Six months ago, a few October World Racers helped to construct a basketball hoop in Manila. Jeff Long, missionary in residence, wanted to provide some entertainment options for the street kids that often crowd outside the Yun Jin Ministry Center (YMC) gate. It was, of course, a huge hit! People playing on it constantly, from early morning until late at night. A few days after it was constructed, both myself and the world racers left the Philippines.
But that’s not where the story ends. A few days after that basketball hoop went up, the YMC got a visitor. It was the pastor from the next door church upset about the basketball hoop. His bedroom window, as it turns out, was right above the hoop, and he and his wife were frustrated with all the noise. So Jeff decided to take the Pastor on a little tour of the neighborhood, and show him some of the ministries they are doing there. He showed them the children’s home for abandoned, neglected, and abused children. He showed him the community center where they educate the orphans as well as children of widows from the neighborhood. He showed them the street magazine office, the water stations, and of course, the playground on the street, in front of his window, for the street kids.
With tears in his eyes, the Pastor told Jeff to leave up the basketball hoop. He cried because he was a Filipino man, a pastor in the community, who had never reached out to the community. He realized that it took an American missionary to reach his own people, and regreted that he had not done anything himself.
And as a result of this meeting, a partnership was formed. The church next door and Jeff Long decided to work together to reach out to the community and to share the love of God. Since then, amazing things have happened in the Cuatro Community in Manila. Seminary attendance at the church has more than doubled, an intermural sports program/bible study has started with over 90 men in attendance weekly, the street kids are able to play in the church’s huge play area inside their gates, including 6 basketball hoops, and construction will begin soon to add a fourth floor to the church’s building, where the seminary will move up to, and the bottom floor will be used for the community school’s older grades.
God does indeed work in mysterious ways. We thought it was just a basketball hoop. But that hoop has had a huge impact in the community and in the Kingdom. God always has a plan, even in the “small” things.
