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!
Showing posts with label Manila. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Manila. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Monday, June 15, 2009
June 5, 2009; Day 1: Orientation and Our First Game
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.
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.
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