DID SOMEBODY SAY SPORTS?
Here’s another link to a lot of pictures of our adventure in Kenya: https://photos.app.goo.gl/0X5ISLRNymS3s5gl1
Yesterday was organized chaos and fun. Today we are having organized sports and fun! First we had a basketball game and then a soccer game. Along with each game there were be some training drills for older kids. Fortunately we’ve had a few days to recover from jetlag.
After breakfast today our team was bussed to the Barclay’s Bank Sports Club, an exclusive sports club for Kenya’s elite teams. This beautiful complex has facilities for soccer, basketball, handball, squash, tennis and volleyball. It was a blast from the past for me because when I first started to come to Kenya these clubs were exclusively for British Colonialists and whites. Blacks were not allowed. The only Kenyans on the grounds were servants and groundkeepers.
A short time after our arrival several hundred Kenyan young people arrived. These are older kids then the ones we worked with yesterday, between the ages of 13 and 18. We had them bussed in from various churches and ministries connected with Worldcomp.
As I write this, everyone is now warming up in the gym for a serious basketball game between our team and the locals, with several hundred kids watching from the balcony areas. All of our King’s Students are sporting red t-shirts with the word “Just doing it for Jesus” on their backs.
A funny note: During one of our drills Josiah Siers slipped and fell as he was demonstrating one of the drills. The Kenyan kids assumed that it was part of the training so everyone one of them fell on the floor in order to follow his lead. Rather than correcting the problem they just let is run, because it was hilarious and fun. Check out some of the pictures on Facebook @ Khskenya2018.
The Basketball games were an absolute riot. I was mistaken when I said it was “serious basketball”. Kenyans are great soccer players, but not so much, basketball players. In America we don’t have the quadruple dribble, the full contact press, the seven steps with the ball or the “no blood no foul” rule. In the end, I we scored many more baskets, but let’s just say “Jesus Won!” One thing I’ll say for the Kenyans, they are fast! It was like watching a globetrotters game and will be long remembered by all.
After lunch we assembled for the soccer game. It was a very well played game on both sides. I know some of you don’t believe there is such a thing as a “good soccer game” but let me just say, “ It was a good soccer game!”
We concluded our day together by assembling for a few final words. Gifts were given to the local soccer team and to Kimbo Church who has been graciously hosting us. At the very end Eric Rasmussen gave a very inspiring word encouraging all in attendance to consider giving their lives to the Lord. Then one of our MC’s asked if there were any who would like to receive Christ and 5 Kenyan young people stood for prayer. Praise the Lord!
One last word to all you parents who have a kid on this trip. Your kids are exceptional! The respect they have shown to each other and the love they have shown to the Kenyan people is something to behold. I am a parent and a grandparent and I know kids can behave better when they are on a trip like this than when they are at home, but I really believe your child will come home with a new appreciation for love and respect and a new love for Jesus!
Don’t forget to look at the many pictures that are posted on our Facebook page: Khskenya2018
Blessings to you and yours
Keep up the prayers.