Basketball and Relational Ministry 

Chris started coming to Downtown YFC in the fall. He was immediately outgoing and chatty, and boy, he was a funny kid. He showed up to play basketball with his friends after school, and around 4:00, we invited the guys, tired and sweaty, down for Bible Study. We told them we would be reading some verses out of the Bible and helped each of them find the passage. Chris was no more Biblically versed than the other boys, who couldn’t tell you which end of the Bible to find Genesis or Revelation. After a few minutes of flipping and explaining the “big numbers” and “little numbers,” we settled on a page and assigned each verse to read. Nervous and unimpressed, they each read along.

This became the rhythm for our Friday afternoon Basketball practices: the guys would go upstairs for an hour of training with Coach Garrett and then take a break after an hour for a quick 15-minute Bible study. Even though they didn’t particularly look forward to Bible study, they participated willingly out of respect for their mentors. They would then go up and shoot around until dinner was ready.

Chris and his 5 friends quickly became the regular group attending basketball on Fridays. They looked forward to the time they would spend with Coach Garrett, who quickly became a trusted mentor. Whether Garrett was coaching them through controlling their anger on the court (which turned out to be a weekly occurrence) or encouraging them in their hard work, it was evident that this time was impactful for them.

After one particularly challenging week, Garrett led a Bible study on anger. The guys each were assigned a verse to read, and although they were given no context, they quickly picked up on the message being sent. The following week, Garrett walked downstairs after practice and proclaimed, “God is real!”

“Yes,” I replied, “but did something happen?”

“The guys were 80% less mean and angry towards each other today,” he said. “Only the Lord could do that.”

I’m not sure whether that day or another was pivotal in Chris’ life, but several weeks later, Chris is a new person. Rather than the meandering walk down to Bible study, we were used to, Chris now runs downstairs. His newfound enthusiasm for Bible study is infectious. “Is it time for Bible study now? I’m ‘low-key’ pretty excited!” he exclaims.

The Lord had been stirring Chris towards faith for some time now. He had been introduced to Jesus at other times but had not yet received the invitation to “follow me as I follow Christ.” With this new invitation to study the Bible alongside trusted adults, a new excitement for the things of God has blossomed. We are thrilled to walk alongside Chris and many others as they learn what it means to be a faithful follower of Jesus.