Tonight was a great night in Homewood. Some good friends of mine have been wanting to start up a basketball program for kids in Homewood for a while. Tonight was scheduled to be the official kick-off of the new basketball program with an open gym at the YMCA, pizza, and a discussion about living life in a relationship with God. I helped to spread the word with a lot of kids over the past couple of days, and I was so excited when 30 boys showed up to play basketball tonight! My friends did a great job building relationships with them, and I'm pretty sure that the word will get out and the group will probably grow next week.
It's way too early to call this basketball program a "success." Many groups have tried and failed to connect with kids in Homewood through sports outreach (there are also people who have been very successful for years at reaching young people in Homewood with sports outreach). I am encouraged by this particular outreach, though, because it is based on authentic relationships. I have spent the past five years building relationships with most of the 30 young men that attended tonight, and I have spent the past two years building relationships with the men who showed up to run the basketball program for the kids. It was a joy for me to watch as the kids met most of the adults for the first time... resilient kids that I admire for many reasons, and men of integrity that I admire for many reasons. New relationships were formed tonight. It was great!
1 comment:
This sounds Awesome. I have been doing Basketball outreach at the Local High School intramural program its been pretty cool also. I hope it keeps going well.
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