Well, God has done it again.
One day, on our Sabbath, Allison, Daniel, Hadassah, and Bre decided to venture out and explore Beirut. We all wanted to go see some of the popular things that most tourists go see when they’re here. I had also heard that there was a gym and supposedly the Pro team played there. So, of course, I had to go check it out!
After we finished seeing everything, Allison and I decided to go and look for the gym. At first we couldn’t find it. The map that we were using was showing that we were in the right location, but we weren’t seeing anything. As we continued to walk, I just happened to look to the right and I saw a bunch of banners hanging on the side of this building. The banners had pictures of what looked like pro teams of the past, so we went inside and there were pro players inside working out! However, they were from the women’s team.
I was so excited to be in a real, professional, gym; but, I was expecting to see the men’s team and was expecting to somehow play. So, as I was taking pictures and trying to maintain my excitement and not have a pity party for myself, I look to Allison and say “I probably shouldn’t go out there” because the two girls were in a workout with their trainer and there were kids on the other end. Right as I went to sit down and watch, I notice someone ducking to walk into the gym. I instantly knew he was on the team, so I looked at Allison again and said “I’m going out there”.
Without any hesitation, I walked down the stairs and walked to the other side where I saw the tall guy walk in. I was stopped at the door by an older man who looked something like an owner. He was asking all these questions: “Who are you?” “What’s your name?” “Where are you from?” “Who you play for?” “How old are you?” “Why are you here?” Once I answered his questions and gave my “basketball resume”, he let me onto the court to go shoot around on the other end, away from the players. As I was shooting, I noticed the tall guy walking towards me, dribbling a ball.
He was coming to shoot around with me!
We started talking as we shot around and I found out his name is KG. He played for USC, Kentucky, and Fresno State in college. He almost played for the Sacramento Kings of the NBA and played a few seasons in the D-League. He has been playing, internationally, for around 5 years and had just joined the team in Beirut, Lebanon. He’s 6’7 and plays point guard for his team. After shooting around for a little bit, the girls finished their session and it was Kevin’s turn. As he went to work out, I kept shooting and then the girls who were working out, came and talked to me as well.
I remember thinking, as I was talking to the girls,
“God, You’re so good to me. I don’t deserve this at all, making friends with pro players here. If this is all you have for me, then I am truly satisfied!”
I, then, remember having this feeling inside of me that there was more..
The girls left the gym and KG had been in his workout for about an hour at this point. I go over to Allison, who had just been hanging out and watching everything go on and tell her that I was done and ready to go. It was, then, that the more I was feeling started to reveal itself. KG finished his workout, walked back down to the end I was on, and asked me to play one-on-one. With a huge smile on my face, I said yes. We played two games to eleven points, and could only take three dribbles to score. He won both games. First game 11-8 and the second 11-10. After the games were over, we exchanged numbers so that we could, hopefully, be able to play some real games with more people.
Here’s some highlights from our games:
About a week later, I get a text from KG saying that he had a friend with him and wanted to play two-on-two. So, I grabbed Tyler and we showed up at the gym ready to play. KG had his friend named with him who was looking to join the team there and had a tryout game later that night! We ended up playing, I believe, four games and split the wins!
Here are some highlights from those games:
After these games, Tyler and I were able to share exactly why we were in Lebanon and why we were traveling. We told them about the Race and that we just simply wanted to love on people the way Jesus does us. I remember KG’s friend asking me about playing pro and when I explained how I was putting basketball off for a year to follow Jesus around the world, his face went blank. It was like he couldn’t believe I was putting off ball for a year to follow Him. I’m hoping that through that conversation, they will see and understand that God is so much bigger than basketball.
I found out that his friends tryout game was later that same night and was invited to come and watch. After KG and his friend left the gym, the trainer called me over and talked to me about potentially playing in that same game! Some of the girls on my team (Allison, Amber, and Hadassah decided to show up and surprise me and watch me play against the pros) noticed that the trainer had been watching us play the whole time! He gave me a phone number to contact about playing in the game. I contacted the guy and he told me I couldn’t play in that game that night due to it being such short notice and because I didn’t know the teams system. But, he still wanted to meet me at the game and talk.
So I showed up to the game and met the guy and he told me, basically, that it wasn’t going to work out because the team had a full roster. He was more so looking for me to join the team rather than just play in a game. So, again, I was so close!!
Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to hang out with KG outside of basketball, but I believe that through us playing, he and his friend were able to experience Jesus in a way he hadn’t before. Hopefully I will be able to keep up with him and his games this season!
Wow. I am blessed for sure and am so thankful for these doors that continue to open and for the opportunities that He continues to place in front of me!
