Martynas Airosius had it all planned. He was raising
funds to go to the United States to use basketball as a tool to reach young men
with the message of Jesus Christ. He was baptized during the week of basketball
camp in Zakosciele, and he saw how basketball could be the catalyst to help
others.
Isaiah 55:8-9 says, “’For my thoughts
are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’
declares the Lord.” God
had different plans for Martynas. He is more interested in where our hearts are
than where our feet are, and He wanted Martynas to serve in a different way, in
a different country.
Martynas was not able to raise enough funds to move to
the U.S., so he stayed in his homeland of Lithuania. Soon things turned really
sour. He got really sick at the end of September with pneumonia to the point
that he was hospitalized.
“It was a hard and long process to come back to full
health after my sickness,” he said. “The team that I played for asked me to
come back sooner than I my body let me, but I had no choice. I started practicing
again and started playing, but soon after I left the team. I really started to
think that I would not play basketball anymore because I was not feeling good
and my performance was abysmal.”
Basketball was what led him to the Lord, and
basketball was going to be his vehicle to lead others to Him, so Martynas was
struggling with that plan. But he’d learned to be obedient to God, even when he
didn’t understand.
In early December, he got a call from his agent,
telling him that the German team “Pointers” wanted him to try out for the team.
He’s been in Germany for a couple of months, playing basketball professionally.
After the season he plans to travel the world. And much like he has for the
past several years, he probably will go to Zakosciele for basketball camp this July.
As long as it’s part of God’s plan.
