Ganadores por Gracia Basketball Camp

The day began bright and early. We got over to the court about 8:00am and began setting up. We had our canopy set up, tables for registration, prizes were out, water was cooling, and we were ready. Now we just wait. If you’re unfamiliar with the term “island time”, it’s the fact that in the Dominican Republic, no one seems to be really concerned with time. So when our camp was supposed to begin at 8:30am, and nobody was there, it wasn’t surprising. However, when 9:30am rolled around and we had 3 kids there, we were a little more nervous. We had been praying for this camp, believing a ton of kids would be there. We had big hopes to reach this community with the gospel. And we had 3 kids show up.

Then it happened. Kids started showing up from every direction. Turns out island time is even more relaxed in the summer time.

We began with some stretching a devotional. We named the camp “Ganadores por Gracia”, because we wanted everyone to know that we are all champions through grace. It doesn’t matter what winning and losing may look like on this earth, we belong to a kingdom that is not of this world, and in that kingdom, we are all winners. Our bible verse for the camp was Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.” Every kid there had this verse memorized along with knowing the truth of what that verse meant by the end of the day.

The day was filled with drills to learn and develop new skills, as well as a lot of fun games. We were able to give away a ton of prizes such as headphones, speakers, backpacks, and basketballs. It was incredible to see these kids work so hard and then their faces light up when they won a prize.

Thanks to our friends at The Table in Alvarado, TX, we were able to provide a meal for every child who came to the camp and all of the volunteers as well. “Pica Pollo” (fried chicken) was a special treat for these youngsters. They were really excited to see it show up!

One of the highlights from the day, which everyone was looking forward to, were the evening events. We had reached out to some of the local semi-professional adult teams in order to put together a tournament to cap off the day. We were blessed to have 4 of these teams agree to play in a tournament and provide some exciting entertainment for the community. And wow, did the community show up! We had well over 100 people there that night to watch the games, cheering on their favorite team. We had a special surprise our tournament winners and runner up. They were super excited to see the official Ganadores por Gracia medals!

Wow, what an incredibly long, hot, and exhausting day! However, hearing the name of Jesus proclaimed loud and clear over our speakers made it all worth it. The smiles and laughter was a blessing. The sportsmanship, the cheering, the community was so encouraging.

And we want to say thank you! All of your generous donations made this camp a huge success. We were able to bless so many young people and their families because of your partnership. The gospel was preached, bellies were filled, and joy was present because of your generosity. So thank you all, so much.

All of the kids and even parents were asking when we are going to do another one. They are all eager to do this again soon, and so are we.