One of the neat opportunities we've had has been to build a relationship with a local rugby team. We met the captain and coach one day at church and they invited us to come and watch the team practice and give a message to the guys. Jordan and I showed up to practice on Thursday and ended up actually practicing with the team – going through a few non-contact drills wearing khakis and a polo (we were expecting to just be watching). It was really fun to just get to run around and do some guy stuff and once practice was finished the team gathered around and was really receptive to hearing us speak from the Bible (I just talked about 1 timothy 4:7-8). At the end of practice they told us they had a match on Saturday and asked us to come support them and even said we should play with them in a match sometime (we weren't sure if they were serious or not). So on Saturday we show up to the match just after it had started (wearing shorts this time just in case, but I was still just expecting to watch…I mean I don't even know all the rules) and as soon as we get there the captain, Carter, starts yelling to us "John and Jordan hurry up get on the field – we are down two players – we need you guys to play!" Side note – the other team looked really legit – they had jerseys and socks and cleats and our guys are wearing just random t-shirts and shorts and some didn't even have shoes on. So we just run out on to the field without any sort of warmup. I had the same color shirt as the other team so I had to wear a random youth medium YMCA longsleeve shirt that said "tackle aids" on the back and was super tight on my body (I was also wearing hiking shoes b/c I didn't have tennis shoes with me – so you can picture how ridiculous this is). About 30 seconds after being on the field I get pitched the ball and pretty much instantly get tackled by some African dude…and then we were off and running. The rest of the game was really fun – Jordan and I were just asking what the rules were on every dead ball and I would say we were actually two of the better players on our team. I almost scored a "try" (like a touchdown) and had a few good tackles and runs. Anyway we survived with only minor fleshwounds and I can't wait to play again with them. It's a pretty sweet ministry opportunity because as we become part of the team I think our words carry more weight with them. I'm think I smile every time I think about it – I mean how many people can say "Oh yeah I went to Uganda and joined a rugby team"?!
Other than rugby here is what I've been up to this week:
A lot of random computer training for people in the community at the church – teaching people how to use Excel, making business cards on Publisher, editing a constitution for a non-profit organization to impact local communities.
Starting small groups at a local high school – we're meeting with groups of students who are new believers – discipling them and going over some of the foundational stuff.
prayer requests:
For wisdom in dealing with the many people who ask us for financial aid
That we would have strength to push through and make the most of our days, even if the activities seem dull or when we're not on an emotional high
That our team would continue to learn more about prayer
That we would be able to follow up on relationships that have been built – bringing the gospel
That the reputation of the church we work with (Victory Outreach Church) will be restored – see ally arnone's blog this week for details on the story.
