Francis Arnaiz’s story on The 700 Club Asia

Remember Francis Arnaiz, Philippine basketball’s Hall of Famer and NCAA and PBA superstar of the ‘70s and ‘80? He’s back in the Philippines for the first time in 18 years since he left to start a completely new life in California. The former long-haired mestizo, Ateneo-bred cager who made colegialas scream and swoon, shared that he was an insecure, self-centered man who felt worthless and empty even in the midst of the adulation and trophies.

"I didn’t want people to get close to me because I thought if they found what I was really like, they wouldn’t like me," he shares.

Francis tried to fill the inner vacuum with drugs and alcohol taken in small, manageable doses while he was still a basketball superstar. But when he left for the US in 1986 with wife Cynthia and their children, there was neither sports nor fans to stop him from self-destruction.

"I hit rock bottom. I couldn’t string enough thoughts together that made sense. I had no place to live," he remembers.

He enrolled in a 90-day drug rehab program, but on the first day, before the sessions even started, he saw a poster on the wall that triggered his amazing one-day deliverance from drugs.

"It’s the usual Alcoholics Anonymous poster that says, one, `I have come to recognize my life is unmanageable. Two, I’ve decided to surrender my life to a higher power.’ When I read the second sentence, something clicked in my mind – can that be Jesus? I went to my room and cried out to the Lord."

The miracle of how Christ reached to Francis one-on-one, ended a 20-year bondage to drugs and alcohol, restored his life, family and self-esteem, is depicted in The 700 Club Asia.

Leo, two years younger than Francis, is handsome and athletic in his own right, but plagued by inferiority complex and jealousy for his older brother’s fame. Leo hated Francis and turned to drugs and booze.

Until Leo unexpectedly stumbled on the greatest high of all, leading him to trophy-winning basketball camps for out-of-school kids, a fellowship called Addicted to Jesus in Baguio and daily prayers for his then-estranged brother Francis.

Francis and Leo, at odds most of their growing-up years, come together for a rare time of bonding, fun, fellowship and reminiscing about their years of sibling rivalry, healing and new life in Christ on The 700 Club Asia.

The episode, hosted by Chat Silayan-Bailon, replays tomorrow, April 18, 8 a.m. on Studio 23 and 8:15 a.m. Pacific time on The Filipino Channel. There will be a replay on Wednesday, April 21, 4 p.m. on Zoe TV 11.