2:30 and arrived at the airport at 3:15 for our 4:20 flight. We made it through check in pretty quick but by the time we got through all of the security checkpoints it was time to board the plane.

Our plane landed at 5:30 a.m. and our hosts from the Iligan City Christian Businessman's Fellowship were there to pick us up. They really rolled out the welcome wagon! As we walked out of the airport they had a large banner welcoming our team and they gave us all medallions to wear around our neck. As we went throughout the day, this treatment would continue. It was such a blessing to see people so excited about getting involved in ministry to their community.

One of the biggest blessings was reconnecting with Brother Nelson, who Josh has worked with the last couple of years. He was the one who helped coordinate the details of our trip. He is a local businessman in Iligan City and Cagayan de Oro, but his passion for ministry is evident and the smile never left his face as we traveled around to our different events.

After stopping for some breakfast we headed 2 hours north to Iligan City, where we will spend our first two days. We got situated and had about 30 minutes to relax, then we went out for the motorcade. This consisted of driving around to the main parts of town and throwing out fliers from the back of the trucks we were riding in. It was going great until it started raining. We still did our best, but by the end it was pouring so had that we all got inside the trucks and rolled the windows down to invite people to come to our games. We also stopped at the mall to hand out fliers and invite people to the games as well.

The view of our motorcade from the front vehicle. This is before the rain came pouring down!

At the mall inviting people to come to our game. Everywhere we go, people want to take pictures of us with their cell phone cameras! Isn't technology wonderful?!?

After the motorcade we traveled back to the hotel and prepared for the game. We had a few minutes to relax, and then we headed to the game. We arrived and the game went as normal. It was a pretty tough team, but we maintained control pretty easily with the help of our late addition CJ, who is a friend who does sports ministry in Cebu City. Josh shared his testimony at half time and a local pastor followed up with a Gospel presentation in the local language. We gave the over 1000 people in attendance a gospel tract that the pastor also explained in detail. We went on to win the game 87 - 75.

After the game, we met the opposing team for dinner at Ritzas. After a great meal of Lechon Baboy (Whole Pig Roast) we had a chance to tell them about Buhay Sports and then share a more specific challenge to them as athletes to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. CJ is a friend of ours who is just out of college in the states and is spending the coming months in Cebu City helping out with sports ministry teams there. He told him that when his life was centered around basketball it was never going to last forever, but when he committed his life to join the team of Jesus Christ, he was on a team that would be playing for eternity. It was a really great perspective to share with athletes. After CJ spoke, we had a local pastor who came up and led the players in the sinners prayer. We don't know how many of them said it and truly made a decision to give their hearts to Christ, but a few of them talked to our hosts after the dinner was over and said they had accepted Christ. Our hosts and the local pastors will continue to follow up and hopefully we will get a full report down the road, but at this point, even to know that 1 or 2 have professed salvation makes the long long day worth it!

Here is CJ at the restaurant sharing his testimony with the team we had just played

Keep the people from Iligan City who heard our presentation and the players who we shared with after the game in your prayers. While some of them made professions of faith, there are still more who need to give their life to Christ.

Day 8: Finishing Strong

2010-05-24T00:54:00.000-07:00

Our first game today was at 9:00 a.m. Since we arrived in Cagayan de Oro last night, we were assured that we had no chance of beating our opponents. The team was made up of alumni/former players from Xavier University. We definitely looked sluggish at the start but rallied for an even score at halftime. During halftime we introduced ourselves, and shared our testimony with the opposing team and all of those in attendance. Then as we handed out tracts the Christian radio station who promoted the game (The New J) gave away free merchandise such as CDs, T-shirts and Coffee Mugs. They had promised over the radio that the first 300 guests would get a chance to win prizes as a way to help build the attendance. It was a great time of ministry and we made a lot of good contacts for one of the radio station's partnering pastors. Please keep pastor Kevin in your prayers as he follows up the contacts that were made at our game. We also would like you to pray that those who were in attendance would also switch their radio station to 103.3 fm, and be ministered to even more through the Christian music that is played on the radio. After all of the halftime festivities, we started the second half. We had to overcome a power outage for a while, and some interesting calls from the officials, but we managed to pull off a 90-77 win.

Ball Hog Count: 913 + 90 = 1003

Our second game of the day was in Balulang, a small community just outside of CDO. The game was played against a selection (all-star) team from the area. The New J radio station had also done a lot of work to prepare for this game. The crowd was pretty good for a small covered court outside of town, and the team we were playing was very talented. We were up about 10 at half time. It is amazing how excited people get during a half time presentation that includes free gifts. They really seemed to be into it and were excited to hear what we had to say as it was leading up to the raffle for free stuff. For our part of half time, we all introduced ourselves and then Alvin gave a brief Gospel presentation. While we handed out tracts The New J gave away Christian music, Tshirts and coffee mugs. As the buzzer sounded to start the second half, what we had come to do was complete! We still however, had 20 minutes of basketball left to play. We did our best against a very talented team and despite some excellent play by our opponents we hit a couple of late shots and some free throws to take a 3 point lead into the final buzzer: 85 -82.

Please keep the city of Cagayan de Oro and the province of Bukidnon in your prayers. We layed a lot of groundwork that pastors will follow up, but they need your prayers as they work to bring in the harvest. We are so thankful for those who have been following along have prayed and will continue to pray for the work in Mindanao. Salamat Po! (Thank You)

Ball Hog Count: 1003 + 85 = 1088

For more info about our Ball Hog Fundraiser click here!

Day 7: Radio Personalities

2010-05-24T00:36:00.000-07:00

Today, we had a game at 9:00 in the morning in Kiburiao. There was not a huge crowd, as is generally the case this early in the morning, but we still took advantage of those who were there and made sure they all got a gospel tract and heard a testimony from our Filipino teammate Alvin. Alvin has been such a crucial part of this trip and we could not be more thankful that God has blessed us with such a great friend and ministry partner. Alvin is employed by Faith Academy as a computer technician, but he still makes time in his schedule to help share the Gospel across the country. He is the head coach of our Buhay Bombers Basketball Team, and has joined us on other ministry outings. On this trip, Alvin has followed up each players testimony with a short recap in the local language and an explanation of the tract we are handing out. Please keep Alvin in your prayers, he works so hard to be a part of our different ministries and we want to bless him by praying that God watches over him and his family.

We won the game 43 - 31. Please also keep the people in Kiburiao in your prayers. Pastor Noel will be following up with them over the next few weeks!

Ball Hog Count: 875 + 43 = 913

For more info about our Ball Hog Fundraiser click here!

After our game we headed back to Cagayan de Oro. Those of us "veteran" missionaries had to take the bus while the rookies got to ride in the nice air conditioned truck with Pastor Noel.

We were met at the bus station by our local contact John, another American Missionary. He is the manager of the local Christian radio station called The New J. In our past visits to CDO we have commented to each other that it would be so nice if we could get a station like The New J in Manila. No Luck Yet.

John had set up a live interview for some of the players with the early evening DJ Charlie. It was a lot of fun for some of the guys to be on the radio, but it was also a great opportunity for us to invite the listeners to our games the next day.

Tomorrow is our last day! 2 games and a flight back to Manila all in a few hours.

Day 6: Morning Off

2010-05-24T00:10:00.000-07:00

This morning we finally got some time to rest and relax. It seems we hit the ground running and through the 3 games yesterday our bodies were starting to really get worn out. Thankfully, our 2 games today were both after lunch so we were blessed with some time off and each person spent the morning however they wanted. Most of us slept in, and then took advantage of the different pools at the resort where we were staying. After lunch, we gathered around 1 pm and headed to our first game.

We arrived in Maramag, and stopped to visit the captain of Barangay Base Camp. We had a nice visit, and got a taste of local ice cream sandwiches... literally! Take some bread, throw some ice cream in there and voila! Ice Cream Sandwich! After visiting with the barangay administration, we took a trip over to the covered court and got the game started. The game was not too tough, especially since we were energized from the morning off. At halftime, Ben shared his testimony and talked about how his salvation at the age of 20 changed his life. We handed out some Bible tracts and got started on the second half. We let it slip a little and it got close, but in the end we held on to a 47-46 win.

Ball Hog Count: 758 + 47 = 806

After our game at Barangay Base Camp we took a short break then headed over to Barangay North Poblacion in Maramag. This game was in a good size gym and there were quite a few people there. We had a little scare at the beginning of the game when the team we played seemed to make every shot they put up. We recovered though and were in pretty good control for the rest of the game, we won 69-56. Craig shared at half time and we handed out tracts. We had the pleasure of meeting a local city council woman who was a Christian and she was so excited that we had come. She invited us to the Barangay Hall after the game for dinner and we had a great time visiting with some other city officials.

Ball Hog Count: 806 + 69 = 875

For more info about our Ball Hog Fundraiser click here!

Please keep these 2 barangays of Maramag in your prayers and for the different people who will be following up with those who heard the Gospel at our game.

Day 5: 3 Games in 1 Day!

2010-05-19T01:34:00.000-07:00

Tuesday's schedule had us going all day. We originally scheduled 2 games per day, but in order to accommodate some of our traveling requirements, we opted to move our Thursday game to Tuesday, rather than have to rush around and possibly miss some important events.

Our first game was in Salawagan. We showed up and met the coach of the local team who informed us he was a Christian. We did our best to encourage him and thank him for his efforts to coach these players and minister to their spiritual needs as well as their physical/sports needs. While we were waiting for the game to starts, some of the guys walked through the surrounding villages and invited the players to come to the game. The game was fun, Evan shared his testimony at half time, and we handed out tracts. We had control for the duration of the game and won 69 - 65.

Ball Hog Count: 507 + 69 = 576

Our second game of the day was in the Municipality of Quezon. This was a very exciting game, as the local administration had done a fantastic job of promoting the event and helping set everything up. The game was in the middle of the town square, and the court was well shaded as large trees lined both sides of the cement. We arrived, to see a very big physical team warming up on the other end. We knew we would be in for a tough contest. The game was close the entire first half. We went into half time up by 5, but knew we were going to have another tough half ahead of us if we were going to win. Daniel shared his testimony at half time, and we handed out tracts. Our host pastor, Noel Colita, has a church in Quezon and has a regular ministry in town. Please pray for him as he follows up the contacts we made during our game in Quezon. He will also be coordinating the follow up from all the areas where we played. Of all the pastors we work with, he will have the most work to do after we leave. We will bless him with a nice love gift to help with some of his expenses, but more than anything... he needs your prayers! We started the second half by hitting a few good shots and getting some key defensive stops. It was no cake walk, but we managed to keep command through the end of the game, winning 77-72.

Ball Hog Count: 576 + 77 = 653

Our final game of the day was in Kiburiao. We arrived in the middle of their town festival, so everyone in the area was there. We estimated that there were close to 1000 people in attendance during the game. As we warmed up, we looked at the other end of the court to see a young team, that did not have a single player over 6 feet tall. Given our lineup of 6'8", 6'3", 6'2" and so on, we were pretty confident that we would have an easy battle on our hand. We could not have been any more wrong. Before the game, Dave, our musician for the trip, sang a tagolog song called "Superhero" that everyone loved! Shortly after his song we started the game. We were excited to see that the the same coach from our first game of the day was also the coach of this team. It is great to know that there are Christian leaders in this community getting involved in the lives of young people. We had a tough game from the start, with these quick little guys running circles around us. Going into halftime, we were losing by 12 points. During halftime, Dave shared his testimony to go along with his musical stylings. we also handed out tracts. At the start of the second half we made a nice run, but we still battled until the very end. It was like these guys could not miss! They hit almost everything they put up, especially the crucial shots. With a minute left we were up four, only to have one of their players hit his third consecutive three pointer. We came down, got fouled and hit one of two free throws to go up two. Finally they missed a shot, and had to foul us. We hit both free throws and took the four point lead to the locker room, so to speak, the final score was 105-101. After the game, we were so blessed by our hosts, they brought out boiled bananas, and buco (coconut) juice in the natural shell. The most encouraging thing about our game, was just after, while we were waiting to take a remembrance photo with the other team, we had to wait, as their coach led them in prayer. Leaders like Coach Raymond Mercader are the people that are going to be crucial in seeing this country come to Christ. Please keep coach Raymond in your prayers, as well as the ministry he helps with in Bukidnon.

Ball Hog Count: 653 + 105 = 758

For more info about our Ball Hog Fundraiser click here!

Day 4, Arrival in Bukidnon, Mindanao

2010-05-19T01:30:00.000-07:00

Today we woke up at 6:00 a.m. and headed for the airport. Our plane departed at 8:15 and we arrived in Cagayan de Oro at 9:30. Pastor Noel picked us up and we had a 3 hour drive to Valencia.

Our first game was with the Valencia division of the PNP (Philippine National Police). We started off well and going into half time we had a commanding lead. Alvin shared his testimony at half time and we handed out tracts. There was maybe only 100 people in attendance, but throughout the trip, we have talked about the fact, that it only takes one unsaved person to hear the message for the Holy spirit to use that message to change their heart. In a results driven society it is so difficult to stay focused and not be driven by numbers. As the leaders of the team, we do our best to relay to the new players our experiences where God has moved in big ways, even though it looked like it could only be small from our perspective. Who knows what God did in someone's heart on Monday morning? We may never know this side of heaven, but we trust that because God sent us and provided the way for us to go, our part was a success! After halftime, fatigue from the day's travels seemed to set in. Despite our efforts, we found ourselves down 12 points with 4 minutes to go. We have been in this position before, but never against such a physically strong team. We fought hard, and with seconds left we regained a 2 point lead. Winning a hard fought game by both teams, 76-74.

Ball Hog Count: 379 + 76 = 455

Our second game of the day was in Dologon. We arrived just as dark was setting in, and it seemed like we would have to modify our ministry since the covered court appeared to have no lights. We were pleasantly surprised to see that there were lights and electricity for our sound system. We got the sound system set up and started the game. We could tell early that we had our opponents outmanned, but there is definitely a "Home Court Advantage" for the teams we are playing against. Even on cement courts, there is rough terrain, uneven goals and spotty lighting. Specifics to each court are new to us, but very familiar to the teams we are playing. Using all of these factors to their advantage, our opponents stuck in the game until the end. We had a great halftime presentation, with Craig sharing his testimony. The crowd seemed very interested and excited to receive the tract that gave the details about how to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. After halftime, we were still battling the team and the surroundings, not to mention the crowd that was started to get excited that their team might pull off a win against the visiting Americans. It went back and forth, but in the end we pulled off a 52 - 41 victory.

Ball Hog Count: 455 + 52 = 507

For more info about our Ball Hog Fundraiser click here!

Please keep the members of the Valencia PNP and the town of Velencia in your prayers. Also, remember to pray for the people in Dologon who were at our game and heard the Gospel.

Church, Shopping, and Game 4

2010-05-16T06:27:00.000-07:00

Today (Sunday) we were able to bring our team to worship at a local Filipino church. Pastor Better Labuca shared a message on Philippians 2, which was a great reminder to do all things without grumbling and complaining. This meant a lot to our team as we are about to head out to remote areas to play for the next five days. We will spend a lot of time in the sun, playing hoops, and traveling many hours each day through rough terrain. It will be very easy for us to get tired and start complaining. Please pray for us as we go through the most difficult time of the trip.

After church we headed to the local market for the boys to pick up some souvenirs for the friends and their families. They had a great time experiencing the culture and negotiating lower prices with the shop owners.

Our last event of the day was our final Manila game at Barangay Quirino. As soon as the ball was tipped we knew we were in for a track meet. Each team pushed the ball up the floor and shot a high percentage from the field. With a strong last five minutes we prevailed with a 124-108 victory. Most importantly we were able to share the Gospel with the locals and interact with some fellow Believers. Please pray for the people of Brgy Quirino and those who took interest in the Good News.

In the morning we will jump on an early flight and will be updating you tomorrow from the southern Philippines. Thanks for all your prayers.

Ball Hog Running Count: 255 + 124 = 379

Day 2: Barangay Pinagbuhatan, Pasig City; Tanza, Antipolo

2010-05-15T01:26:00.000-07:00

This morning we started out our day with a fabulous American breakfast and devotion from one of Josh and Daniel's good friends and ministry partner who lives in the Philippines. Eggs, Toasted Pandesal, Jimmy Dean Sausage - oh yeah! It was great!

We were challenged with a passage of scripture from Matthew 25. We were encouraged and reminded that whatever we do to the least of these, we have done for Christ. It was such a great reminder as we are heading out to the poorest of the poor, that we are the hands and feet of Christ!

Our first game of the day was in Pasig City, Barangay Pinagbuhatan (barangay is a term for small village, numerous barangays make up a city).

Since we arrived in the Philippines 5 years ago, we have gotten involved with some local uniform tailors who make athletic uniforms. We have used this as a way to help other ministries across the world with their uniform needs and also as a way to fund some of our ministry activities. Somewhere along the line, I (Joshua) had the opportunity to meet Dioni (pronounced Johnny). He runs one of the bigger uniform shops in our area and he has helped me tremendously as I have learned the ins and outs of making uniforms. Recently, Daniel and I started to play with the basketball team he sponsors. We have really enjoyed getting a chance to know Dioni and the players on his team. When we join a team like this, it is always with the intentions of building relationships and sharing the Gospel.

While we were working on setting up this trip, we immediately inquired with Dioni about our guest team Buhay Sports playing against his team. This would be a great way to continue building that relationship, but also a way for the players that we usually play with, to hear why we really live in their home country. It was great! It was back and forth the entire game. We shared the Gospel at half time and handed out tracts to everyone there, probably over 300 people were in attendance. In the end, we let a late 3 point lead slip away and ended up losing by 5, 80-85.

Ball Hog Count: 104 + 80 = 184

After the game, Dioni took us back to his uniform shop and fed us a fantastic lunch of Chicken Adobo, Barbecue Chicken, Fish, Watermelon, Mango and of course - Rice! We are so excited about the friendship that we will continue building with Dioni and all of the players on his team. We know that this event has helped us tremendously in that area. We are also excited about the many people who heard the Gospel and were given a tract about how they could have a personal relationship with Christ.

After our first game, we headed home to relax. We then headed out to our second game of the day in Tanza, Antipolo. Many of you have heard us talk about Tanza before. Tanza is one of the areas where we have a regualr ongoing ministry. Church, feeding program and widow care are just a few of the things that First Love is involved in there. Our first pig farm livelihood project is also in the Tanza area.

There were only a few people there when we first got to the court, but as we set up our sound system and turned on the music and the lights, more people started to wander over to see what all the fuss was about. The game was fun, and we won easily 71-50. During halftime, we shared the Gospel with almost 200 people. We gave them all a Gospel tract and invited them to our Church service on Sunday.

Thanks for keeping the people in these two areas where we played games in your prayers as well as the players on the team that Daniel and I play with. We trust that the Holy Spirit will use our efforts to touch someone's heart regarding their need for Salvation.

Ball Hog Count: 184 + 71 = 255

Click here for info on our Ball Hog Fundraiser.

Friday, May 14, 2010: Marikina

2010-05-14T08:09:00.000-07:00

After some flight delays that led to an arrival 14 hours later than expected. Our visiting players arrived in Manila, Philippines, ready to spend a week serving Christ and sharing the Gospel with countless lost souls. We are so excited to have them here, and help them experience the joy of working for His Kingdom.

Please keep them in your prayers as they adjust to a new climate, new culture and the many other factors that can make going overseas a challenge. We know that God has brought each of them here for a reason and are excited to see how he uses each of them to change the lives of Filipinos, and how he uses Filipinos to change each of their lives.

After getting everyone back home from the airport and going over some need to know information regarding living in the Philippines, everyone headed up to Josh's place for a fabulous meal of Bicol Express. There are a lot of fun things to do in the Philippines, but if you leave the country without trying Bicol Express, you have missed out on a major cultural treasure. There is also a restaurant in Mindanao that serves another variety of the dish, that we will most definitely visit during a later part of our trip.

After dinner, we loaded up and headed to the game. Here is the recap:

In 2005 when our family first arrived on the mission field in the Philippines, we met Eddie. He had recently been led to Christ by another First Love International missionary who was also discipling him in his Christian walk. Throughout the last few years we have watched Eddie grow in his faith and currently, in the absence of a church in his area, Eddie leads a Bible study in his home and has a men's fellowship Bible study once a week with another First Love International missionary. It has been exciting to see Eddie develop as a Christian man of God.

As we were canvassing areas where we would take our short term missions team to play games, we were excited to partner with Eddie in an effort to evangelize and help recruit new members to join the different Bibles studies that Eddie holds in his home.

Tonight, we tipped off the first game of our current ministry trip in Marikina, at a court that is just outside the back wall of Eddie's home.

The game went well. We had over 100 people from the small community courtside to see what all the fuss was about. As the 3 new guys (Evan, Ben and Craig) were introduced to Filipino basketball, we were able to share the gospel, hand out tracts and invite everyone to join one of the Bible studies that Eddie hosts.

It was a fun game, and in the end, we pulled off a win 104-100. Everyone watching was excited to see a few dunks and some long range three pointers. As a team, we were excited for an opportunity to share the Gospel. With God's blessing, Eddie will have a few more people at the Bible Study this week asking questions and learning how they can have their own, personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Thanks for joining us in praying for the people in Marikina who were at the game tonight. That the Holy Spirit would touch their hearts and they would take advantage of the life changing information that was given to them.

Tomorrow we will be playing 2 games, 1 in Pasig City, and 1 in Tanza.

BALL HOG RUNNING COUNT: 104

Click here for info on our Ball Hog Fundraiser.

Let the Games Begin!

2010-05-11T01:13:00.000-07:00

This month we will start off our summer of basketball ministry trips. We have a few trips planned and we are trying to finalize a couple more teams from the states who are trying to work out the details and finances for trips.

Our first trip will be in Metro Manila and Bukidnon Province, Mindanao. We will be working with some local contacts for the Manila portion of our trip and then reconnecting with Pastor Noel Colita for the Bukidnon portion of the trip. Pastor Noel was the organizer of the very first Buhay Sports ministry trip, which was also in Bukidnon, Mindanao and we are excited to partner together with him and the members of his pastors conference. Please remember to keep the team in your prayers from May 14 – 21. We will be traveling a lot, mostly by jeep, but also by plane and some boat. We will also be sharing the Gospel in close to 20 areas and each game working with a different local pastor who will work with his church to follow up our event. There is a lot of work that needs to be done, but with your prayers we know God will bless our efforts to see people come to know Him!

Stay tuned for daily updates from our trip as internet access allows!

Here is a recent picture I have of Pastor Noel, for you dog lovers out there!

Malabalay Basketball Clinics

2009-12-09T22:53:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday, December 2, we (Alvin, Daniel and Josh) traveled south to the Island of Mindanao. In 36 hours we were able to put on three basketball clinics and play a few exhibition scrimmages. We traveled to one remote village, where over 500 people crowded around to see a few pointers and then listened attentively as we shared the Gospel. We were able to tell them that Jesus came to give them life abundantly. As we were headed to the airport, we received word from one of the local pastors that one of the players in attendance accepted Christ... We did this all through the game of basketball. To God be the Glory!

Josh, Daniel and Alvin with the Sports Commissioner of one of the areas we hosted a clinic.

Daniel teaching a drill to players and coaches in a remote village outside of Malaybalay City.

The Players and Coaches at our final clinic in Malaybalay City.

Buhay Bombers

2009-10-21T21:10:00.000-07:00

The Buhay Bombers youth team is made up of a group of kids who live in a squatter village near the Arthur Center (The Arthur Center was built and is managed by Buhay Sports staff member and First Love International missionary Daniel). Most squatter kids never have the opportunity to be part of a sports team. When we opened up the team our 20 spots quickly filled up and we have recently started practicing. Each week we lead them through basketball drills and then our Filipino friend Alvin shares from the Bible with them. It has been a lot of fun and the kids are loving it. Please pray that these kids will know Christ.

Kalibo Ministry Trip Prayer Guide

2009-07-02T06:59:00.000-07:00

As we look back at our week in Kalibo, it is very important that we realize the work there is far from over. As seed planters, our job is done, but the work that will lead to the harvest is far from over. Over the coming months pastors and church workers will follow up on the many response cards we received. Please remember that our work in Kalibo is ongoing. It is our responsibility to pray for every city, town and barangay that we visited. Here is a list of the places we went and the Pastors we partnered with. Let's be on our knees for these faithful servants of God!

June 21, Sunday
3:00 pm - Barangay Bulwang, Numancia (Ptr Peter Cusa)
6:00 pm - Municipality of Numancia Public Plaza (Mayor's team) (Ptr. Peter Cusa)

June 22, Monday
5:00 pm - Kalibo City Public Plaza (Northern Colleges Maroons) (Ptr Hope Sodusta)

June 23, Tuesday
9:00 am - Municipality of Ibajay Sports Complex (Mayor's team) (Ptr Doods Fernandez)
3:00 pm - Municipality of Ibajay Sports Complex (played against teams from Barangay Unat & Mabilo) (Ptr Doods Fernandez)

June 24, Wednesday
4:00 pm - Municipality of New Washington (Mayor's team) (Ptr Jo Pamplona)

June 25, Thursday
1:30 pm - School visitation @ Aklan National High School (Ptr Hope Sodusta)
4:00 pm - Municipality of Banga (Mayor's team) (Ptr. Floro)

June 26, Friday
10:00 am - School visitation @ Aklan National High School (Ptr Hope Sodusta)
4:00 pm - Barangay Tigawalong (Ptr Perry Malbas)
6:00 pm - Barangay Estancia (Ptr Perry Malbas)

June 27, Saturday
8:00 am - Barangay Tigayong (Ptr Perry Malbas)

June 27, 2009; Day 8: Barely Made It!

2009-07-02T06:40:00.000-07:00

Today was our last day in Kalibo. There was only one flight out of Kalibo today, so we had to schedule our ministry game early just to get it in. We woke up and went to Jolibee at about 7:15 for our final breakfast... I don't think anyone is going to miss eating at Jolibee, that's for sure. After breakfast, we went to Barangay Tigayong. There was a little bit of water and mud on the court when we arrived, but they were beginning to get things cleaned up and ready for the game. Things got started and we held a pretty commanding lead, despite only having 5 guys who were healthy enough to play. God was so gracious to give us the strength to finish these last few days. Despite some injuries, we were thankful that we had enough people to play and complete the ministry we had set from the beginning. Elliot gave the testimony at half, and again, Pastor Perry gave the message. For 9:00 in the morning, we had a pretty good crowd and the response to the Gospel was positive. We left Pastor Perry and his congregation with our promises to pray for them as they followed up on the response cards from the last two days. We also gave them a Buhay Sports Basketball as a token of our appreciation. Since it was our last day, another fun thing that the players got to do was give away their jerseys. All week people ask us for a "remembrance," something they can remember us by. What they mean to say is: "Hey Joe, give me your jersey!" Well, since this is the last day, off they came... everyone who was lucky enough to get one was very excited. We hope that it will not just be a remembrance of the American team who visited, but of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and His love for us.

Please join us in praying for Barangay Tigayong and the many people there who don't know Jesus personally, but might have had their heart opened up to Him by our basketball game or through the the ministry of Pastor Perry and his church.

After our game, we dropped Pastor Gary off at the bus station where he was catching a ride to visit his mother, then a flight home to Davao City. We then headed back to the hotel for a shower and last minute packing. We said goodbye to the workers at our hotel, and loaded up for the airport. We met Pastor Hope at the airport and gave him a love gift from the team to show our appreciation for his hard work and effort in getting the trip set up.

What a blessing it was to be a part of this trip. Despite all of the bumps in the road, it is always amazing to see God work things out in a way that only He can. Praise His Name!

June 26, 2009; Day 7: Back to School

2009-07-01T17:39:00.000-07:00

Today we headed back to school... yesterday we told all the kids at the local high school we visited in Kalibo (Aklan National High School) that we would come back this morning to play some games with them. Typhoon Frank swept through this area last year, devastating so many people, it also destroyed their basketball court. Since there was no court we agreed to come up with some fun games to do as a group. We stopped off at a local mall and picked up some large bags of candy, and threw that around to the kids, they seemed to like this. Once we arrived we lined a couple of big groups up (divided by boys and girls) and played a game where you had to pass a ball through your legs or over your head to the person behind you... first one to pass the ball from the front to the back then back to the front would win that game, and the best 2 out of 3 would be declared the winner. The kids loved it, and loved to see us cheering along for them. In the end, the girls won both contests, but we tried to make sure everyone got some candy either way. After the games, we went back to their classes and made sure everyone had received a tract from yesterday, then shared a little more with them about our relationship with Jesus. Before we left, we stood around and signed autographs for a few minutes. We know that God led us to this place, and it is our prayer that He would use our brief encounter with these kids to change their lives... please join us in prayer for all of these students.

After our visit at the school, we went back to the hotel for a short break and then to lunch. We then traveled to Barangay Tigawalong for our first game. The game went great and despite a few bad runs, we lead the whole way. Despite the bowling alley style of the court, and the little room for spectators along the sidelines and on one end, there were still people packed in tight on the one end where spectators could stand. Michael gave his testimony and Pastor Perry Malbas gave the half time message. He and his church members helped us collect tracts at halftime and of the almost 300 people there watching and we got close to 100 response cards back. What a blessing!

After our first game we traveled to Barangay Estancia for our second game. The game was originally supposed to be at 5:30, but when we arrived at 5:00, we were told that the Barangay Captain made the decision to move the game to 6:30 without letting us know... it was a little frustrating, but we waited around the court and made some friends with some of the people standing around. At about 6:45, the other team finally had 5 guys and we got things started. It started off tough, but we ran away with it after a few minutes. A little bit into the first quarter, another accident hit our already depleted squad and Quinn sprained his ankle. This left us with only 5 players for the rest of this game and our final game tomorrow. Joshua gave his testimony and Pastor Perry again gave the message at halftime. With the help of the local church we were able collect quite a bit of tracts, although they ran off with them before we could count them. Please join us in praying for Barangay Tigawalong and Barangay Estancia and for all of the church workers following up the response cards.

June 25, 2009; Day 6: School Days

2009-06-25T05:07:00.000-07:00

Today was another rainy day... I guess the only thing we can count on during this trip is that we can't count on anything going as scheduled because of the rain.

We woke up early ready for our first game this morning, but since it was supposed to be played on an open court, the pastor had to reschedule it until later in the day and combine it with the evening game at a court that was covered. We were a little bit discouraged by this, but because our morning game was canceled we were able to schedule a meeting at one of the local high schools.

I think this will end up being one of the highlights of the trip for most of the guys: When we arrived at the school we were introduced to the head teacher, who then talked about the school and the ages and grades of the kids. We told him what our ministry was and what we would like to do and he gave us free reign in all the classrooms... Praise God! We split up and every player was assigned to 2 or 3 different classrooms. Essentially, each player in their own way got a chance to share the gospel with 2 or 3 classes full of 40 - 50 people. In an effort to make it educational, we all tried to share some "cultural" information about where we were from, then talked about a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. We also gave them gospel tracts and encouraged them to read them. We are going to go back again tomorrow and try to answer any questions they may have. We will also be playing some fun games with the students while we are there... stay tuned tomorrow to find out what "fun games" we play. Please keep these kids in your prayers, that they would read the tracts and come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ or that they would come tomorrow and talk to us about the questions they have.

Elliot sharing the gospel with a high school class at a public school in Kalibo.

After our visit at the school, we headed to our game. It was being held in a very nice facility in the city of Banga. While we started to warm up, the other team slowly started to show up. They looked very athletic and had a couple of big guys. We started to think we were going to have a tough game and knew we better be ready to play.

Marcus, who has managed to keep a great attitude despite his gigantic cast, has found a fun way to pass the time on the sidelines... We bought him some giant bags of candy and he uses it, among other things to make friend with the kids.

Once the game got started we jumped out to a pretty good lead and we never really looked back. I think because we were so ready to play, as we thought they would be a very strong team, we really ran over them early. At half we were up 25. James shared his testimony and the team passed out tracts before the second half started.

Some church members helped us collect the response cards during the second half while the game continued. In this culture when playing a team that clearly is used to being the bigger and stronger team you really have to be careful. If you run the score up too high they will feel embarrassed and start to get overly physical, but if you fool around and don't play serious they will also be embarrassed and maybe try to retaliate. So the trick is to play hard but keep the score close. We managed to fluctuate between 25 and 15 for the rest of the game. Please keep the people from Banga in your prayers as well as the church members who will handle following up the many who turned in response cards.

June 24, 2009; Day 5: Watery St. Juan Day

2009-06-24T05:50:00.000-07:00

This morning after making some phone calls to Marcus' wife Carrie, and her making some phone calls to his doctor in the USA, we were relieved to find out that with his leg in a cast, it would be o.k. for him to stay for the rest of the trip. This was great news because of the role Marcus plays on the leadership side of our team. He really brings a quiet maturity to things, and is a great role model for the young guys on our team. This was also good news because Marcus and Landon came here together, and if Marcus had to leave, it would either make things difficult for Landon, or mean that Landon had to go with him. This would have left us with 5 players, but... crisis diverted... Praise God

Today is the Catholic holiday called John the Baptist Day, or St. Juan Day. This is the one day of the year when everyone runs around throwing water at everyone else. I guess the irony of it raining all day was probably lost on them, but it really made things difficult for us. This morning at about 10:00 a.m. we went to the town of New Washington to play 2 games. When we arrived we made a courtesy call to the mayor, only to find out that both of our games were scheduled on outdoor courts. The mayor suggested that we reschedule the games for Friday, but we already have a full schedule and we told him that it would not be possible. He then suggested that we could move one of the games to the covered court near the town center. We were so thankful that he was willing to work with us to make it happen and we agreed to meet at 4:00 for the game.

After lunch and some time at the hotel, we headed back to New Washington to play our game. We were very fortunate that the local church had provided some workers to help with track disbursement and response collection. Now that we are down to 6 mobile bodies, we have 5 for the game and only 1 to collect tracts. It was a great blessing to have the extra help. The game started out pretty tough and we were down by 4 at half time. Michael shared his testimony and Pastor Jo gave a brief message of salvation. There were over 200 people there at the game, and we received about 70 tracts back from those who expressed an interest in learning more.

It is always one of our goals to encourage the local church, but this game it was very apparent that we were successful to this end. The whole youth group had shown up to help with tracts, and after the game it was a blessing to us to see the big smiles on each of their faces as well as the other church members who had come. They were going from player to player introducing themselves. We gave the filled out response cards and a stack of Bible Study pamphlets to the pastor to use for follow up and joined them in praying for God's blessings on our collective effort to see people come to know Him through this. Please remember to keep the People of New Washington in your prayers! God is going to do something great there, we are so excited to have been a small part.

After the game, the mayor invited us to his beach side restaurant for dinner. It was an amazing Pinoy Barbecue spread at a very nice location right alongside the beach. We even got to sing a couple of songs on the karaoke machine... one with the mayor!!! We are always thankful for the opportunities that God gives us to relax and enjoy His creation on these trips, and we continue to thank Him for fun times like this.

June 23, 2009; Injury in Ibajay

2009-06-23T06:56:00.000-07:00

Today was a tough day for our team. The day started out early as we left at 7:00 a.m. for breakfast at Jolibee. We then headed to the Town of Ibajay at about 8:00. When we arrived in Ibajay there were a lot of people waiting for us and the other team was already warming up. This was a nice surprise as most of the time we are the ones waiting.

The game started and it was pretty clear that we had the upper hand. At this point we wanted to do our best to keep it entertaining, which usually means sneaking out and getting dunks and doing other fancy things. Today, this was a little more difficult since the goals we were playing on were about 6 inches higher than the regular 10 foot goals. Still we tried our best to interact with the crowd and the other players. One exciting span of plays was when James made 5 3's in a row, in 5 consecutive possessions... the kids standing near the court really loved it!!! At half time, Quinn shared his testimony and encouraged everyone to experience the love of Jesus Christ. We had great results as we handed out tracts and received response cards. Of the 450+ people there we received 199 completed response cards for follow up.

We were scheduled to have three games today, but while we were waiting for our second game to start the rain really began to come down. We sat around and tried to wait it out, but we soon learned that there was a small typhoon passing through and that the rain was probably not going to let up any time soon. We got together with the barangay captains from Barangay Unat and Barangay Bolinao and it was agreed that we would find a covered court and play a combination of both teams. As we talked it through, we realized that the only covered court available was the court we played in the morning. We generally don't play the same venue twice, but due to the circumstances we agreed to play at the town center plaza covered court again so we could minister to the players on these teams and any who had not been at the previous game.

As we prayed before the game, we knew that God had brought us back here for a reason, we prayed that God would bless our efforts and that whoever he had brought us back here to share with, would hear our message and accept Him as their saviour.

The game was going well, and we again had a pretty comfortable lead. Then during the second quarter, Marcus felt something happen in his heel. He hobbled off the court and told me he thought it might be his achile's tendon. Josh called his wife, Val, who is a certified athletic trainer, and has a lot of training in this area. She helped him identify that it was in fact a tear of the achile's tendon and that we needed to get it examined. He was not in a great deal of pain, so we finished the game. Landon shared his testimony at half time and the crowd was very attentive. We passed out tracts and received a few back, but many of the people who were there had already filled them out at the previous game. We know that God sent us back to that place for a reason, and even if we were able to touch the heart of one person, it will have been worth everything that happened.

After the game we took Marcus to the emergency room where we learned that he had torn his achile's tendon. On the doctor's recommendation, we had a cast put on Marcus' leg to immobilize it and prevent any further damage. We are waiting on word from his doctor in the US to determine what should be done next. We are hopeful that he will be able to stay with the team the rest of the trip and continue to help with the ministry side of things. As a team, we talked about the incident and Marcus had a very good attitude about the injury. We know that God is sovereign and that what happened was in His plan. We are all praying that God would use this to give us an opportunity to share the Gospel with someone that we would not have been able to share with otherwise.

Please continue to pray for the people that are hearing the Gospel. Those in the different barangays of Ibajay City as well as those in the many other places we have been this week. Please also keep Marcus in your prayers. We will be making decisions on how to proceed soon, and we could use your prayers for wisdom and discretion as we seek to do the best thing for Marcus and his recovery.

June 22, 2009; Day 3: Beaches and Birthdays in Kalibo

2009-06-22T08:37:00.000-07:00

Both of our games today were supposed to be in the evening, so we had a chance to go to the beach. A couple of the guys on our team had never seen the beach, here or in the US, so this was a fun time to share.

We headed there after breakfast and were able to stay for a couple of hours. Some of the guys rounded up some coconuts, or as they call them here Buko. It was nice to relax for a while, but then we headed back to lunch and then to get ready for our game.

Landon trying out the local coconut aka BUKO

We have gotten to ride on top of our jeepney for a few short rides.

During lunch we celebrated Josh's birthday. He turned 29... legitimately... although he will probably continue telling people he is turning 29 on this day for years. Elliot's family, who is joining us for the first half of our trip were kind enough to get a birthday cake (Black Forest Chocolate) and everyone in the restaurant joined us in singing.

We were about to head out to our first game, when we heard from the organizers of the second game that they had to reschedule. This is a little disappointing, since we that will cut us down to one game today, then increase Thursday to 3 games. All the same, we are happy to get the chance to minister and will take any opportunity we are given.

We still headed out to our only game of the day, in Kalibo Town Center. We played against the Aklan College Varsity Basketball Team. The game stayed close and we were down at half time. This was a great event with probably over 700 people in attendance. Marcus shared his testimony at half time and encouraged everyone there to find true happiness by giving their life to God. Pastor Hope followed up the testimony with a short salvation message. When he finished, our entire team went around and handed out tracts to the many people who were there. 5 of us started to play the second half, while the other 3 along with some members of Glad Tidings New Life Church, helped to collect response cards. During the basketball portion of the second half, we really ran away with it and ended up winning by 25+, but the real victory came with the 168 response cards that we received. Praise God for softening hearts to hear the message that Marcus and Pastor Hope shared. We will continue to pray for the many people in Kalibo who don't know Christ. Whether it is directly related to our work, indirectly or not at all; we just want to see people come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Please join us in praying for this same thing!

Marcus and Quinn making new friends!

June 21, 2009; Kalibo Day 2: In Rain OR Shine

2009-06-22T07:10:00.001-07:00

Our day started out early as we prepared to head to the airport. We left our place at about 9:00 in 2 separate taxi's heading for the airport. We flew out at 11:30 and arrived into Kalibo Domestic Airport at 12:35. Pastor Gary picked us up with the Jeepney and we headed to lunch, where we all had chicken on a stick, which they tell us is a staple food on ministry trips.

After we ate lunch we got checked into our hotel and then headed to our first game in the Town of Bulwang. There was about 300 people there once we got started and the people were very excited that we had come. The game was not terribly competitive, but we tried to keep it close for the first half so that people would stay excited and stick around for the ministry time at half.

We always bring extra nets in case the goals do not have any. It is a nice token of friendship that we leave there when we are gone. Hopefully they will see them and remember what we were there for. Here are Josh and Alex putting up nets in Bulwang.

After we all introduced ourselves, Josh gave a short testimony and then handed things over to Pastor Peter, who is the pastor of the local church who will follow up the contact cards from our game. Pastor Peter was able to give a Gospel presentation to the crowd and encourage them to accept them as their Saviour. After Pastor Peter finished, Pastor Gary explained what to do with the tracts that we would pass out during the second half.

We were excited to get back 55 tracts from people who were interested in knowing more about a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. We also gave Pastor Peter 70 Bible Study workbooks for his church to use as they followed up the response cards. Please pray for the Town of Bulwang and the people who were able to hear the Gospel as a result of our game.

After the game, we usually stick around and play with the kids and answer questions, here are some of the guys with some of the kids who came to our game in Bulwang.

After our game in Bulwang, we stopped at Jolibee (Filipino McDonald's) for a quick snack. We all had ice cream sundaes and swirly bits (McFlurry), then we headed to our last game of the day in the Town of Numancia. As we drove to the open court it started to pour down rain. It was very discouraging to think that we would have to cancel the game, but we headed that direction anyway. As we pulled up to the game, it was still raining, but it was starting to slow down. Still, we did not thing that there would be any way to get the court to a point where it was safe enough to play. In a country where it is already so humid, water just does not evaporate quickly... but before we knew it, there was little or no wetness on the court! There is no doubt that God made it happen so we would have the opportunity to share His word. It is so amazing to see God do things to pave the way for this ministry. He has had His hand on every aspect, from many months ago when players started to raise support to even this very moment... what a mighty God we serve!

A team picture with the team and mayor from Numancia

Before the game started, while the court was drying off, we had the opportunity to meet the Mayor and the ex-Mayor, who were husband and wife. They were very excited that we had come and they had clearly put a lot of effort into organizing the game and there were over 600 people there to watch. This was also evident by the level of the team that we were set up to play. They were very strong and we knew we would have a tough match on our hands. We battled back and forth and the game was tight at half-time. During half-time, Elliot shared his testimony and we handed it over to Pastor Peter who gave a gospel presentation to the crowd. Although Pastor Peter was speaking in the local dialect, he mentioned a few things in English from his testimony and he shared that he accepted Christ when he was in prison. We were blessed just by the few words we could understand. During the second half, we handed out tracts and were encouraged by the many church members who were there that helped us distribute tracts and collect response cards. We won the game by 4 or 6, but on the important scoreboard we received 76 cards for follow up that we gave to Pastor Peter along with 70 Bible studies to use as he followed up. We also gave a love gift to cover some of the expenses that the church may come across when doing follow up. Please pray for Namancia, and the many people there who heard the gospel. They need Jesus in their life, and as the church follows up these contacts it is so important that they have our prayers.

June 20, 2009; Day 1: Kalibo, Aklan Tour Begins in Manila

2009-06-21T08:11:00.000-07:00

Today was our first full day with everyone in country. Josh, James and Elliot had been here since the start of the summer, Michael and Quinn arrived early Wednesday morning and Marcus and Landon arrived on Friday night. Elliot is going to meet us in Kalibo tomorrow. He is spending some time at the beach with his family before they go back to China to continue their ministry there. Elliot was a part of the first trip so we allowed him to miss the orientation and join us on location.

In orientation we talked about a number of things: goals for the team, goals for the individual players, Philippine Culture and Philippine demographics. We also talked about the style of basketball here, and some things to remember in the heat of the game. It was interesting to learn that the game was so physical and fast. They also play international rules, which have some differences to the rules we play in the states.

We originally did not have any games schedules, but someone contacted Josh about playing against one of the champion teams from a local subdivision. Brookside is where a lot of missionary families live and so there is a lot of outreach going on there.

The game started at 2:30, and it was an exciting contest. Despite some of the guys dealing with traveler's legs We were able to pull away early and led at half, but it was far from over. During halftime, Josh talked to the opposing team and the spectators about his relationship with Jesus. He encouraged them to read the tracts that we handed out and to talk to one of us or someone in the community if they had any questions. After we started the second half, the other team pulled themselves back into the game with some tough play and some stellar shooting. Towards the end, we traded the lead, but thanks to some good free throw shooting we were able to pull out the lead.

After the game, the Brooksided Residents Association invited us to join them for a merienda (snack). It was nice to see some of the guys try rice cake and pancit (noodles with vegetables and meat, often liver). We had a good time of fellowship with the organizers and the opposing team.

After the game we went back to the place we stayed to clean up and get ready for dinner. We went into the city to eat at one of Josh's favorite restaurants. It is called King Kebab, and they serve great Persian food. It was a nice treat and when we were done we headed back to our place to get some rest.

Please remember to keep the people in Brookside Subdivision in your prayers. The players and the spectators who heard the Gospel, as well as the many people who continue to minister to them.

June 12, 2009; Day 8: The Final Tip-Off

2009-06-20T10:36:00.000-07:00

The morning came early for several of us that had been up late on an adventure in search for some supplies. We were relieved to have an extra hour of sleep before we made customary
trip to McDonald’s for breakfast as we were waiting for our uniforms to come back from the Laundromat. After McDonald’s, we headed to Don Bosco College for our morning game. After
winding through several back roads, we came to a gate, only to find out that this was not the location of our game. Knowing full well that our driver was not the one to rely on for getting us to our destination in a timely manner, we had been relying on Coach Al's knowledge of Cebu to get us places. When Coach Al faltered, we knew it would be a while before we made it to the university. We back tracked our way to the main road and eventually found the school. The
team we were to play had been waiting a while for us and was ready to play by the time we got there. A quick warm-up, several familiar songs from Dave, the announcing of every player suited up to play, and our second to last game of the trip was underway. It was sad considering the trip was coming to an end, and it would be the last time for us to play with the Beyer brothers. They would be leaving for the airport as soon as we got back to the church.

In the typical fashion of this year's Buhay Sports team, we led by only a slim margin throughout the game, never really pulling away, but still having control of the game. By the end we had sufficient enough of a lead where everybody was able to get in play quite a few minutes. The coach had told us that they were a young team, but they had several solid players and were able to lessen their margin of defeat as the game came to a close. After getting their entire team to cram onto the benches, Dave was able to share a quick word with them about the good news of Jesus Christ. Like usual, we passed out some tracks and gave each player a bracelet with our theme verse on it, John 14:6. We mingled for several minutes but had to be off in order to get the Byers to the airport on time. As crazy as the driving is in the Philippines, throughout our stay here, we had yet to witness an accident. Today would be that day where one was witnessed. Unfortunately, it was us who took part in the accident. In passing through a busy intersection we suddenly were T-boned by a bus. Fortunately, the bus just kissed up to the side of the van, but from the reaction of the bystanders, I thought for sure someone had been smashed in some way or another. It turned out that it is customary for those who witness an accident to rush to the scene and stand around discussing what happened. After clearing the
intersection, we saw that there was minimal damage to both vehicles. All that was lost was our right side mirror, which became a souvenir for a lucky pedestrian. The police came, and after what seemed like several hours, settled the matter and we could continue on our way
back to the church.

In arriving at the church, we were able to shower and pack up all our stuff as we would be leaving for the airport from the afternoon game. After packing and loading up the vans, we said farewell to the Byers, then received a long and personal devotion from Pastor Gary. We ate
lunch once again at the nearby mall, and rode off to the final game of the trip. We were to play a Barangay type game against the factory team of the University of Visayas. They were quite good, possibly better than the actual UV team, and led for practically the entire game. Towards the end of the game, we were able to pull ahead by a slim margin. Up three with two minutes left, coach Bucher pulled a rather un-orthodox move by taking the entire starting five out and
putting in five fresh players. The ploy to disorient the other team seemed to work as neither team was able to score for several possessions. UV somehow put in two tough shots and a couple free throws to pull themselves a head by three. In a final desperation attempt, Coach Bucher was able to diagram a play for the last shot. It would be a simple pick-and-roll between Aaron and Lee to create an opportunity for the shooters to knock down a three. In a Ray Allen-esque manner, Lee came off of the screen gunning, only to see the shot fall just long as it bounced off the upper half of the backboard.

Though losing our final game our trip, the team was in good spirits. We were all tired and ready for some rest, but what was keeping our spirits high was the fact that several hundred people heard the gospel this day, and thousands more had heard the good news throughout the course of our trip. At every venue, we had a great response to the tracks handed out. We were able bless the pastors and Christian leaders of each town with an opportunity to connect with people they may have never come in contact with. So, all in all, it was a successful trip. We finish this trip up by leaving the rest of the work up to God. It was His work to begin with and I feel that He will continue to act mightily in this country. All we have left to do is pray for the people that we were able to witness to and that God's will will continue to be done. Thanks for partnering with us as we pray for each and every one of the lost souls that heard the Gospel.

June 11, 2009; Day 7: Fear Factor

2009-06-20T09:56:00.000-07:00

Today we had 2 games to play. Our first game was against Asia College of Technology (ACT). One of our ministry Partners in Cebu City, Coach Tata Merced is the Coach of ACT. We went to their campus, and had to walk up 10 flights of stairs to get to the gym. No need to warm up after that. This was a very tough game, and they had a couple of very strong players. It came down to the wire, but we were able to pull it out. After the game, Drew shared his testimony and talked about the impact following Christ had on his life. We encouraged the players to talk to Coach Tata about how they could have a relationship with Jesus Christ.

Our second game of the day was against Barangay Sambag-1. We have been very fortunate this trip to get to play on some wonderful courts, but this venue was definitely an exception to the rule. As opposed to a regulation basketball court, this was more like a bowling alley. The court was very narrow and had pretty tough rims to shoot on. We battled back and forth, but in the end, we were unable to pull this one out. We lost by a 4 points. Despite losing the basketball game, we still accomplished what we came here to accomplish. There was a great crowd and Trevor was able to share his testimony. We had a great response from the spectators and we received hundreds of response cards from people who wanted to learn more about a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Please keep this barangay and ACT in your prayers. The game is over, but the work has just begun.

WARNING: NOT FOR THOSE WITH WEAK STOMACHS

After our games were over, we returned to what Gary calls the American Embassy (McDonald's). We ordered out food and when we were all done, a fresh bag of balut magically appeared. For those of you who have never seen Fear Factor, balut is a fertilized duck egg, with a partially developed duck inside, that has been hard boiled. This is a Filipino delicacy. To eat balut, you are supposed to crack the top of the egg and dring the liquid out of the egg, then peel the rest of the shell off and eat the duck that is formed inside. This may sound disgusting, but words don't do this justice. It is beyond disgusting. Depending on the maturity of the egg, you either get a black blob of tissue or you get a visible duck with beak and sometimes feathers. After our Filipino team mate Amboy demonstrated how to eat balut, we sat back and watched all of the guys challenge each other to follow suit. In the end, most of the guys who had never tried it gave it a go. The response was interesting; everyone agreed that once you got over the idea of eating a whole duck, it really just tasted like a hard boiled egg. Props to all of you who had the courage to try it...

June 10, 2009; Day 6: Schedule? What Schedule?

2009-06-17T01:50:00.000-07:00

Today we played the University of San Carlos. They had a very nice indoor facility and a very strong team. They are considered the #2 team on the island behind UV. We continued our winning streak in Cebu with a victory over the USC Warriors. We had a great time of fellowship with the players after the game, and Elliot shared a few words of encouragement with them. The coach of USC is a Christian, and does a lot to reach out to his players. We trust that our efforts helped to back up what he tells them on a regular basis. Please keep the USC basketball team in your prayers. We would love to see God move in a mighty way, and use the basketball team to reach the rest of the campus. His is able!

After our first game we spent some time at the mall until our second of three games. We soon learned that our second game had been cancelled, so we decided to go back to our rooms at CCGC and play some pick up games with the youth who use the basketball facility there. Pastor Phillip of the CCGC explained to us that these young men are part of an outreach that the church puts on in efforts to share the gospel with them. We played around with them for a while and then spent a few minutes explaining to them why we had come. Christian shared his testimony and encouraged them to talk to the youth workers if they had any further questions. Each of these young men are in great need of prayer. Please pray for the youth outreach at CCGC, and the workers who minister there.

For our final game we headed out to the Barangay of Banilad. When we arrived we first met the Barangay Captain, who is like the mayor of the Barangay, then we played against the local team. We came away with another win, and more importantly we had a great time of ministry to the crowd and opposing team. Lee shared his testimony and pastor Gary gave the challenge to the crowd. We passed out tracts and received a numbe rof response cards that will be followed up later. Please keep the follow up workers in your prayers.

After the game we went to dinner. We have eaten quite a few times at a nice chicken on a stick restaurant. We then returned home and hit the sack...

June 9, 2009; Day 5: Free Admission

2009-06-17T00:21:00.000-07:00

We had 2 games scheduled for today, but our game this morning was canceled unexpectedly. During orientation we learned that the schedule will constantly change, and this is a prime example of that. This late in the game we were unable to schedule another game, so we were given the morning and afternoon off. We all opted to go to the local mall and hang out. Some people went and saw a movie, while others walked around and some just relaxed in the air conditioning.

We headed back to our dorm, then went out to our only game of the day. The game was located in the Barangay of Talamban. A barangay is a small village, there are a handful of barangays in every city. When we showed up to the game, we noticed that they were charging admission. As an organization, we do not allow venues to charge spectators to enter the game, but since our game was the opening game of the night, to be followed later by the championship of an ongoing league, it was understandable that they would need to charge admission to help cover the expenses associated with the following game. We tried to work it out with the organizers but there was not much we could do to forbid them from charging admission.

I was very blessed when nearly every player on our team began to give of their own personal money to try to offset the cost of admission. The charge per person was 10 pesos, but we agreed with the organizers that 2200 pesos (about $45) would be enough to open the gates and allow free admission. It was great to see the player's hearts for these people.

Once we had worked everything out regarding admission, we got started with the game. The team was strong, but we were able to pull out a win. Caleb shared at half time and Pastor TJ, who is in charge of the outreach in Talamban, gave a challenge to each of the players and spectators. We handed out tracts and received a large number of response cards from those who were interested in learning more about a personal relationship with Christ. Pastor TJ and his staff will follow those up over the next several weeks and we hope to have a report soon on what God did in the hearts of the people. Please pray for strength for those who follow up these contacts, that they would take advantage of the Holy Spirit's call on those hearts he led to fill out a contact card.

June 8, 2009; Day 4: Long But Profitable

2009-06-16T06:37:00.000-07:00

Today was a long but profitable day. We left our housing at 6:00 am to head to the airport. We flew an hour south to the Island of Cebu, where we will spend the rest of our trip. Cebu City is one of the 3 major cities in the Philippines in addition to Manila and Davao City.

Upon arrival, we met Pastor Gary, who helps take care of the Philippines side of things related to the ministry trips. Working with him on the ground in Manila is also Coach Al Solis. Al is a former PBA player who coaches in Cebu City. Al is one of 3 players in the PBA to accumulate over 1000 3 pointers in their career.

Pastor Gary and Coach Al picked us up at the airport to take us to the place where we will be staying during our time in Cebu City. Pastor Phillip, of the Cebu Christian Gospel Center, has been a great blessing to Buhay Sports over the years. He has always been willing to open up CCGC to help visiting teams who are in the area for ministry. Praise God for always providing partners who will step up and contribute to the team in different ways.

After we got everything unloaded and situated in our rooms (offices with sleeping mats), we met with Pastor Gary to go over a few things. After our meeting we headed to our first game in Cebu.

Living Word Christian Ministries is a big supporter of sports ministries across the Philippines. Coach Daniel and Josh have partnered with them on a number of occaisions. They have a ministry team called the ACES (Athletes for Christ in Excellent Service) who do a lot of the same things that we do throughout the year. Our first game was played at LWCM against the ACES. It was a great opportunity to encourage our brothers in Christ. Devin shared his testimony and encouraged the the other team to stay focused on Christ, who will carry you through the tough times as well as the easy times.

After our game with the ACES, we headed to University of the Visayas, their mascot is the Green Lancers. The Visayas are the chain of islands in the middle of the Philippines, between the two main islands Luzon (North) and Mindanao (South). UV has been the champion of thier league for the last 8 years, and has not lost many games over that time period. We played at their campus, where they had a cool older gym. It was a very competitive game that we were able to pull out in the end by 4. Coach Daniel told us that at some point we would experience bad officiating. I think this was beyond what any of us expected. Blatently bad calls were made throughout the game, especially by one specific referee, who we found out later was a janitor at the school and not an actual referee... I think this was pretty evident all along.

The most important part of the game was the ministry. We had a pretty good crowd and there were a couple of players on the team from the ACES. Coach Al is the assistant coach at UV, so he is able to plug some of the UV players into the ACES team. James shared his testimony and encouraged the spectators and other players to "taste and see" that the Lord is good. Coach Daniel and Josh see these players at various times throughout the year and will continue to try to build the relationship with them with the goal of continuing to present the Gospel. The ACES will also have an ongoing ministry with a number of these players. Please pray for the ACES team as they minister throughout the country, and for the UV Green Lancers. We know God will use our words to make a change in someone... now or down the road.

After we finished dinner, our local contacts were telling us how close we were to the church where we were staying. "Less than 3 minutes" they kept saying. We got lost a couple times, then stopped for gas, only to find out that the first gas station was out of gas. It was pretty funny how less than 3 minutes turned into almost 30. By the time we got back, everyone was ready to sleep... Like I said, it was a long day, but we know that God will use our work to further His kingdom.

June 7, 2009; Day 3: Like Kissing Your Sister

2009-06-16T04:21:00.000-07:00

We woke up this morning and went to church at Christ Believer's Fellowship Church. CBFC is held on the facilities of the Arthur Center, the ministry Daniel started to be the center point for outreach in a squatter village and surrounding subdivisions. This was a very exciting morning, because as we were all sitting there waiting for church to start, in walked one of the local players from the Buhay Cup. I am not sure what his name is, but Daniel calls him "The Assasin" because he shoots every time he touches the ball. He played against us in our game on Day 1 and came to church after hearing our group invite everyone to attend. This was so exciting for us because as a seed planting ministry you don't always get to be around for the harvest. Most importantly, we are happy for this individual who followed the Holy Spirit's leading to come to church, but it was also a great chance for all of us players to see the fruit of our labor. Praise God!

After church we drove out to Old Manila, where we played against St. Benilde College. SBC is a member of the NCAA, which is the other top college league in the Philippines. Our game went well, and we battled back and forth. When the final buzzer sounded, the score was 88 - 88. People say that a tie in competition is like kissing your sister... I agree. However, when playing what we call friendship games, we do not play overtime, if it ends in a tie it ends in a tie. After the game, Daniel gave the challenge to the other players to make a decision to follow Christ and to make Him, Lord of their life. We gave them all a gospel tract and invited them to talk with us after the game or sometime in the future when they see Josh or Daniel. We were also thankful to CSB for the generous gift of Jolibee spaghetti meals. A lot of times, teams will provide a meal or snack for us when we come to play. They also had us well stocked on Gatorade! What a blessing.

Our second game of the day was near SBC, so instead of going all the way home and coming back out, we decided to stop for some food and wait for the next game. We all stopped at KFC and enjoyed some American style food and fellowship with each other. It was nice to get to talk to some of the guys and find out more about them.

When it got closer to our game we headed back out toward Jose Rizal University. The JRU Heavy Bombers are one of the top 4 college teams in the country. They also play in the NCAA, same as St. Benilde College. We knew we were in for a tough match and we had yet to play our best team basketball, but we really stepped it up for this one. From the get go, Hudson made some amazing threes, Elliot took great care of the ball and really managed the game, and James made some tough plays inside gathering some crucial offensive boards and put backs. Although we lead almost the entire way, the game was never secure. There was definitely a sense of urgency to play our best for the whole game. We ended up winning by about 10.

After the game, Hudson was given the opportunity to talk to the players about his relationship with Christ. Hudson plays basketball for the Unniversity of Florida, so many of the guys were very interested in what he had to say. After he talked about how Christ changed his life we began to pass out tracts. Some of the players jumped right to the front to get one. It was exciting to see their enthusiasm and while no one stayed after to ask any questions, we are confident that God used our time with these players to plant seeds that someone else down the road will have an opportunity to harvest. Please remember to pray for the players of SBC and JRU. That the Holy Spirit will do something great in each of their hearts.

Tomorrow we leave for the island of Cebu... many more games to play....

June 6, 2009; Day 2: Let the Games Begin

2009-06-16T01:35:00.000-07:00

Today we started our first full day of games. We went to the Celebrity Sports Complex in Quezon City to play against the University of the Philippines (UP) Fighting Maroons.

Many of the colleges here will jump at a chance to play against a strong American team, especially with their season about to start. UP plays in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP), which is arguably the strongest college division in the country.

Our game was at 9:30 in the morning, and after finding our way through the traffic to the gym, we worked our way through security, and through the enormous facility to the gym. We are in the middle of rainy season, and apparently it has been raining for the last number of days/weeks, so of course, water had leaked through the rooftop onto the court. At least this time, there were guys with mops to help clean things up periodically, but it still made for some messy basketball with all of the slipping and sliding around...

Being our first competitive game, we got off to a little bit of a slow start. Most of us on this trip had never even met, not to mention played basketball together. We are, even now at the end of our second day, still getting a feel for how each other play. We still played a tough game against UP, and with about 1 minute to go, were ahead by three points. UP got a great look at a 3 pointer and tied it up. Apparently this was their big stud, and despite being their tallest player, he was able to step out and knock down a clutch shot. I won't mention who was guarding (or not guarding) him, but J...osh had a whole list of excuses as to where he was when his man was shooting a wide open shot :).

We still had the ball with about 40 seconds to go, and Hudson dribbled the ball down the court to try to get us an open look. One of the UP defenders reached around and literally hit him across the back. This was not a cheap shot, but certainly a foul. The refs, who also happened to be UP team managers, did not agree and allowed the Fighting Maroons to take the ball down the court to shoot a lay-up. To make matters worse, Elliot hustled down the court to contest the shot, and in going for the ball, fouled the shooter. The refs seemed to think this foul was excessive (it was not) and called a flagrant foul. Giving UP two fouls shots and the ball.

Coach Daniel asked the refs why they did not call the first foul and they had some strange excuse about there being no advantage... I am not sure how the opposing team getting a lay-up is not an advantage, but I guess I don't know all of the rules of basketball as well as I maybe could.

In the end, we had to force them to the free throw line to stop the clock and get the ball back. We were left with 5 seconds to hit a 3 point shot to tie the game. Coach drew up a nice play, and we got a good look, but the shot did not fall. We lost by 3.

After the game, we had a great opportunity to sit down with all of the players and coaches and tell them the #1 reason why we had come. Josh talked to them about our love for basketball and how we came to the Philippines because it is one of the most exciting places in the world to play basketball, but he told them that more important than basketball was our love for Jesus Christ, who gave His life so we could have a relationship with Him. Josh encouraged each of the players to consider who they were living for. Josh and Daniel both live in Manila and have relationships with a lot of these players, and they challenged them to talk with one of us before we left or at a future time. We also gave them a gospel tract that had the plan of salvation. We will continue praying for Josh or Daniel to have opportunities to talk more with these guys.

After we were finished with UP, we headed back to the place where we were staying. On the way back, we stopped at a place called Flaming Wings. Josh really talked this place up on the way there, but it did not disappoint. Great Buffalo Wings by any standard.

Later that evening we had a game in Marikina against some former PBA players. The PBA is the top professional league in the Philippines. This game was done in partnership with Athletes for Life, another organization who is using basketball to help spread the gospel. Josh and Daniel play with A4L throughout the year and help them with other basketball ministry events.

This game was very exciting, and there were probably 1500 - 2000 people there watching us play. We won't talk about the basketball side of things, because we did not play well and lost by 12. The ministry side of things was amazing. Pastor Nester, with Athletes for Life, and a former PBA player who is now a pastor had great opportunities to share the gospel. We collected a lot of response cards from people who want a visit from the local pastor. Please continue praying over the coming months, that as the pastor follows up each of these contacts, he would have many, many opportunities to lead lost souls to Jesus.

We have another busy day ahead of us tomorrow... more to come!

June 5, 2009; Day 1: Orientation and Our First Game

2009-06-15T00:59:00.000-07:00

Today we met for the first time as a team to go through our orientation meeting.

We talked about our goals for the trip as a team, as well as our goals for individual players.

As a team, we have one main goal: To use basketball as a platform to help others and ourselves effectively share the gospel. There are a lot of different avenues where this leads. We will partner with local churches, and help them recruit and evangelize. Other times we will be ministering only to the team we play against, helping to solidify the relationships that full time staff have been working to develop throughout the year.

As individuals, we were challenged to use the talents and abilities God has blessed us with to help build relationships with pastors, churches, opposing players and ultimately the thousands of lost souls that we will share the gospel with over the course of our trip. In addition to opening our perspective to see the needs of another culture, Coach Daniel gave us each 3 specific goals:
1. That we would pray for God to use us to bless the individuals we meet, the churches we partner with and each other.
2. That each of us would have a servant's heart. That we would pour as much of ourselves as we possibly could into the trip.
3. That we would truly "partner" with Buhay Sports and the many churches and pastors we assist. A true partnership far outlasts the duration of the trip, even after we return home, we should at the least remember to pray for the specific people and places we shared the Gospel with.

After discussing our goals, we learned a little bit about the Philippines and a few key phrases that we might need to use. Most importantly: Nasaan and CR? (Where is the bathroom?) We also learned some cultural points, the funniest of which was that time is irrelevant in the Philippines, there is little here that happens on time. It all happens on "Filipino Time."

After our orientation, we had some dinner from Jolibee (Pinoy McDonald's), then we headed to our first game.

In the Philippines there are leagues everywhere. Every subdivision has a league, every barangay, every city... there are commercial leagues, semi-pro leagues, 6 foot and under leagues... the list goes on and on. Buhay Sports sponsors a league near a ministry center that is run by a staff member. The league is called the Buhay Cup. Our game was planned so that the championship game of the Buhay Cup would be during our trip. After the championship game, we played against the Buhay Cup Selection (all-star) Team.

It rained almost all day, and though the court was covered, there were leaks all over the place. Newspapers were placed on the court to soak up some of the water, and to help you see where the court was wet. The game went great with a lot of fun and excitement. Josh shared his testimony at half time and told everyone that giving their life to Jesus was the only way to ever have true happiness. We invited everyone to attend church and Pastor Better LaBuca had an opportunity to share the Gospel.

Before we left we prayed and asked God to really move in peoples hearts. We asked that the Church would be flooded with people that coming Sunday. Please join us in prayer as the Holy Spirit continues to lead people who played in and watched the Buhay Cup to His Son Jesus Christ.

Tomorrow is another day, with more games to play.

Cebu Trip 2009

2009-06-07T07:11:00.000-07:00

It has been an exciting beginning to our 8 day outreach in Metro Manila and then on to Cebu. In our first 3 days we have played six games against some of the top teams in Manila. We have played two community outreach games and four against local colleges. We will be updating with more pictures soon but here is a small sample from our first few days. In our second community game we played in front of over 2000 fans against a selection team of professional players who are also Christians. It was great basketball and a great opportunity to share our faith. Please pray for our guys as cramping and small nagging injuries are starting to come into play.

By Faith

Our New Blog

2008-12-20T21:38:00.000-08:00

Thanks for visiting Buhay Sports' Blog. We will be using this page to keep everyone posted on what is going on with this exciting ministry that God has allowed us to be a part of.

Thanks to all of you who have joined our team as ministry partners. Whether through prayer, finances or both, you are all crucial parts of His ministry through us.

Won by One,

Joshua Manthe, for Buhay Sports