This newsletter topic is brought to you this month by the experiences during our C-Sports Basketball Camp, which was held the week of June 19th.

Scripture is sometimes hard to understand for the younger ones. Being able to relate scripture to the things kids enjoy today can be the best translator of the way Jesus lived his life. There are many ways to apply being a teammate with scripture to daily life. Learning a new sport with new people and doing that for 3 hours for 4 days a week can really test them, especially if they haven’t had a good breakfast and plenty of fluids! So, learning about being a good teammate was a topic we discussed many times during the camp.

Romans 12:19-21 says, “Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary: ‘If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” The first part was easy to explain but the second part was a little difficult. They couldn’t figure out why the scripture tells them to put hot coals on another person’s head! Once it was explained to them that responding kindly to an unkind person makes that unkind person feel guilty or sorry for their own behavior it was easier for them to understand. Having the thought of hot coals placed on our heads for negative behavior would definitely have people rethinking how they should treat others. This was quite the picture for them to visualize otherwise!

This lesson is not just good for basketball camp kids; this is good for all of us. In a world where negativity gets more attention, we should focus on creating more positive actions in our daily life. If we expect our kids to learn it, we must live it and be an example.

Marcia K. Gibney,
Director of Recreation Ministry
Christ United Methodist Church