Day 2 - Emiliani, Prepa, Javier

Travel, travel and more travel...today has been a long day of basketball and traveling around Guatemala City. We began the morning around 7:15 with a strong (and necessary) breakfast of pancakes and fresh fruit. Jaime picked us up at 8:00 and we began the trip to our first stop of the day, a public school called Emiliani. Jaime was excited about this opportunity for us because it was also his first time to get into this school and our team had given him a way to hopefully build a new relationship in Guatemala City with another school.


The basketball game was not unlike many of the games around Guatemala. The game was played on an outdoor court with a crowd that steadily grew as the game progressed. The opposition was a mix of skilled, hard-working high school players that showed a lot of spirit and determination but in the end, we were able to come away with a win and several funny and exciting moments/memories.





After the game finished, the opposing team and many of their classmates gathered around as Coach Horner introduced the team and our purpose for visiting their country and their school. Wirt volunteered to share his testimony and did a fantastic job of communicating his hope found in Christ for the dozens of students that huddled around to hear what he had to say. Afterwards, Jaime was able to again able to pray for the students, present the gospel of salvation through Christ and thank them for allowing us to visit and share. Post-game festivities ensued as students quickly made their way to our guys seeking autographs, silicone wrist bands, and general broken bi-lingual conversations.




After about 30min of visiting with the students and a quick snack, it was back on the road for a game across town at Prepa. As was documented last year, Prepa and Jackson Prep have developed a bit of a foreign rivalry that always results in a spirited showing by all involved and so far, Jackson Prep victories. This visit was no different as both teams played very hard and competed throughout the game. The crowd gathered around the court blowing horns, cheering loudly for every Prepa score and even applauding JP misses and fouls. However, the guys were able to fend off a feisty group of players from Prepa by about 12 points and further fuel the rivalry and raise anticipation for another meeting on Saturday night.

After the game, Josh was able to share his story and how God is shaping him to be the person he was created to be. Again, a well-prepared and delivered message by one of our guys was followed by Jaime giving a gospel presentation and time of prayer for all those in attendance. Our guys again did a fantastic job of not only playing with a sportsmanship and attitude indicative of our message but also interacted with the team and fans after the game in a spirit of curiosity and humility that is rarely seen from teenage boys.



But, alas, our travels must continue as we still had a meeting in another part of town against another larger private school team. This time traffic, more traffic and a quick stop at Burger King for a late lunch all combined to make us about 30 min late for our scheduled game. However, this is Central America and the tardiness was over looked graciously as the team was anxious to play us and see how they stacked up against the Americans. Again, adversity was the name of the game. Due to a set of circumstances that could've proved to be disastrous, we were forced to endure Tim and Schutt as the referees for the final game of the day. According to both of our fearless adult sidekicks, "it was the best refereed game in the history of the sport." (I wish I made that up but it was said..several times.) Our guys played hard and proved once again to be able to push through even the toughest set of circumstances to snatch a victory away from a hopeful opponent.





After the game, Carter stepped up to share his testimony and earnestly spoke of the life change that he has experienced because of his relationship with Christ and encouraged those listening that our God is a God of life change and opened the door for Jaime to again present a clear, concise explanation of Christ's sacrifice and how he offers a hope and future to all who have faith in Him. At this point in the day one would think our guys would be running for our vans, a hot meal and a hot shower. However, yet again we had to physically round them up as they continued to interact and play games with those who stayed around from the school.



Once we arrived back at Telma's, we were greeted by a hot meal of roast beef, rice, vegetables and bread but just as dinner was wrapping up an explosion occurred. Calm down parents. Jose, Telma's son, set off a string of very loud firecrackers in celebration of my birthday. After everyone recovered from the sudden arrhythmia they were experiencing, we were delighted to have a piece of birthday cake before heading off to shower and relax. The night was capped off by a group recap of the day's events and a very challenging, encouraging time from Josep (Tim's college teammate who is a Croatian basketball coach/missionary who is also accompanying us on our trip) as he told us his testimony and how God put people in his life to bring him to Belhaven in 1996 to play college basketball and ultimately put him in a place to hear the gospel and receive Christ as his savior.

Tomorrow's schedule appears to be much like today's with the afternoon designated for rest and a night game scheduled against another adult league team. Continue to pray that God will stretch us in new ways and create a desire in us for Him and Him alone. Pray that we take time to consume what God has put in front us and that we will not let an opportunity go unrecognized or a need to be unmet. Pray that these grow closer together through their reliance on God and the community He has equipped us with in the form of a basketball team.

Also, check flickr for more pictures.

Adios