On June 18th, Javell Redwood and I drove up to Detroit for a weeklong basketball camp in Hamtramck, MI. This town is inside the city of Detroit and is the only Muslim majority town in the U.S.A., comprised mostly of Yemeni and Bangladeshi people. We also got help from Coach Perry Hunter who is an assistant HS coach for Silver Creek in southern Indiana. This is the third time that Sports Reach has taken a group here to do a basketball camp. This week we would do 4 days of camp at an outdoor park, 2 hours in the morning and two hours in the afternoon. On Friday our camp was rained out and on Wednesday we also held a camp for mostly Afghani kids in a neighborhood in Detroit. The week started off slow but once word got out that we were back kids would come. We would have anywhere between 6-30 kids in a session, and several kids came to both. These camps were mostly boys 8-13 but there were some girls and a few boys under 8 or 14 that came. In all thanks to the night camp with Afghani kids we worked with about 60 kids in total. We would share testimonies or Bible stories but share them in a way that we wouldn’t be so Jesus focused. The main goal was for kids to come back so that our missionary friend and his family could build relationships slowly. At the end of the week the kids of Hamtramck received balls and certificates for coming to the camp. Many kids asked if we could come back and if we could also bring other types of camps like soccer or football. We were able to also connect the new Metro Detroit director of FCA with our missionary friend so hopefully they can build upon what was started here. Please continue to be in prayer over these kids and have their hearts opened for the Gospel to take root.
I head to Azerbaijan from June 29 – July 10 (will likely already be there by the time you read this). During my time I will be working with FCA missionaries along with Perry Hunter and Marty Carter to conduct basketball camps in the capital. We will do 2-3 camps a day for I believe 100 total boys ages 9-16. This is a Muslim country but more secular so please pray for conversations and seeds to be planted with those we talk to. Please be praying for my wife and 3 kids as I am gone on different trips and for Marty as he is preparing to move to Lexington with his wife once he gets back.
