Basketballs bounce in Xi'an

2006, first basketball clinic

Six men and women from First Baptist Church, Richmond, brought a lot of joy to about 60 Chinese young people this summer in Xi'an, for a basketball camp project sponsored by the Xi'an YMCA. For four active, hot, sweaty days, the young people, divided into three groups: girls, younger boys, and older boys, were put through their paces by the Virginia volunteers, Buddy, Anne, Cristin, Rebecca, Guy, and John. Following are some photos from one day's observation.

You can see that the facility is quite nice, though without air conditioning, you can imagine it was quite warm, especially when running and jumping, and that the young people are quite enthusiastic about the opportunity to not only play basketball but to receive the attention, love, and expertise of the American volunteers. The FBC Richmond team made a great impression on the youth who participated and on the YMCA staff. General Secretary Tian said, "The end result of the YMCA's involvement is to spread Christianity; when volunteers bring God's love, it supports the Y's work."