SCOTT CITY -- Bo Cook and Chris Sisk, both 17 and of Scott City, recently traveled to Bahia de Caraquez, Ecuador, where they spent a week conducting basketball clinics through a ministry of Missouri Baptist Convention.

They were accompanied by Gerald Walton of Jackson and the Rev. Daniel Hale of Millersville.

Cook is the son of Vincent and Martha Cook and a graduate of Kelly High School. Sisk is the son of Chuck and Rhonda Jones and will be a senior at Scott City High School. Both are members of First Baptist Church.

The two joined six other young men ranging in age 17 to 19. They were members of an all-star team selected in March during the annual Challengers basketball tournament in Jefferson City.

Challengers is a Southern Baptist missions education program for males in grades 7-12. The tournament and sports evangelism trip are designed to allow young men to meet together in Christian competition and experience growth.

They earned the chance to spend a week conducting daily basketball clinics and exhibition games in Ecuador, and also shared personal testimonies.

In Bahia, a city of about 30,000 on the Pacific coast and where soccer is the national pastime, more than 300 attended the nightly basketball games.

The group also worked with Southern Baptist missionaries Tommy and Beth Larner. The Larners have served in Ecuador since 1988, and in Bahia since 1994.