The Snowball Effect

I know some of you have had threats of snow already this year. I think it must be snowing here in the Dominican Republic as well, in spite of the continuing heat and humidity. At least there's this snowball that keeps getting bigger as it rolls along.

It's called the snowball effect. I stole the term from the study on finances that we are doing with the couple's from the Central church. In fact, this coming Saturday we'll be showing them how you can pay off your debts quicker by paying off the smaller debts, then rolling over what you were paying on them to add to your monthly payment on the larger debts. As each debt gets paid off, you have more to pay on the remaining debts. The concept is a bit hard to visualize without a graph, but finances isn't really the focus of this post.

The snowball that's blowing us over here is the basketball ministry. Bob loves playing basketball. Some time back, he started just getting a few guys from the church together to play for fun. Those guys invited others, and we began to see some new faces in church as the guys got to sharing their lives with each other. The snowball stalled for awhile and seemed to be melting, but now it's rolling downhill, picking up speed and growing like crazy.

The guys started playing again in the gym across the street from the church on Sunday afternoons. Then they really got organized into teams and decided to have a tournament. This tournament seems to have a lifespan equal to that of the NBA season, and is just as serious, believe me. Now there are more new faces on the court and in church. And three guys are getting together weekly with Bob and other leaders to talk about what it really means to be a Christian. One of the guys is so excited that he asked the leaders to come and talk to his family so they could hear about Christ. Bob had the joy one night this week of visiting in his home and sharing with several family members.

And the snowball keeps rolling. As a result of playing together, the guys in the church are developing stronger friendships and encouraging each other. Our small group had prayed that the guys would love the Lord as much as they love basketball. Last week Bob was asked to teach a Bible study to the men. They want to develop as leaders. Saturday evening, it was a thrill for me to see Bob sitting around a table with 11 men from the church, studying and discussing how to apply God's Word to specific situations in their lives.

You just never know what God will do with a small start and a lot of prayers.