Christian Athletes in the Philippines

Hello everyone, my name is Tom! My wife Leeya and I are missionaries in the Philippines. I retired at the end of 2022, and we knew we wanted to do some type of mission work as this is what the Lord is calling us to do.

Just to give a brief background. Leeya has made several trips to the Philippines prior to Covid. I was hesitant at first, as I was not sure this was the type of thing I wanted to after retirement. Well, as anyone that follows Jesus, knows it is not what we want but what he wants. After my first trip to the Philippines in 2019, I knew this is where God wanted me! Because of Covid and restrictions we did not make another trip until March/April 2023.

At the end of March 2023, we made a trip for two weeks to the Philippines International college/K-12 and visited many small villages. Of course, our hearts were pulled to these villages due to the severe poverty in these areas. Leeya and I would discuss at night that we would work in these villages by feeding and bringing them to the lord. During our stay we talked with the Kwon Young Han who is the Pastor/President and Lead Missionary at the Philippines International Christian College/K-12, about what we should do as far a missionary work. He said that he had been praying about it and it came to him the evening before that maybe I could do work within the Athletic department and Leeya could help around the school where needed. We told him that we would pray on it and give him an answer after we returned home. This wasn’t exactly what we thought we were going to do. We did as we said we would we prayed on it and finally decided that this is what the lord wants us to do.

So, we made plans to travel to the Philippines from 28 August 2023 until 28 November 2023. That’s where we are now. When you think of a college or K-12 School you think that they are fully staffed and fully funded. Well Chistian schools in this part of the world are only funded through donations of fellow Christians.

That is why i have decided to do a Gofundme request. During the month that we have been here i have spent time with over 200 kids from the basketball, volleyball and ping pong teams. Over 98% of them come from destitute families. Kids within the program share tennis shoes just to compete. I witness and it broke my heart to see 3 kids sharing one pair of shoes. The equipment is old and out of date. When competing against other colleges or high schools in the areas other teams have uniforms that has the logo of the school and the school colors. Our kids have old jerseys that do not match, and the shorts is whatever they can find. However, with this being the case, these kids are good at their sport and have great attitudes. To be perfectly honest these are some of the best athletes in this area and they win a lot. As your aware that not all kids are Christians at Christian schools, however the staff here is very active in working with these young people to bring them to the lord. All the 200 athletes attend dawn prayer service daily and praise worship on Wednesdays. The Christian staff/Pastors work with these young people daily in bringing them to the lord. With your donations we plan to buy these 200 athletes' new uniforms, shoes, balls, nets, backboards, rims, volleyball poles etc.

I would like to ask that you please share this with your family and friends as well. God Bless you all for your consideration!