When I was in Malaybalay last March, our squad got heavily involved in a basketball league with a group of locals. Chris is the president of the league and has a heart to bring friendly competition to the courts, but also use it as an opportunity to be a good influence on the society as a whole. Surprisingly, basketball is the national sport out here and it only takes one announcement to get people running to the courts. There were several teams signed up for the league last March as the season kicked off. It was a huge success, and it’s getting ready to fire back up again this weekend.
Much like our squad, this World Race squad has wanted to play basketball everyday possible. We’ve spent most of our full days doing projects around the camp, and take off to the courts immediately after dinner. I was telling these guys all about Chris, but we were never able to track him down. Finally, after nearly a month, Chris made his appearance at the courts and he was able to tell the Racers a little about the league. Because of this ministry, Chris has almost become a mini-celebrity because he’s hosting one of the biggest tournaments on this island. Each year it grows.
Chris told us how there were around 250 players this year. A lot of them were returning from last year, but since the league has more than doubled, there will be a good number of new faces. The hope and purpose of this league is to give these men something to compete and battle for. While this culture is extremely hospitable, it can be completely enabling, and beggars will just keep begging. It’s easy to live on little to nothing out here, so many do just that. However, there’s an inner battle mode inside each man, and sometimes it just needs to be triggered.
So over the next couple of months, Chris will host the opening tournament, league play, and the final championship tournament, during which many of the Christian players will be able to share their testimonies and reasons for why they chose to live differently. There may not always be scheduled times or events to share, but many of these men will just take the post game opportunity, or just live out their testimony while on the courts. This league is a chance to set a standard, not just for competition, but also in the life of a man. I pray it succeeds…
