Hoops for Hope

The second week of March was overfilled with an amazing time of sports outreach. Pastor Mark Wible (Highland Baptist Church) led a team of six athletic men with the desire to reach the world for Christ through basketball. During the first three days, fundamental skills were taught to 120 kids in a neighborhood called Jardim. They were shown how to dribble, pass, shoot, rebound, and move offensively and defensively.

Hoops for Hope team
(Left to Right: Myself, Jim Bowers, Thiago, Carlos, Avelino,
Mark, Noah, Mike, Dezanove, Vance, Ben, Andy)

At the end of each session, Mark shared the following devotional thoughts:

I have a purpose.
God has a plan.
You have a part.

The kids were encouraged to discover their PART to play in God's PLAN of redemption for the ultimate PURPOSE of bringing Him glory. Local ministers presented the salvation message to the children on the final day. We had around fifty kids respond! Praise God! Our prayer is that these kids can plug into local congregations and continue growing in their fresh walk with the Lord.

The fourth day of the week was spent training coaches and ministering at an orphanage outside of town. With an overflow of children wanting to participate, we decided to break the team up into two groups. My group ran the skills training while the rest of the team played with the kids on the playground. I had been running my own station for passing the whole week, speaking Portuguese the whole time. But when we split into groups, I was the only one available to translate for Pastor Mark. It was a stretching few hours for sure! Exhausted from the week already, I was grabbing for grace to make it through our final presentation.

One of our translators for the week was Thiago Silva de Souza. He is a Brazilian friend I met in high school. Having recently graduated with a degree in Physical Education, he shares my passion for sports ministry and flew over to Mozambique to help run the camp. His presence and interpretation was very much appreciated! He will be spending the rest of the month at my house before heading back to his home in Manaus, Brazil. Please ask God to reveal the next steps for Thiago's life.

Thiago and I at the airport

Elio and Thiago
(street child)

As I pass the nine month mark in Mozambique, I too am praying about the next steps to take. I would appreciate your prayers as I try to discover God's plan.

CAM girls basketball took 3rd place at the annual AISM tournament!

More immediate prayer requests are listed below.

School trips this weekend:

• The high school is traveling to Bilene beach for their annual field trip. They will spend two nights out, returning on Saturday afternoon.
• Two high school students will be traveling to Johannesburg, South Africa for the Global Issues Service Summit Africa 2012. Kyla and myself will be acting as chaperones for the weekend. We will return to Mozambique on Tuesday.
• Our elementary is traveling to the crocodile farm this Friday for the day.

Melvin and Sharon Kelly are having a child.
Please pray for safe and healthy delivery. Sharon's water broke this morning, so the party could be going on as I type. :)

Continued discipleship of new believers in Jardim.
Please lift up the lives of so many children who made decisions to receive Jesus and live their lives for Him. Ask that they could find churches where that relationship could be cultivated well.

Thank you! Be blessed, friend.