(believe it or not)
If you spend any time in the Philippines, you will learn quickly that basketball is amazingly popular. Filipinos love to play, watch, and talk about the sport.
So when we set up the schedule for A3 Philippines Class One, we made sure to build in afternoon time for our leaders to enjoy their favorite pastime. What we hadn’t counted on is how much our leaders were invested in sharing, and hearing, one another’s life stories.
The second full day of an A3 first session focuses on developing and sharing a timeline—a poster-sized template that allows each leader to map out their personal, spiritual, and ministry journeys. The morning is spent developing the timelines, then everyone breaks for lunch.
Upon returning from lunch, the idea was for our Filipino leaders to break into groups of three and have each leader share their story with their other two groupmates. We figured that this would take everyone through to tea break, then on to the basketball court.
We knew that the leaders were excited about the chance to share with one another. But we began to realize just how excited they were when they blew through the tea break, then continued into the afternoon activity time! “No time for basketball,” one leader came over to tell me. “We want to share!”
The best news is that they were able to do both. After completing an extended time of sharing, the group broke with enough time for some on-court action. (In fact, they are shooting hoops even as I write.)
God has graced A3 with 12 veteran leaders for Philippines Class One, led by veteran pastor, parachurch leader, and mentor Herman Moldez. It is something to see how quickly these leaders have gone (as we like to say in A2) ALL IN on developing a learning community marked by caring relationships.
Who knows what Day Three will bring?
