Day 5: 3 Games in 1 Day!

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!