Pickleball as Ministry: A Young Champion’s Expertise and Influence for God’s Glory

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Dear IGSL Community,

At IGSL, we partner with supporters who use their leadership, influence, finance, and expertise (L.I.F.E.) to help fulfill the Great Commission. It is a great joy and honor for us to work with you in the Lord’s harvest field.

From March to April, we have been privileged to partner with the Dy family in a series of sports clinics that promote pickleball as an effective platform for ministry. MacKonner Dy, a Filipino-Canadian national champion and rising international player, shares his skills and experience to train and encourage players of all ages wherever he goes.

Together with his mother, IGSL alumna Heidi Tenefrancia Dy, and father, Marvin Dy, MacKonner spreads the light of Christ as His ambassador in the world of pickleball. This month, he guested at the summer events of a popular mall chain and was featured on PTV Sports.

MacKonner Dy featured on PTV Sports

The Dy family began the mini-clinics on the morning of March 30 right here at IGSL, where there is a growing community of pickleball enthusiasts who both enjoy the sport and use it as a ministry platform on campuses. They aim to bring it to churches as well, so that churches can reach communities through this sport.

In the afternoon, a team of IGSL students and staff joined the Dy family in conducting the next sports clinic at Quezon City High School (QCHS). This is one of the Target Area Ministries, where a team of IGSL students ministers to high school students and teachers weekly. The short clinic was a timely encouragement to the QCHS students, teachers, and administrators in the wake of a recent tragedy in their school, reminding them to care for themselves holistically—body, mind, heart, and spirit.

MacKonner with QCHS students who received new paddles that the Dy family donated to the sports clinic participants

The Dy family and IGSL team made a courtesy call to QCHS principal Dr. Remedios Danao, the woman of peace who welcomed and endorsed IGSL’s weekly ministry in the school

After MacKonner made his PPA* Asia debut in Hanoi from April 1-5, the Dy family, together with IGSL students and staff, brought the pickleball clinic to Camp Aguinaldo, where they trained enlisted personnel of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. The sport provides a fun way for the soldiers to keep physically fit and build camaraderie. And during the sports clinic, they also received life and spiritual principles related to the pickleball techniques they learned.

*Professional Pickleball Association 
We are truly grateful for the many ways that you, our beloved ministry partners, stand alongside us in bringing God’s love where He has called us. What are other ways we can partner together to help fulfill the Great Commission? We would love to hear from you.

Serving with you in building leaders for transformation,

Great B. Mabuti, PhD
IGSL President