Late in 2008 a group of golf buddies from the Brotherhood of Christian Businessmen and Professionals decide to combine their passion for Christ and for golf. They wanted to live out their beliefs and the tenets of golf and pursued this principle with much zeal. Their desire to walk that path led to the creation of the Christians in Golf Association, more affectionately known as CIGA.
Beyond the camaraderie, fellowship and golf, they played golf in the true spirit of the game, adhering to the rules and going so far as to minding their language on the golf course. That might seem a bit extreme to some but not to these Christian businessmen.
One of the tenets of being Christian is being a man for others. This drove CIGA to find a cause that truly needed their assistance. After much deliberation, they settled on gifting the indigenous people of Zambales, the Aetas, with a meaningful livelihood project.
The goal was to supply the Aetas with a herd of goats that they could raise, propagate and sell, and to ease their quality of life, they endeavored to supply a water line from the group’s water source more than 3 kilometers away.
CIGA’s ultimate reward came when they made the trek to Batiawan, Zambales, to gift the goats to the Aeta community. It was their Christ moment.
Today, their evangelical work continues with the running of the 3rd CIGA Cup, “Fore the Greater Glory” at the Orchard Golf and Country Club on July 27 of this year. Support for their cause has been strong and slots at the tournament have sold out. The list of sponsors was incredibly long, headed by 1st and 10th Tee Energy Bars, BITC Roof Tiles, CARP Builders, Estron, Generali Philippines and Texas Eagle. The Aeta’s future just got a whole lot brigher.
This all speaks to the generosity in all golfer’s hearts.