All that whiteness! Hope you own stock in a sunscreen company!
Thursday morning, the team awoke bright and early to pick up our YWAM leaders, two of the older boys from the home (Elias and Miguel) as well as the three boys that we have been reaching out to for the past two-and-a-half years (Oskar, Felipe, and Estevan) and go over the mountain to the same water park where we went last year. Because we had another ministry opportunity that night, we could only stay at the park for four hours so the team crammed in all the fun they possibly could (wearing themselves out in the process). We then got back in the bus for the 2+ hour ride back to Medellin where we had been scheduled to present to a group of boys that were part of a soccer ministry run by one of the men at God’s Grace Reformed Baptist Church.
Ben speaking with the boys at the soccer ministry.
When we arrived at the field we expected to see (especially in this very poor area) the typical concrete basketball/soccer court with little beat-up goals. Instead we saw one of the latest projects of the former mayor of Medellin (now governor of the state of Antiochia)—a nearly full-sized, state-of-the-art artificially surfaced soccer center with lights and everything. On the field were approximately 50-75 boys all decked out in uniforms and working through soccer drills with several coaches.
As the rest of the team set up for the presentations, Ken gave one of his evangelistic soccer lessons that he wrote for the Guatemala mission back in 2007. The teams then presented their dramas and Ben gave another testimonial speech about how he had chosen to become a follower of Christ when he was the same age as many of the boys.
When we finished up, we still had 30 minutes left on the field so we used our Colombian friends to “strengthen” our Team USA and played 9 v 9 soccer with the boys. Every time our team scored, a new group of nine came on the field. They probably expected us to be better than we were because the teams only changed three times. They may also have underestimated their own skills. These boys could be put up against any U-12 team in the USA any time.
By the evening’s end, we were VERY tired and hungry. We were set to leave for our ministry event the next morning at 6:00.
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