More Basketball Camp Pics!

Hey everyone, I know this is getting out of control, I mean I have blogged 3 times in less than a week. But I wanted to post some more pictures of basketball camp. Enjoy!


Jack takes a shot


Group Photo: Victory!


Ending each day with prayer

New Links

Hey everyone! Check out the side the 2 new links on the side. They are for Emilie and Jenny, two of the new missionaries serving here in Taiwan. Go check out their perspectives on the ministry and culture.

Basketball Camp

Hey everyone! I just wanted to give a bigger update about the Basketball Camp. Everything went really well. God blessed us with 4 days of perfect weather. It did rain on the 5th day, but it all worked out ok. We were planning on ending early that day to have a pizza party and give out certificates of participation. So the rain did not interfere too much.

There were 9 kids who participated in some fashion at the camp, and we also had 5 teachers who helped run things. Each day we started with stretching, and then broke into two groups. One group was the really basic skill group. I led and helped with this group. We did VERY basic dribbling, passing, shooting, and defense drills. It took me back to my days of basketball practice.

After the drills part we played some sort of game. Games throughout the week included knock-out (a Camp Okoboji favorite), a dribbling competition, hot-shot, 3-on-3, and a free throw competition. The kids really enjoyed these and us teachers also had a chance to compete in some of them.

After the competition we took a small break and then had a Bible reading, message and prayer. I posted the theme verse for the camp in a previous post. Each day we tried to relate the message to how Christ gives us victory in life with some component of playing sports or competing in basketball. For some of this kids it was their first introduction to Bible from the foreigner teachers here at Concordia. They all will have Bible class starting next week, and I think this was a great foundation for them from which the year's Bible class can be built upon.

Here are some pictures from the camp.


Practicing dribbling


Pastor Lio gives a message


Get the rebound!

Victory!

"But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!"

This is the theme verse for the Concrodia English Baskteball Camp. I just wanted to give a quick update. We have had 4 days of camp and so far it has gone great! God has blessed us with four beautiful days of weather and also some great kids and teachers who are all having a good time. My ankle has even recovered well enough to allow me to participate and help in the drills.

I will post more information and some pictures some time in the near future after the camp is finished.


Mark

Dr. Wolfram

As I have said earlier, I loved the chance to be home and to visit everyone. I also loved all of the delicious foods that I ate. Upon my return to Taiwan, I realized that I indulged a little bit too much on all of this great food.

I think in total I gained close to 10 pounds in that month home in the States. Like most Americans, I ate out too much and my portions were always too big. So as I was sitting around my first day back home, I decided that I should make some changes in my diet.

So I have a new-found commitment to health. I am not trying to go over-board on strict diet, but just in general eating more fruits and vegetables, and trying not to drink as much pop or eat as much junk food. Also, I was going to start running feveryday and trying to play basketball or lift weights whenever possible.

My roommate Kevin adopted a similar attitude upon his return from the States, so during the first couple of days both of us were reading up on ways to eat healthier. I ended up reading several articles about the health benefits of drinking green tea and eating the seeds of grapes (both of which I have tried to incorporate into my eating).

So far the new eating habits have gone well, but the physical activity is another story. In the above passage I wrote "was", because everything was going great. I was playing ball, running and lifting a bit...until I sprained my ankle.

Initially the injury hurt pretty bad and for the last 30 hours I have been icing and elevating the ankle as much as possible. I have also been reading up on the anatomy of the ankle and how best to treat, repair, and prevent ankle injuries. So to connect with the title...between reading up on ways to have a healthier diet and to treat sports injuries I feel like I have been in med. school for the past week.

But alas, I am not a doctor, however God is. So a prayer request goes out for my ankle, so it would heal properly and quickly (according to God's will of course). I especially ask for this because I am supposed to help lead basketball camp in 9 days. I also ask for prayers for this camp as me, Sam, Kevin, and James prepare for it. May God bless all of you!

Mark