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!
Showing posts with label Kalibo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kalibo. Show all posts
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
June 26, 2009; Day 7: Back to School
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.
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.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
June 25, 2009; Day 6: School Days
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.
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.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
June 23, 2009; Injury in Ibajay
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.
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.
Monday, June 22, 2009
June 21, 2009; Kalibo Day 2: In Rain OR Shine
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.
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.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
June 20, 2009; Day 1: Kalibo, Aklan Tour Begins in Manila
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.
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.
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