Not just a pickup game

Sometime ago, a friend invited me to play basketball with a Christian youth group that would get together every Saturday for pickup games in Ortigas. I went — and got annihilated.

The first time I touched the ball, I went for the jump shot. Blocked. Next possession, I had it briefly, but it was stolen. And before the game reached the halfway mark I was huffing and puffing like I was about to blow the court down. A guy who had four years’ worth of tar and ash down his lungs and no aerobic capabilities trying to keep up with dudes who did this twice a week, no problem. I was on defense. Dude sailed past me like I wasn’t even there.

In your face, amigo. Time to shape up.

I returned to the court at the Greenhills Christian Fellowship after a few months of beating my body back into shape and did better the next time around. I started playing regularly, and I got to know the organizer of the basketball games. Pastor Api King, called Papi or Kuya Api by the players, is a tall, six-foot, well-built man of Chinese descent with a warm disposition. He is 35 years old and has been married for 10 years. He was serious when we spoke about his work, but he laughs and jokes around with anyone around him both on and off the court.

I had a quick conversation with him about what he’s been doing with the youth at GCF.

YOUNG STAR: Where did your nickname come from?

PASTOR API KING: I’m Chinese, and my grandmother used to look at my nose, which was flat before. In Chinese it is “Api,” flat nose. They got my nickname from that.

How long have you been working with GCF?

I’ve been volunteering since 1996 and then I became a full-time intern/pastor for two years, and my tenure ended last October 31. So now I just volunteer my services here full-time, for sports and the youth ministry.

Can you tell me a little more about the youth ministry?

My wife is the one handling the programs for the youth ministry and I’m the one handling the sports activities. We have volleyball from 1 to 3 p.m., then basketball at 7:30 to 10 p.m. every Saturday. We play pickup games for about two to three months. Then from the pool of players who regularly attend we create teams. Sometimes we reach six teams of 15 players and we assign leaders to lead the team. Aside from being their coach, they are the ones leading them spiritually by exposing them to the gospel. Sharing devotions, creating relationships, then trying to invite them to attend the church so that we can follow up on their spiritual growth.

And how long has this been going on for?

For the youth, since 1998. During that time we rented courts outside so we played in White Plains, Greenmeadows, and God blessed us with our own facilities only last 2006. So when the work plans for the building of this court were laid out, our senior pastor, Pastor Hughes, challenged me to go into full-time sports ministry.

So how did salvation start for you?

I love playing basketball. I thought basketball was my future. Around 1996, when I was in first year college, I had an ACL injury. I tore my knee. I asked God why. I wanted to try out for the UAAP, but suddenly God took away that dream. Yet, he still allows me to play at a certain level, though not at the level that I wanted before. Then my wife asked me, “Why not use basketball as a medium of reaching out to Christ, as a medium of sharing the gospel?” I played in a lot of teams. I had lots of friends. One time I was asked to be a coach at Jubilee and I said yes, but we would be doing devotions whenever we had games, whenever we started practices. That was in 1999. I adapted that setting here in church. I saw lots of players, kids who wanted to play basketball, but because we didn’t have a venue yet I had to look for funds to rent a place. What you are seeing right now, it’s just the same. We play games and create relationships, camaraderie, then along the way, we do devotions, we do tournaments, make friends, so the end point is sharing the gospel to these people, at the same time, trying to cater to them in the church.

How do guys like you end up keeping the faith?

I had a rough past, especially with my family, I had problems that most of the youth today are also facing. I thank God for the trials I’ve gone through because that’s using my past as an instrument for me to meet the needs of this generation. Showing them that through Christ, to be committed to Christ, they have a home. That’s what I saw. To be committed to Christ, surrendering my life to Christ because He owns me. He loves me. He died for me — and for all of us — and I want to commit to Him as He is committed to me. I want Him to be not just my savior, but my Lord, and when it became real to me that He is my Lord it became clear what I wanted to do with my life and that is to share with people who Jesus Christ is.

That’s what we are doing with the basketball games — pointing people to Christ and helping them become more Christ-like.

Any instances of players finding Christ on the court?

Yeah. For example, in our Monday crew, a lot of them are not yet fully versed (in Christianity) but after hearing the devotions they talk to their wives about what they learned. It instigates curiousness in them to seek God. Some of them really pray to receive Christ because of that opening, that realization of who Christ is.

We have a ruling that if you curse while playing, you’ll be given a technical foul or thrown out. Just a funny thing when you see players almost curse while they’re playing, then they’ll just hold their mouth and say, “Sorry, sorry.” Those little things, di ba. It’s a big thing knowing that they’re playing inside a church. They come knowing that it’s a church setting. They are aware when they play, parang, let’s be careful.

There are times when people would just come to me randomly and share with me their struggles. It’s an opening to share with them what God wants, how to commit their lives to God. In Christianity, every day you change to be more Christ-like. It’s not just like a snap of the finger and then you are changed. It’s a continuous process, and I see that with some of the players. For others, not yet. Still getting there. I’m just being faithful for what God designed me to do.

So how much do kids have to pray just to make it today?

They are easily distracted by things like media, the Internet, pornography. Morality-wise, it’s going down. It’s hard to tell the youth of today to be holy as God is holy. For them, being holy is somewhat of an illusion. But we have to do our assignment of pointing them to the holiness of God. It’s the right way to live. Be holy as your father is holy, that’s what the Bible says. It’s quite hard. It’s a challenge. Yet, with the power of the Holy Spirit helping us when we serve, the Holy Spirit will be the one to convince each and every person.

We have to develop our own sense of conviction, a conviction that comes from God. When talking to some youths, they can’t see some of the obvious morality issues as something that is bad. Parang for them, if my friends are doing it and media is showing it, it’s okay to do it. But when you point to them who God is, how important it is for God that we live holy lives, they are able to see what is right or wrong in God’s perspective.

So, do we end with a word of thanks?

I thank God for giving me the love for and the knowledge of the game so that through it I am able to invite people to Christ. God gave us gifts and talents that He will use to help edify the church. And we should use these gifts and talents to point people to God, to point people to Christ.