Gordon's men's basketball
team went 10–0 in Guatemala and El Salvador earlier this month. But the scores,
of course, don't capture the real story in an outing like this. (And to be
fair, they were 0–1 in soccer matches, losing their only game to a group of
wiry 12-year-olds.)
Once every few years, the
NCAA permits basketball teams to take a trip abroad to play exhibition games
against foreign college, semi-professional and professional teams. For most
schools, this is a way to rack up valuable on-court time (outside of the
league's stringent in-season restrictions) while gaining some fun international
exposure. But for these 17 Gordon student-athletes, the chance to travel abroad
and play basketball also represented an opportunity to serve the communities
they visited and to share the gospel.
Working in partnership
with a ministry called Sports Ambassadors, the players travelled to various
sites across the two Central American nations, playing games with local and
national teams, and running basketball clinics at schools for kids from six
years old to high school age. "The clinics were absolute chaos,"
said Keith Krass, assistant coach and a trip leader, "but they were really
fun, too." At some schools, there were over 200 children—divided into six
stations, each led by a couple team members.
At each stop, a member of
the team would share a brief testimony with the group assembled. The local
pastor who travelled with the athletes would then offer a simple gospel message
and an invitation to commit or recommit to Christ.
"An American team
coming to these towns creates a lot of excitement," said Krass. But the
ministry was careful not to rest its outreach solely on the buzz the team
generated. "The goal was ultimately to connect them with the local church." Those who responded to the message each filled out an information card for follow-up with Christian communities in their area—and though it is
difficult to measure the longterm endurance of highly charged responses like
these, it is certainly an encouragement to know that Sports Ambassadors
collected over 1,500 cards as a result of the 11-day Gordon basketball tour.
The trip also served as an
opportunity for the team to get closer in preparation for the 2012–2013 season.
With the testimonies they shared, hours spent on airplanes and busses, communal
fatigue, confronting problems of poverty and developing world
issues, and living and eating together for nearly two weeks, the group built a
solid foundation of friendship upon which it will be able to pursue greater
athletic achievement in the coming year.
Photo: Gordon's men's basketball team posing with their evening's opposition in Chimaltengo, Guatemala.
