Have you ever found yourself putting God in a box? Sometimes, it is so easy for us to expect only to experience Christ at church, at a prayer meeting, or in worship. But you see, God is everywhere and we are the church. Christ isn’t just there on Sundays. He is everywhere we go. He’s with you when you wake up, he’s in your conversations with people, he’s at work with you, he is there when your playing games with your friends, when your alone at home, or even when you are playing street ball in the middle of the park.
Currently, I am on Month 9 of the Race, and going on my second week here in Puerto Barrios, Guatemala. Every Sunday, my team and I head to the park to do park ministry. This park is really neat and loaded with tons of activities such as break dancing, soccer, and basketball. There are also a lot of moms with their children and many people that come there to hangout. During our first Sunday there, I enjoyed learning some new breakdancing skills. I have always wanted to learn how to be an amazing dancer, so I am hoping that my goal will be accomplished by the end of this month. I was also able to join the boys on the court to play some street ball. My teammates and I had so much fun that we anticipated playing with them again the following Sunday.
Well, this past Sunday, the Lord had bigger plans than my teammates and I knew. Once we arrived at the basketball court, two of my teammates and I were excited to see some familiar faces that we met previously. One familiar face in particular was a 17 year old boy named Louis. He was one of my teammates that I played with the weekend before. He is about 6’3 and a solid basketball player. He told us about how he loves the game and wants to play in college and be an amazing player one day.
As the night went on, we played all types of games from 3 on 3, to 4 on 4 playing full court, back to 3 on 3 with subs. This was a night full of sweat, meeting new people and enjoying the joy of the Lord on the court. As the 3rd hour of basketball hit, I had a chance to start telling Louis about my story. He told me how he would love to play professional basketball one day. I was then able to share with him how I had that same dream, but it wasn’t until I realized that I needed to play for the Lord instead of playing for myself, that I was able to achieve it. When we live our lives for the Lord, we will never fail and always experience an everlasting stream that is filled with more than the world could ever provide, but when we play to gain the world, it is like having a means to no end. I told him that it was the Lord that allowed me to achieve my dream once I set my eyes on him.
As we finished playing our game, Louis came up to me and wanted me to finish my story. He told me about how he wants to know who God is, and he doesn’t want to just play for himself anymore. He told me about how his family has no religion but he wants to discover who God is. As he said this, internally I became overjoyed. I shared my whole story with him and invited my two teammates over to join in prayer. One of my teammates then shared her story with him as well. Both of our stories were similar in a way. We both were so focused on being the best, got injured, had our minds refocused, and started playing for the Lord instead.
Everyone, I would like to tell you that Louis asked Christ into his heart by the end of the night. A night of street ball turned into a heart saved right there on the basketball court. This moment was a moment that just highlighted the whole reason that we are here. Sometimes it just takes that one conversation to make a difference for the kingdom. We are the ministry and God’s arms are always open anytime, anywhere. Have you taken God out of the box?
My teammate Chantai, Me, Louis, and my teammate Christi
