Day 4 in the Philippines 2011

First of all, I want to shout, "Praise the Lord!" We had at least 5 young men make a decision to follow Jesus Christ at Basketball camp! I had asked everyone to pray for the coaches who were sharing the Gospel, and God used them in powerful ways. There were some in the first camp who were not sure, but were challenged to think about it. We will follow up with them today. I haven't talked to all the coaches after the second camp, so there may have been more decisions.

After the usual breakfast routine, we headed to the church. The morning was freed up for me to spend some time shadowing Tori helping with the Precious Jewels Camp. This is a camp for the mentally challenged students that many of our people at FBC sponsor. It was great watching her interact! I loved watching them play with her hair! They just loved on her! Tori had the opportunity to share her testimony through an interpretor, and did a fantastic job! I am so proud of her... it took courage and she shined!

About 11am I had to leave the church with Bobby, Pastor Nigel, and Pastor Jeremy. We went to the mall to pick up something to eat and then do some shopping for basketball camp. We had a rim break and the portable goals needed nets, so we took care of them. We got to the new property about 2pm to fix everything before the 3pm camp started.

The first session was great! We worked on proper layups and shooting fundamentals, had devotions, and then had our skills competition.

After the first session, the coaches played! We played 5 on 5, half court. They asked me if I wanted to play full court... I was laughing! I told them that if I played full court today, it could possibly be my last day! haha! While we were playing, it started to rain. We played in the rain and it felt really nice... until a few hours later when we were still soaked to the bone.

The second session was altered a bit because of the rain. We only worked on the fundamentals of shooting with the students, had devotions, and played knock out! You could not dribble on the court because of the puddles. Over all, the camp went really well. Would you believe that yesterday the rim on the opposite hoop broke at the exact same time the rim broke the previous day... right before the second session. No! It is not because I was dunking... I know you were thinking it! haha!

After the second camp, we took the coaches out to eat to their choice. We went to a Filipino restaurant in the Iella Mall. It was great food and great conversations. Their is not a mall in America that is as nice as this mall! It is absolutely gorgeous! It reminds you about how wide the gap in the poverty line is! Most people in the Philippines live in squatter homes (very poor conditions) and then you have a mall like this... yet the mall is flooded with people. Bobby and I got back to the guest house about 10:30pm... a long but fantastic day! Praise God!

I will try to blog my quiet time latter, but I have run out of time.

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