Columbia International University Head Basketball Coach Tony Stockman had a grin on this face as he stood at the top of the stairway overlooking the gym floor in the Moore Fitness Center. Below, several of the boys and girls attending the fourth annual Hoop for Hope basketball camp were not shooting hoops, but playing other games.

“They’re playing Duck, Duck, Goose, but they’re having fun,” said Stockman. “We want them to enjoy themselves and have fun.”

Of course, other portions of the day were dedicated to basketball drills, but more importantly, the over 200, 10- to 16-year-old campers, a record number, were exposed to God’s Word during the four-day event.  

Just outside the fitness center, about a dozen eight to ten-year-old boys were seated at a table with Bibles in front of them learning about God’s love from volunteer teacher Faye Gowins.

“The Word of God tells us in First John, chapter 4 verse 7, ‘let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God,’” said Gowins, then asking, “Where does love come from?”

“From God!” came the shouted group response.

At the end of the lesson Gowins gave each of the boys a band to wear on the wrist as a reminder to “go love.” And she added with emphasis, “If you see one of your teammates and they are not showing love, you remind them, you tug on this.”  

Gowins, who attends Word of God Church in Columbia, said that when she heard about Hoop for Hope, “I just knew I had to plug in.”

“I enjoy working with children,” Gowins added. “I enjoy seeing them get excited about the Word of God. I enjoy seeing that light bulb go off that says, ‘I get it.’”

Not only was the overall attendance of Hoop for Hope a record, there was a record number of girls taking part — over 50 of them. And that pleases former CIU Ram, Hannah Trawick, one of several current and former CIU basketball players responsible for guiding the campers through the week. She is now studying for an MBA at CIU.

“Some of the kids are returners, so you get to see them grow,” said Trawick during an interview on the gym floor, dodging errant basketballs as the campers shot hoops. One of the younger campers apparently thought it was snack time and interrupted, asking Trawick for a fruit-rollup.   

“They’re really sweet,” Trawick said of the kids. “To be a light for Christ … it may not be effective now, but as (Coach Tony) Stockman has said, years down the road they may remember this.”   

Teaming up with CIU for this year’s Hoop for Hope was the local ministry 4Runners4Christ and their director Sinclair Salters who helped make sure the kids, especially those from the inner-city  had transportation to CIU.

"Our goal is to provide kids hope in Jesus who may have never heard about Him and what He did on the cross," said Stockman. "Basketball is a great platform to share this message. I want to thank Sinclair for making this camp happen because he is a huge part of what we do." 

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CIU is celebrating 100 years of its mission to “educate people from a biblical worldview to impact the nations with the message of Christ.” The university consistently ranks among the Top Regional Universities in the South by U.S. News & World Report, as well as a Best Value Regional University in the South. Apply now or request information on enrollment by contacting Admissions at (803) 807-5024 or admissions@ciu.edu.