Students Organize Basketball Camp in Nicaragua

A group of 80 boys stepped onto the basketball court to practice their new skills, each one proudly wearing a bright new jersey with their own names on the back.

Each of the boys are orphans, but today they were just basketball players having fun.

The boys were participants in Elevate Basketball camp, a 10-week program run by high school students at Nicaragua Christian Academy.

“Every Saturday for the past three months, we have gone out to the orphanage and trained eight teams in the different areas of basketball along with small devotionals to share our Christian values with them,” says Nicole, a student at the academy.

Nicole and Alex, another student, also connected with sponsors and supporters to get equipment for the camp. With generous donations, they said, God provided a professional sound system, basketballs, and the personalized jerseys that gave each game at the camp a professional feel.

“Throughout the past few months, we saw the hand of God working with us,” said Nicole. “We had 30 donors who generously donated to our cause. God provided 18 other high school students who were willing to give up their Saturday mornings to come help.”

Christian Reformed World Missions partners with Nicaragua Christian Academy to prepare students like Nicole and Alex for service in God’s kingdom.

The school regularly connects with the Hogar Zacarias Guerra orphanage where the camp was held along with other local organizations that can use student volunteers.

“Our desire is that the students and graduates be change makers, and that they serve those around them,” said Steve Holtrop, a CRWM missionary who serves on the board at the Christian academy.

Along with Holtrop, eight others serve at the academy as CRWM missionaries, including Dan Turner and Liam Starkenburg who have taught both Alex and Nicole in classes.

"We believe that service to others is essential in the life of youth and adults who have made the decision to follow Christ's example," said Starkenburg. "Certainly good works cannot save us, but as James reminds us, serving others brings life to our faith, transforming a simple head knowledge of salvation into the very event of God's Kingdom arriving here on earth."

If you know someone interested in serving at NCA or at another one of the Christian Schools that CRWM partners with, visit crwm.org/teaching.