Uganda: Days 8-9

So here we are, our final days in Uganda and it has been very good how we have rounded up this trip. We started Day 8 with my final Basketball session with Lilly Orphanage! I have had so much fun with these guys and have been very good listeners and hope they will continue to work on what I have taught them as there are some talented players there. We ended the session with a devotional that looked at not being tempted by the devil and following Jesus. It went very well with Churchill playing the person choosing which way to go, Dan as the devil and me as Jesus (big boots to fill). Most important thing was that the children really seem to understand the drama we did. I was also able to hand out bags to the eight people I thought worked the hardest in training, it was very tough but it was good to reward the children that really took on what I coached and hope that will spur them on to continue to train.

We then later went to Luteete in which we linked with one of the churches there and again we had no nets and the children where very young. Despite this still managed to do some dribbling and passing drills with a little help from one of the teachers to translate, teach them young. They all had beaming smiling faces and where very cute. We even had a chance to play some of their games including getting into a particular number of people and I even got to pretend to be a crocodile, happy days, it was part of the game by the way! Onside Soccer also donated a lot of kit to the church and they where very thankful as you would expect. Managed to have a play on the drums in the church building which was a bit of a surprise, kids love a good beat as I could tell by their dancing along, think all Ugandans are born with some sort of rhythm. The church building was very nice though and we are thinking of building a Basketball court but cost will tell if this can happen.

Our final day included a football tournament in the morning, it was very well put together with six teams taking part. The kids where really into it and wanted to win the trophy. Had a chance to share the devotional before the final game and it was the same one as mentioned before in this blog. Again, think we where really able to communicate the message across. The final went down to penalties in the end and it was Arsenal who won (gave them internationally well know club team names), very happy with the trophy and they hope to continue it annually. After the tournament we had our final visit to Lilly, it was sad to say bye to these kids who we had built such great friendships with. Had a couple of photos together with the children which I will put up soon. Had a little game of Basketball with some of them and just said goodbyes and wishing them all the best, with some of them asking if we will come back and I really hope we do. We did leave some Basketballs so they can continue to practice while I'm away. The icing on the cake was some letters written by the children thanking us and wishing us so many blessings. It was so amazing to receive these letters and I will treasure them for the rest of my life, even had one written for my mum, so sweet, sure she will look forward to reading it!

So we leave tomorrow and don't worry I am going to wrap it all up with one more blog, once again was  reading my book Wild at Heart and this popped out which was said by Winston Churchill in regards to World War 2:

I felt as if I were walking with destiny, and that all my past life has been but a preparation for this hour and for this trial 

We are all destined for something, let us never forget that, lets look our lives and understand what God has made us to be. One more blog to come, thanks for joining me on this journey.

Uganda: Days 5-7

So we are coming close to the end of our super Ugandan journey. It has been a very tiring with the super warm weather here, despite it being their winter but certainly an enjoyable and rewarding one. We started off Day 5 with more training with the Lilly Orphanage; they all seem to really look forward to the training and continue to practice the skills even outside the training sessions, which you got to love as a coach. We did similar drills as before but also added a few more competitions including a one on one game where we call out a number and it’s the first to score. Great to see some of the high fives come out from the kids whenever someone on their team does well. We did end up playing games in the end which where a lot more organised than the previous sessions and more of them are using the skills in the game.  We ended with another devotional which included Churchill being robbed and then pushed to the floor, me and Paul just walked by while Dan picked him up. You guessed, it was showing the parable of the Good Samaritan while Dan explained the importance of kindness and helping others. Had a bit of fun with the group making them do random sounds and got them all striking the Bolt pose, no camera at hand though, will have to try and get them to do it again. The rest of the day was one of rest and re-collection of the events of the week. Very much enjoying time with Paul, Dan, Aimee and Churchill. Great people all with massive hearts for helping others and have fantastic personalities, been a pleasure and an honour to serve with them all. Paul has got a new nickname by the way, the kids kept saying a word which is pronounced ‘chipala’ which means bald, sorry Paul Chipala Harbinson.

 

Day 6 is where I donned the Onside Soccer gear, very much football focused today with Cross-Over basketball having the weekend off. We started off with attending a football academy for kids who live in the slum area of Kampala, one of the poorest parts in the city. We could see it was so well organised and we where able to donate a brand new kit and some Christian resources, of course it was very well received. The coaches where incredible communicators and concentrate on teaching them good values as well as football skills. We did a drill for the kids that went down well and it was a competition between four teams, any point they gained sparked a lot of shouting and jubilation. Was great to meet some of the kids, had a few quick games of thumb wars which I taught them and a lot of them wanted to give me a game but unfortunately not enough time to go round all of them. The afternoon we went to do some more coaching with the Lilly Orphanage and the Crane school in which again new kit was donated and for one of the teams it was the first proper kit they had. Saw some of the people who I was teaching Basketball to in the week and they where still practising the drills despite the lack of nets at the pitch we where at. Was able to do another devotion which involved Churchill again falling over (he likes doing that) when playing a blind man and Dan catching him (always playing the good part). This was to show how we need to put faith in God even though we can’t see him. Again it seemed to go well and Churchill shared the story of Abraham with the help of a translator. Had a bit of time playing around with the kids and chatting to them while they tried to teach me Lugandan. A cheeky little kid from the orphanage called Alex was throwing a ball at my head so I thought I scare him a little by pretending to throw in the boggy area, unfortunately I slipped a little when pretending and Alex was fine but one of my feet went into the bog, ruined trainer, whoops!!

 

Today was a day of rest and we went to a big church that some of you might heard of called Watoto church. Went with Dan, Aimee, Michael (one of the drivers from the orphanage, great guy) and two of the kids from the orphanage called Tadeo and Ritah. It was very good and the preach was all about the hope of Uganda for the future as it has been 50 years since the independence of the country. It had a very much Hillsong theme to the service but it was great to see such hope preached for the future and the Ugandan people responding to it. We then later went to the craft market to do a bit of souvenir shopping which has led to me being completely broke, can pretty much only afford two big bottles of water, have to rely on the generosity of my team now but I think I will get by. We then went to Spur, something familiar, had a steak sandwich which tasted so good and even got to watch the Man United v Liverpool game, sloppy win but it will do.

Just a final thought that came from the preach today at the church I went to, it was used in my video for my 1000 free throw challenge but thought it be worth saying again by some Basketball player called Michael Jordan:

“Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen.”

 

Let's always look to make things happen and not rely on others to act on our behalf, we all have the ability to make some positive change. Not long now till the end of our fantastic time here but keep an eye out for the last blog and thank you for all your prayers so far, keep it up......

Uganda: Days 3-4

So the last few days have been very busy, the rain has come now and again but the temperature has stayed warm and fortunately has not affected any of our sports training that we continue to do. We started Day 3 with a trip to the Nelson Mandela stadium in which one of our contacts out here was able to see a training session of the Uganda national team. It was great to see the team train and currently the manager of Uganda is Bobby Williamson who played for Rangers in Scotland, Paul said he had a sticker when he was younger of him, unfortunately he forgot to bring it. We even where able to have a word with him after and said it was one of the most satisfying jobs he had and just another fan of the Uganda way, big game coming up in October against Zambia which if they win would mean they go into the Africa Cup of Nations, which they have not been in for around 34 years, no pressure but he be a bit of a hero if he got them into the competition! One of the children from orphanage Tekume was able to come along and even got a photo with one of the big Ugandan players, he seemed to love every second of it.

We continued with the training with the Lilly Orphanage and doing Basketball coaching. We were able to run some passing, shooting and dribbling drills that they all did very well in. I love the competitiveness of the kids I been working with, we played a few dribbling and shooting competitions and they certainly wanted to beat the other team and if they did it spark jubilant celebrations. When I came back today to do another session some of them where already practising the drills they learnt which is great to see as a coach, just wish I could have more time to coach them. We are certainly looking at ways to keep it going while we are away because so many of them really love to learn new Basketball skills. Had a time to do one of my devotions again about perseverance and encouraging one another, this included one boy, one girl and Churchill who has come from India to help us while we are out here doing a foot fire drill to see who could last the longest. It felt incredible to have the opportunity to talk into these kids lives and I truly believe we all have something to say that help build another. One of the girls after one of the sessions came over to me held my hand and just said thank you, couldn’t ask for anything more than that and one of my big memories of the trip so far.

In other news went to another church to think of building up a Basketball court next to one of the churches. This of course will be a very long term plan but the possibility of it is certainly doable. Little bit of extra fund raising may be needed but we will have to see what happens. We where able to visit the Compassion office today and it was great to meet the people we email on a daily basis. They where all so welcoming and just great to hear the inspirational work that they do and the part every person had to play in Compassion Uganda running smoothly. Even one of the doctor’s at the office checked out Dan who is a little bit under the weather but I tease him that it’s just a bit of man flu, vitamin c tablets and plenty of rest was recommended.

Just before writing this blog was reading my book Wild at Heart and thought the below quote from John Eldredge was appropriate:

‘The Enemy fears you. You are dangerous big-time. If you ever really got your heart back, lived from it with courage, you would be a huge problem to him. You would do a lot of damage…on the side of good. Remember how valiant and effective God has been in the history of the world? You are a stem of that victorious stalk.’

Whatever you do, have courage when you do it, wherever it may be. We are all so capable and I thought you should know that, will keep you posted as this journey continues…

Let the journey begin...

So we are here, in the heart of Africa, Uganda is something very different from anything else I have experienced. After being picked up from the airport we drove through down the rugged roads to get to the hostel we are staying in. Listening on the local radio it mentioned that it was the day of prayer for the children of Uganda and discussing the issues and how to make it a better country for their children to live in. I got to admit you look around and you see so many problems and issues and you think the problem is too big but we have been able to witness organisations that are doing their bit to help the children of Uganda.

The first day after getting over our jet lag, we went to the Lilly Orphanage in which we met many children who where so welcoming. Many of them wanted to know our names and we would tell them ours, Jamie I don’t think was the easiest for them to pronounce but we got there in the end. We had a traditional meal at the Lilly orphanage; it was very cramped for the 40 kids that where staying there and got told by Aimee who helps there that the number keeps on going up. They seemed very happy though, as expected they where so grateful to have a safe place to sleep at night. They welcomed us with a welcome dance that incorporated dances that where used in different parts of Uganda, the children seemed to love performing and despite me loving a dance I did politely decline to join in with fear of being shown up.

The next day we started with the Basketball coaching  with some of the children from the orphanage, the girls especially seemed to love getting involved as some of them are already keen netball players. We ran through a few drills and some of the coaching I gave them they really did take on board, some of them bring pretty impressive at shooting the ball. You can see that these children are like sponges when wanting to learn new skills, which makes it very easy for them to work with. I couldn’t help but show off my limited Basketball show boating skills and attempt the half way court short to no avail. We then later on went to Gospel Tabernacle, Kazo to do some more coaching of Football and Basketball. The only problem that did rise up was the lack of Basketball nets which I guess is fairly important in Basketball, however, did manage to put together some passing and dribbling drills along with a piggy in the middle drill when about 10-15 where in a circle which worked very well. Running after that ball was pretty exhausting and we where certainly looking to our dinner afterwards.

So the journey continues and we hope to continue to bring God into these children’s lives through sport, please keep the prayers going and will keep you updated as well as I can, just hope the wireless connection at the hostel stays on, plus electricity does sometimes gets turned without any prior warning J

The Beginning

Welcome one and all to the world of Cross Over Basketball in which this blog aims to keep all you lovely followers up to date with all things Cross Over. Got to admit this is the first time I done anything blog related in my life so it might not always be written to an incredibly high standard of grammar and compete with the likes of my friends with incredible blog's that I love to read, however, it will be all from the heart and hopefully will come across with the passion I have for Basketball and God in my life.

By the way my name is Jamie and I am the founder of Cross over Basketball. Every story has a beginning so let me start from when I was younger, I loved Basketball ever since I started playing it in Middle School. Can't say that I was the best by any means but managed to pick up a few skills and a knack for shooting the ball pretty well. Fortunately, Worthing the town I grew up in had a Basketball team in the top league of British Basketball (believe me there weren't many of them in England) and me and my Dad became regular season ticket holders of the Worthing Bears. Despite seeing far many more many losses than wins the passion still remained for the game I grew to love. The game itself was fascinating to me, the skill level, fast pace, show boating, intensity and competitiveness where all aspects I loved about Basketball. Later on in life I went to Sixth Form College and manged to make the team and enjoyed a number of appearances for them, mostly off the bench I will admit, but it was great to feel part of a team and being part of a group of players looking for victory together.

I continued to play Basketball throughout University but more on a social level due to the standard of competitive Basketball at University level was so much higher. Due to this I started going to Christian Union meetings instead, this is when I really started to know what living a Christian life was. For some reason the penny never really dropped when I was in Worthing about what it was like to live for God, however, being round other Christians my age and starting to attend small group sessions with others helped me develop my Christian character, it also made it easier to be open up about the struggles I felt and I owe a lot to my first cell groups as this is where I felt I started to try and live a life for God.

So this is how the two managed to merge, my love for God and love for the game of Basketball. After university I went to work at a summer camp in the USA called Camp Tecumseh, owned by the Salvation Army. It was a place where kids from the New Jersey area came to spend a week out in the beautiful outdoors and basically have lots of fun doing activities and where they had a chance to listen to the gospel. I had the opportunity to do devotions in the evening with a different group kids over the six weeks of camp. It was great to speak about my testimony in front of them and was amazing to see the amount of children accepting God in their lives. I also got the opportunity to coach Basketball and go through some of the drills and skills that I have picked up over countless coaching sessions that I have being part of growing up when I was a kid. It was so much fun and as for so many others who worked and attended Camp Tecumseh, it was a pretty special place. I never felt I was serving God more than when I was working there and some of the campers I had I will never forget. We always got told by Major Scott who headed up that particular camp the impact we would of had in these children's lives and it was hard to disagree with him.

So there is the back story, all that is left to say is that I started to work for a Christian charity called Compassion and this is where I met Paul who runs Onside Soccer, a sports ministry with the same aims as Cross Over except using football as the tool. This is where he gave me the opportunity to go to Uganda (only 5 days to go) and use my love for Basketball to go alongside his passion for Football and to see children come to know Jesus Christ.

Now at this point in time, I can't wait to see what God has planned for us when we go out to Uganda and can't help but think that God has led me to this point through the experiences I have shared to have a real vision to share the Gospel through sport, particularly Basketball. I got told not to believe in coincidences so due to my connectedness (google it!) personality I believe that there is still so much more to happen through putting Basketball and the gospel together. I heard this quote from Steve Chalke, the founder of Stop the Traffik, and thought this is how I love to live for the vision of Cross Over Basketball:

A visionary is someone with a dream and a passionate determinations and strength of will to make their dream come true. A dream without action floats around in your head and eventually evaporates without ever becoming visible. A dream with action is called vision. Vision gets out of your head and into your hands and feet. Vision changes the way you spend your days, the way you spend your money, the decisions you make, the things you do...it changes you.

I love seeing the passion people have, whatever it might be, so many of my friends seem to really want to make changes in this world in their own individual ways, I feel this is my way of putting my passion into action and will certainly enjoy sharing it with you all....... I promise the future blog's won't be this long but now you know a little bit more about me. Keep checking out the blog while we are out in Uganda :-)

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit--fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. John 15:16