We started out small with just 8 kids, but as the evening went on, that number doubled to 16. At first the kids came in a little shy, especially the ones who had never been here before, but as Coach Fred worked with them and encouraged them, they opened up and it brought absolute joy to my heart to watch them gain confidence and understanding of game.
After checking in and doing drills for about an hour, the kids went upstairs to the sanctuary to hear a word from our guest speaker Richard. Richard talked about how choices become chains, and as he gave the meaning of each of the letters in the word "CHAIN", he took a piece of the chain and linked it together.
C- Choices. Bad choices become chains.
H- Habits. Once you make the same choices over and over again, they become habits.
A- Automatic. Habits become automatic and after so long, you do them without even thinking.
I- Identity. You start to see yourself and identify who you are by the choices that you make.
N- Nature. Your choices become "your very nature", and who you are as a person.
When Richard was finished, he wrapped the chain that he created around Pastor Matt's wrist, and then attached a longer chain to it. He then said, "Making bad choices can pull you backwards and/or lead you in the wrong direction, and symbolized this by pulling Matt backwards and to the side by the chain that he was attached to. He then said, choices become chains that make us easily controllable and pull us back to our sinful nature, this in turn causes us to make more bad choices, even when we are trying to do good.” "God removed those chains by sending His one and only Son Jesus to die for our sins, He took our place in debt so that we can be redeemed.
Coach Fred and his Wife Karen also talked about their son Kenny who passed away on February 7th of this year. Coach Fred and his wife both said that they decided to start a basketball team when Kenny was young because of his love for the game. That then led them to Immanuel because of the gym that we had available for practices, and then later on they were approached by Bronwyn who asked if we could partner with them and start a basketball camp, and here we are 18 years later, going strong and spreading the word of God through the love of basketball and his children! Coach Fred and his wife also told the kids that they are dedicating this year's basketball camp to Kenny. With that being said, let's praise God today for Kenny and his life here on earth, and also for Coach Fred, his wife Karen, and Bronwyn for their dedication to this ministry.
Last but not least, the kids also had a visitor from one of Coach Fred's former players, Skyler. Skyler is 23 years old and has played for Coach Fred since he was in the fourth grade. While speaking to the kids, he said, "This gym is my home", talking about Immanuel. Skyler also told the kids that he played college ball for 3 years and graduated with his degree for free because of it! He played at LCC for 2 years, he then went on to play at Adrian college, and then finished and earned his degree from Oakland University!