Day 9: Back To Basketball

After a busy day yesterday it was back into the basketball schedule today – this time in the small towns of Idio and Pandan. The small community of Idio was the scene of our first game with a few visiting Aussies in the crowd to cheer us on against a group of locals largely made up of rural workers and a crowd of 100 gathering from the local shops and schools. It was a reasonably easy game which the Sports Ambassadors won 48-39 but, more importantly, we managed to talk to almost everyone who was there about the gospel tracts we have been handing out on a regular basis.

With the trip now into the endurance phase, we are dealing with some fatigue although no one has any serious injuries yet. The trip to the neighbouring town of Pandan saw us arrive before lunchtime with our tip-off at 3.00pm. This gave us plenty of time to see the town and meet some of the locals before the game took place in the centre of the town.

Some of the boys supported the local economy by buying some pellet guns at the convenience store while others browsed through the market atmosphere in their uniforms prompting photos from locals and conversations about Australia and the reasons we had come to Pandan. For many of the locals it was the first time they had met anyone from a western culture. A final trip to the Mayor’s office for a conversation and photo opportunity gave us an excellent insight into the workings of the town.

By the time 3.00pm came around we were more than ready to play the big game with a crowd of 300 gathered in expectation. The rings at each end were in good shape and slam dunks from Paul Beacham, Danny Cook and Joshua Manthe in the warm-ups firing up the crowd for the tip-off.

The team played well and led by ten points at half-time, 45-55, thanks to some excellent hustle play by Sam Macdonald and Conan Prince. Joshua Manthe shared his testimony at half-time and the crowd enjoyed listening to the big American share his words about growing up in America and the choices he made which led him into a life of service in the Philippines with his wife and three children.

Excellent shooting in the third quarter from Paul Beacham and Hedley Taylor put the game out of reach for the local team with the eventual score finishing 72-51. The crowd left very happy and the team were in good spirits despite feeling a little more tired than usual today.

Tomorrow sees us play three games (9.00am, 3.00pm and 7.00pm) and we are gathering our enthusiasm tonight for what should prove to be the hardest day of our tour. The local pastors are very supportive of the work we have done so far and we are meeting with Pastor Gary Visitacion each morning for daily devotions to keep us focussed on the day’s proceedings.

Please keep praying for us as we enter the survival stage of our tour.