Basketball

We are on the cusp of our inaugural Basketball Clinic in Brazil. Pictured is the banner we had printed. The slogan is 'teaching life values through sport'.

We had a meeting with some of the people who will be helping us out. We are relieved that there as anyone willing to help us, since basketball isn’t so popular here. It is becoming popular, though, and the guys helping us seem to really enjoy it and play very well! At the meeting, we talked a little about the values of Upward Sports and the idea of evangelizing and discipling children. Then, the guys played a game.

Today, we went into a school at the top of the hill in the neighborhood we live in. I was a little nervous because they tend to laugh at you here when you’re different. It’s not meant to be rude or mean, it’s more of a cultural thing. They were fantastic, though! It made us so excited because this has been a dream for us for so long and it seems that it is finally happening. God is good!

We explained to them that we would be having the clinic every Saturday in May (5 Saturdays). We decided to charge $5 Reis so that the children would have some value invested in the program. We didn’t want to charge so much that someone wouldn’t be able to participate. We’ll use that to purchase water and cookies for snack/break time. We’re really hoping to have a hotdog lunch the final Saturday for the kids and their parents.

If you’re interested in supporting something like this, you can send it to Global Outreach, Lewis/Brazil earmarked basketball program. We’d welcome any help. (www.globaloutreach.org)

We have limited space available for kids, so please pray that we choose the right children if we have more applications than space. Also, pray that our help is committed to see the program through to the end. Pray that the children feel the love of Jesus through our lives and that we are an encouragement to them. And finally remember our family in your prayers as we face constant challenges as we live and work in Brazil.

**In other news**

We traveled to Delta and Uberaba the week after Easter and had meetings with Pastors Roberto and Marcos about the team coming from First Baptist Morehead City to have a basketball camp. It was a great weekend where we nailed some important details down. They are really excited! Also, it’s the first time we’ve traveled without car problems! Praise the Lord!

Pictured above is the gym in Delta where we'll be having the camp. Also pictured is Jennifer teaching English to Brasilians who want to go to the nations. She teaches every day in the mornings in March and April. Also pictured is Jon playing basketball with one of the new goals we purchased for the clinic.