Friday, May 14, 2010: Marikina

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!

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

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

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

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!

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

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.