And the Last Whistle Blows

Quinnton, who won the Best Shooter Award tonight, focuses as he prepares to shoot a 3-pointer.

Eight kids came to the basketball camp tonight- one of whom left because he was the oldest and felt a little out of place.  The other seven were on their best behavior all night and listened well to both of the Bible/character lessons and at least attempted all of the basketball drills.  Quinnton, pictured above, proved himself to be a leader during the 3-man-weave as he helped some younger ones learn the rhythm.  

During the award ceremony, three parents or grandparents came and watched their kids or grandkids get awards and joined us eating the snacks.  Coach Peter got to help one of the kids read Scripture in front of his grandma and Coach Caitlin got to talk to another kid's mom about some of the programs that IMPACT offers and church.  DeAndre proudly introduced Coach Jacob as his "best coach."  Alexa, age four, had never received an award certificate before tonight and beamed proudly as Coach Kayla called her forward.

The kids lamented the fact that the camp was already over, and were already asking when the next Blacktop Basketball Camp would be held!

Here are some comments from the coaches: 

Kayla: You could just feel the presence of God on that court. It was such a blessing to get to work with the kids and spend timing showing them the love of Christ.

Jacob: The camp was really cool because we had the opportunity to teach kids about the game of basketball and God. 

Peter: I confess, I am not a basketball player, and I would not be nearly as much of a fan without this crazy basketball lady (Caitlin) pushing me along; but I have had a blast with this basketball camp, especially as the camp went on, and I got over making a fool of myself on the court.  The camp definitely got better as it progressed—in every way!  The kids had fun, and they experienced people caring for them for no other reason than that we are all children of God, and in response to Jesus’ love for us.  Coach Caitlin said it really well—that she loves serving a God Who can be worshipped through playing basketball, and I have to say that I wholeheartedly agree!  I can’t think of a better reason to play the game.  Thank you Caitlin, for your faithfulness in this, and thank You God, for Yours.

Caitlin: It was a huge blessing to be able to serve some awesome kids with some awesome people.  Maybe even more wonderful was to see the ways that God moved before and during the camp.  He definitely provided in unbelievable ways.  To Him be the glory!  

Thank you all so much for your prayers.  God heard and answered!  

Jacob eyes the basket as he prepares to shoot.

Half Time

Coach Jacob, Elijah, Marcus, and DeAndre playing two on two during an open gym.

Praise the Lord!  We had five kids come tonight: three boys and two girls.  The girls weren't there to play, really, but we let them play in the trunk of the car and had them sit in on the Bible lessons.  Staying on schedule was difficult, because the kids did not want to practice the drills or listen to the lessons; they just wanted to have an open gym.  But a lot of seeds were planted tonight, so it was exciting.    

One of the boys has never been to IMPACT Ministries before.  When we started the first lesson, he exclaimed, "I thought we were going to talk about basketball; what are we doing talking about Jesus?"  But he managed to sit through one of the coaches sharing their testimony.  We talked about God as our coach and the importance of discipline today.  

Please be praying that the kids come back for the final day tomorrow, but also that the words we spoke tonight have a huge impact on them.  Pray that the Spirit moves and nurtures seeds that we plant.  Tomorrow is also our awards ceremony, so please pray that families come to see their kids get awards and to enjoy the snacks.  

Alexa wanted to help Coach Kayla hang up the Rules poster that had fallen down.

The Starting Lineup

DeAndre, the kid who stayed the entire time, driving around Coach Peter.

Hey, Kayla here...  Tonight the Blacktop-Basketball Camp started our weekend long camp. The weather was perfect (it looked like a chance of rain around 6, but God came through and kept that rain away). God also blessed us with five amazing kids; one boy was there the entire time, two came by to pick up papers and said they’d be back tomorrow, and two came later. We had a great time building relationships with them tonight, and man, is the game of basketball a great way to do that. We played two-on-two, 3-point knock out, and some great time just shooting around. It was amazing to see how God was present there, how he brought of those kids, and the joy they had for playing basketball.

On a side note: How cool is it that we serve a God who can be worshipped through basketball! I mean just that we’re able to use tools like sports to build relationships with these people and show and tell people about the love of God. How good is God!

Please be praying that we get all five of those boys back tomorrow and that God would bring us more kids that we could have the opportunity to share the word of God with through a sport that 

we all love!

Coach Peter watching as DeAndre and Coach Kayla go after a rebound.

T-minus One Day! ...and counting

Man oh man are things getting exciting!  We're in the final 24 hours before the kick-off of Blacktop Basketball Camp.  The t-shirts are in our possession, extra liability waivers are printed, and the lessons are being finalized.  The table and 3-gallon jug are just waiting to be loaded into the car.  Is there anything else we're missing?  


Also, we are official.  That's right, we're on the IMPACT website.  I think we are also on the website for EVSC, or at least being advertised through them, but I can't find the link for them right now.  


Everything is coming together very well.  Thank you all so much for your prayers in that area.  Please just keep praying for kids to come!  Greg, the director of IMPACT Ministries, is hoping for 15 so pray that we meet that number.  We want as many kids as possible to hear about Jesus Christ and learn little life lessons through a game we all love!  

PRAY!

I (Caitlin) am feeling extremely overwhelmed and confused.  I just got an E-mail from a lady at IMPACT saying that they still had not gotten fliers out to the kids yet, and that no one from IMPACT would be able to be there to let us into the building Saturday and Sunday.  Since there are courts outside, this could be alright if it does not rain and we are able to make Gatorade before we go.  It's the first point that really worries me.  

I know Jesus says to trust Him and to just obey.  I know this.  But I and the other coaches have poured a lot of time and prayers into this camp.  We firmly believed it was the Will of God and so we jumped in and have spent our own money and donated a lot of time for this.  Some of us have shed tears.  And it's looking more and more likely that kids won't even know about this.  

Please pray that God will give us coaches peace, and that kids will come.  Our hearts are to serve the living God, but I'm getting to where I don't know what else to do.  May His will be done.

On a crazy side note, right after I got the lady's E-mail and wanted to sit down and cry, I got a Facebook message from a previous employer of mine, asking for a flier of the basketball camp; someone she knows might be able to bring some kids who need it.  God is already hearing your prayers!  Please do NOT let Satan win this!!!

Update Collage

So there's tons of stuff to tell y'all about!


1.  Coach Kathryn is safely back in the states!  I don't think she's made it hope, yet, but her Facebook said she was stateside again.  So praise the Lord, all of our coaches are least on the same continent safely!  We're all looking forward to seeing each other again, and serving God's people side-by-side. 


2.  The t-shirts are officially ordered and will cost a total of $145.80, minus the $60 the coaches will pay me back (hopefully) for their shirts.  This is a little more than I was expecting, but I think whole-heartedly that it's worth it, so we're going ahead with it. 


3.  The welcome sign is painted and the Rules sign is written.  I was going to take pictures and post, but it seemed a rather strange thing to post so I didn't.  Don't worry; I will post pictures from the camp.  


4.  All of the Bible/life lessons for Friday and Saturday are written- they just need to be edited and the handouts printed.  Hopefully we'll be able to start on the basketball lessons and handouts tonight and finish up the Bible/life lessons.  


5.  Still not sure how publicity is going.  This is one thing the coaches do not have direct control over, so I admit that it's stressing me out a little.  I keep telling myself that the Lord's Will will be done and that He will bring the kids He wants there somehow or another, but as a human, I still like to have control over things or know where things are in the process.  Please be praying for the kids that are coming, for publicity, and for peace for the coaches who are stressing out.  Please also be praying for the lessons- that they are easy to understand and very relevant for the kids no matter what walk of life they're in.


Thank you all so much!  We appreciate you so much!  

Welcome Back!

Coach Kayla has safely returned from Chicago- praise the Lord!  If you want to read a brief summary of her trip there you can click here to follow the link to her CUP blog.


Also, her brother will most likely be joining the coaching staff starting on Saturday.  Since we lost a male coach due to job requirements (someone really needs to find the money tree) this is a huge blessing!  Thank You, Jesus.


Please continue to pray for Kathryn who will not get back from Africa until August 4th.  Please also pray for publicity and that kids COME!  This is still our biggest worry right now.  The lesson plans are coming together smashingly, and we should be purchasing the rest of our supplies (minus the t-shirts and ice) tomorrow.


Four days.  Wow.