The Philippines :: Buhay Sports Basketball

The basketball ministry we worked with is called Buhay Sports. Buhay means life in tagolog (the language in the Philippines). The ministry runs by short term teams that come and play exhibition games with teams all throughout the country. Basketball is the main sport in the Philippines! Everyone plays! There are basketball courts where there in not even running water. Since everyone loves basketball so much, whenever there is a game going people from all over come out to watch. So, during half time a member from the Buhay team says a short testimony to the crowd followed by a recap and the gospel again by a local pastor in tagolog. Then the team passes out tracts and asks the crowd to respond by filling out their information. A local pastor then sends them a bible and literature. Receiving mail is a rare thing so when someone gets mail, they take the time to read it! It's a really neat ministry! We were disappointed that we didn't get to see the latter end of the deal, but it was a real blessing to be able to share in this way.

So for 4 days of our trip the guys played 2 games a day with teams in provinces and even a college team. Buhay won most of their games which was an added plus!

Here is Brandon sharing his testimony during the last game. He did such a great job and it was a great way to end the basketball part of the trip.
This was the court of the last game they played. Most of the courts we went to were outside but covered.

We all loved our matching jerseys!

This little guy was a baller!

We had both purple and black jerseys!

We Had our first names on the jerseys so that is was easier for people to remember our names.

Go Team Buhay!!

This is out in one of the provinces, probably one of the prettiest places we went. But half way through the game it started to pour and water got on the court so we had to leave, but the gospel was shared!

The team always gave kids what they called "baller bands." They loved them!

Team prayer before the game.

This was probably the biggest crowd that came. It was at a college, and they screamed when their team not only scored but had the ball!

This court, among the others, was so slippery that they sprinkled Coke on it so that it was sticky!

The team being introduced before their first game.

This was my favorite baller!!!

Ya, look at that dunk!!

We loved being there to support and cheer on our husbands!

This is the team with some local fire fighters who wanted a picture :)

So after half time, us girls went around and collected the response cards. This is me doing so at our last game.

This is a ministry that is really effective in the Philippines, but it wouldn't seem like it unless you knew the culture and the people and what they do and love. Though one of many opportunities to share, we would love to be able to participate in this ministry in the future. Our team was amazing, and this is something anyone can do!

"Shout for joy to God, all the earth;

sing the glory of his name;

give to him glorious praise!"

Pslam 66:1-2