If you know me you know I love basketball. I enjoy watching basketball, playing basketball, and even talking about basketball.
So you can imagine how excited I was when I found out basketball is a huge sport in the Dominican Republic.
This month we worked with an organization called “Hope Mountain”. They do a number of different ministries here in the DR from kids clubs to evangelism to sports ministry. We lived in the mountains of Santiago where the view was absolutely breath taking. Waking up every morning and seeing the sunrise over the beautiful mountains was a simple reminder of God’s love and creativity.
The locals in the mountains were one of a kind. Between buying hotdogs on the weekend to an every night snack run for chocolate milk, every interaction I had with the people was great.
So when we had an opportunity to bring this great community together, we jumped at the idea as quick as we could.
Mr. Reuben, our host, brought us to the basketball court that was literally a 10 minute walk from our house. It was the community courts and they were in dire need of some upgrades. Both backboards were torn and broken from the weather. The wood was terribly rotten and the rims were both hanging straight down. They were only attached by some old, worn-out string. Mr. Reuben told us of how so many people from all the nearby towns used to come there and play. Every night you could find 20+ people on the courts hanging out and shooting hoops but it hadn’t been that way for a long time.
As we examined the goals we started formulating some ideas on what we could do to repair them. After looking at our budget and pricing certain items we realized we had the funds to replace the entire backboard on both goals.
*side note: when you see a need and have the resources to meet it, you don’t have to go pray and see what God says about it, just meet the need.
Thus began a weekend of rebuild. We thought this project would be at least one week’s worth of work and it might have been if we didn’t have the help of the awesome community around Hope Mountain. As members of D squad stood on the courts examining the goals with Mr. Reuben members of the community started to gather. As Mr. Reuben explained our vision for the goals to these guys you could see the excitement forming on their faces. It was Saturday evening and the sun was just starting to set. We told them that we planned to start the work on them the next morning after church but that wasn’t going to work. These guys wanted to start immediately. They started gathering tools from the neighboring houses and stores. More men were showing up willing to help in any way possible. In the matter of hours it turned into a big event. The men took one goal down but realized they didnt have all of the necessary tools at the courts so we carried the entire metal frame to one of the guy’s house. At one point I counted over 18 men and young teens gathered around this one metal frame breaking off old pieces of backboard, unscrewing rusted bolts, and practicing with all the power tools. It got to the point where some guys started taking shifts between helping and playing a game of Dominoes.
Low and behold, we realized we bought the wrong sized backboard and didn’t have enough nuts and bolts to complete both goals that evening. Not to worry though because Mr. Reuben was as passionate about this project as we were. Early the following morning before church him and I took our 4th trip into the city (45 minutes away when the dirt roads are fixed). We gathered the rest of the materials needed to finish the courts and we headed back. When we arrived the young men of the community had already taken down the metal frame from the other goal, cleaned off the old broken backboard, carried it to the guy’s house with the power tools, and had taken all the rusty nuts and bolts out. That alone took us over 2.5 hrs the night before so it was not an easy task. Needless to say we were very thankful. Throughout the day we finished putting the boards into the frame, put up the rims with their new nets, and got the entire thing hung back up. On monday morning part of the squad joined some of the community guys on the courts to paint the backboards and add the finishing touches to the goals.
It was literally a night and day difference.
The goals were finally complete but we still had to break them in. We talked to a lot of the community that had done most of the work and told them to all come out that evening at 5 for a big pickup game. We had been planning this since we first started the project. That evening our entire squad of 42 people filled the stands alongside a lot of the men and women in that town to cheer on a simple pickup game.
Literally every single evening for the next week and half that we had left in the Dominican Republic you could find anywhere between 10 to 30 guys from many of the neighbouring towns waiting to play on the sidelines. And you could bet I was playing right alongside them.
It was beautiful.
I called it the weekend of rebuild because a lot more came together than just two simple basketball goals. This wasn’t only our squad project but it was the communities. I would like to take credit for the work completed on these goals but in reality the men of this town did most of the work as we stood by in amazement. Mr. Rueben repeated to us that we didnt understand the gravity of what took place. This court now gives an opportunity for the community to come together for a healthy activity and keeps from being idle and having the temptation of going out and drinking and etc. It also gives Mr. Rueben and Hope Mountain an opportunity to witness to these guys that believing in Jesus is more than just following rules but its about bringing people together and giving with an open hand what God has given you.
The Dominican Republic was such a blessing to me. It taught me quiet a few lessons, one being the only thing worth doing is what we do for others.
If you have ever donated to me for this mission trip then you can take ownership of this project as well because things like this cant take place without donations like yours.
If you have not donated or are looking to give now, please donate. I am currently in Jamaica and have 2 countries left until my SQL experience with D squad is complete. I have raised $1,500 so far and am still in need of $5,000. Please pray and consider donating. Share this blog to get the word out. Help me make a difference around the world in communities like this one here in the DR.
