bad news for me

Well, with one week to go I now have to watch all basketball from the sidelines as I hold on to my new set of crutches. Unfortunately during a open gym Wednesday night I busted my left knee. It is unsure of the diagnosis (we know for sure it's not bone-related) but I did get an MRI yesterday afternoon to look for any torn ligaments. Because I drive stick shift, my parents and I are in the process of figuring out how I'm going to get home! Please keep me and my injury in your prayers... Though I must admit, having this injury has shown me how many people here have come to care about me, both in the church and out of the church. Many of those who witnessed the fall that night took care of me immediately after and have been intentional in following up with me, making sure I'm okay and helping me clean the gym each night. But the church staff has also taken great care of me. Nancy, the secretary has done so much for me--she drove me to my appointment, took me out to eat, went and got groceries for me, etc... A volunteer, John, has brought me several movies to watch and with Nancy's portable DVD player and occassional gifts of double stuffed oreos and Raisenettes I have myself some fun movie nights! I should probably also mention the fact that Karen, the bookkeepr (whose office is right next to my room) has helped me all year, taking me to places, keeping me company some late nights (along with her kids). And Pastor Phil Wittenberg has been a wonderful blessing (though he was gone on vacation for 3 weeks!).

Despite all the care, it's still tough on me, knowing that I may not be able to play basketball for a while, I may have to reschedule my Praxis test (test for teacher certification) to have surgery, and may have to hobble around Greenwood HS while I student teach! And it is definitely a bummer considering that I may not get to play in my own 3-0n-3 tournament this upcoming Friday-Saturday (my teammates think I'm going to recover by then--hey, I still believe in miracles, :) ). This upcoming weekend is my final big outreach event. I have open gym from 8 PM on Friday to 6 AM on Saturday. There will be a 3-on-3 tournament (currently with 14 teams), a 3-point contest (the max # of 20 have signed up) and a dunking contest (currently 10). Currently, I am working on getting a guest speaker from Ephiphany Fellowship--if that falls through, I suppose I will. Another cool thing about this event, is that Elvin (the one who's brother was shot and killed Oct. 7, 2007) said he is a DJ and doesn't mind bringing his equipment to DJ the event--sounds like we gonna have a party! By the way, I also met Elvin's wife last night and they would like to get away from Philly for a week or so, so they may be visiting me back in KY in the next year. For all of you who read this from KY, I know you can think of ways we can treat them to a good time (some southern cooking, the lake, anything else?). Anyways, be in prayer for this event, it'll be my last one.

As for other things... I took a group to Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, NJ this past monday. With buy 1 ticket, get 1 free coupons, I had a group of 10. When I first asked these guys if they wanted to go, it didn't sound like it meant much to them. No real excitement, no talking about it, nothing really. Honestly, I think some of these guys have learned not to get their hopes up about anything. Because it wasn't until they were actually in the van and on the way there that they got real excited. They couldn't stop talking about it the whole way there... and the next day at bible study they were still talking about what a great time they had! Only a couple of them had been to this particular park before, and about half of them have never been to an amusement park period. So this trip was really something for them. We had planned on leaving at 9, but we had too much fun. We stayed till 10:30. Of course, I made it more than just fellowship and fun... I shared with them 2 Corinthians 5:14--"For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died." I basically used that verse to show that if I wasn't a Christian, if I didn't have the love of Christ in me, then I wouldn't be in Philly and if I was, I certainly wouldn't care about them. Instead, because of the love of Christ that is in me, it compels me to pour out that same love to them--it compels me to act and to express God's love through different things. I think they got the point :)...

As for this past week's bible study, I am glad to say I had 18 of same crowd as the week before, plus 2 new oens. I have a consistent group who are enjoying it and tell me they are learning. It's great because they do not rush to get it over with so they can play ball. They ask questions, we get in discussions, we relate it to life on the streets. You can easily notice in their eyes that all this is sinking in. Unfortunately, I only have one bible study left--and it will be very focused on a general altar call. Fortunately, through the Christians I have met and talked about in previous blogs, there will be continued discipleship through what's called the "Next Level." Pray for that ministry and those leading it and for those who have been coming to my bible studies to continue in it.

Moving on to the league and the continued impacts that is having:
Well, the two undefeated teams (Next Level and Jewtown) squared off and Jewtown came out on top. This past league night was a fun one to watch, considering I saw 10 dunks on the night and a couple very close games! Here are the standings:
Tioga A 0-5
Tioga B 1-4
P.U.C. 2-3
DBB 3-2
Next Level 4-1
Jewtown 5-1
Dynasty 4-1
Unforgettables 1-4 (But this team has never lost a game by fewer than 4 points or somethin like that)
There is a growing fan base that watches from the work out room (including family members) and the teams finally have their jerseys (though they did not turn out as hoped... there were some complications)... For the devotion this time I pulled from Matthew 7:21-23 about when Jesus says "Not everyone who says, 'Lord, Lord' will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of the Father who is in heaven, will enter..." I've noticed that many of these might tell me they believe in God, they are Christians, etc... but they continue to live in drug dealing, personal gain, anger, etc... I hoped this would be a wake up call for them (I expanded on it a little more). Also, remember the picture of the CD I posted? 47 of the 50 have been passed out and we had good responses. The very next day I had someone tell me he didn't know what to expect... that usually when "church people" put something together it's corny or they don't know how to relate... but he said he listened to it from the first song to the last and loved it. He said he related to all the songs in every way and got a few more to give to his cousins. PJ, the one who put the CDs together, made a few others for him to have. I also had Chris from P.U.C. (who is on probation right now) tell me, and I quote "Jeff, excuse my language, but that sh*t is hot." I put that in to show that here's someone who has come to respect me enough to the point that he'll even excuse his language in front of me (which I found humurous and cool at the same time) and it's good to know that God is using the lyrics and music to reach out...

There's really just one last thing I want to mention. What about girls? At the start of the summer I had thought to myself about I was neglecting ministry to girls--my ministry was providing a way for guys who play basketball (which is also exclusive for guys who don't play--but then again, I was not starting a church... I was carrying out my mission called from/by God)... But, after several weeks, I had some girlfriends come in and out of the gym. One girl, her name is My, would always come and just sit and watch for hours... that is until I found out she loves to color and draw so I got her crayons and coloring books. She'll come and sit in my office and doodle, and I kid you not... almost everytime I'll walk in later and I'll find her reading my Bible. She just picked it up and started in the beginning--Genesis... I suggested she read the book of John (next time I walked in, that's what I saw her reading). I also got to minister to Elvin's wife who is a Muslim, but admits she's not really into the Muslim deal--she was more so born into it... So I explained the main difference between Muslim and Christian and she went home with a bible, ready to read. I've also had a girlfriend come to a bible study... so I thought I'd mention those things too... cool stuff, ya know?

OH! one last thing... so I've been having this guy come to open gym and bible study for a few weeks now... and it wasn't until last week that I was told he uses ASL! I knew he was Deaf, but from what I observed I thought he relied on lip reading and hand gestures (that's what I saw his cousin doing) and he knew I was Hard of Hearing, so I figured if he knew ASL, he would ask if I did! Man, was I ignorant! How cool is that? I had spent my past 2 years involved in Deaf ministry in some way, and I was sad about leaving Deaf camp this summer... but look at what God placed in my way! I recently found this out, and we talked a little more... I plan on sharing the gospel with him next time I see him. Pray for him! (his name is Kiko)

Well, that covers it... Because I cannot drive my car, I could not use my computer at McDonalds for wireless, thus... I cannot upload pictures onto here (have some from Six Flags, league, etc.) Well... God bless!

P.S. If you're wondering how my missions money held up... it's taken me right to the end. I have $40 left and a week to go :) (I'd like to raise money again to get the scoreboard taken care of!)