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.
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