Today's recap from the Women's Soccer Tiger Athletic Mission Experience (TAME) in Costa Rica is from Freshmen
Abigail Bath and Head Coach
Kristin Cox.
"Today has been a very interesting day. We started the morning off at 5:00 AM to the sound of monkeys, not something we hear back home. At 6:30 a.m. we had breakfast and then we had our devotion time as a team. We talked about how being on a mission trip sometimes we get a Jesus high, but when we get home that high is sometimes gone and we should want to live our lives like that always. We then made sandwiches for lunch and packed them to eat at the soccer clinic that afternoon.
An interesting thing that happened today was when our bus got stuck in mud. We all tried to help them push the bus out by getting in the bus, standing on one side of it, and jumping up and down hoping that would help, but it didn't. Three vans ended up having to save the day.
Once we got to the soccer clinic the kids were so excited to see us. They went crazy over the soccer balls because they only have one ball to use for practice every day. The coach told us how grateful he was for us at the end of the day. When we got back from the clinic, we had a light snack that they had made for us, which was bean dip, pico, chips, and fresh pineapple. After our light snack, we made a little hike to our game which took us about 30 minutes.
Arriving at the field I was in shock because of all the fans that showed up to watch. I was exhausted because it had been such a long day already, but our coach pointed out all the people who were watching and said that we need to persevere and work through it because we are out there to show them that we are different because of God. Hearing her say that sparked something in me and made me want to win the game and give glory to God. We ended up winning the game 1-0 and continued to play small sided games the rest of the afternoon.
When we were done playing soccer, we walked back for dinner where they prepared bean and beef empanadas and the bread was delicious! They also gave us an incredibly hot salsa to try, which was too hot! Tomorrow will be another long day, but I'm looking forward to how the Lord will use us,"
Abigail Bath said.
"Today may not seem like we did a whole lot from this post, but after the previous full day of traveling, a super late night, and an early morning, it was definitely packed. After a worship song led by a couple of the soccer players, Dr. Lisa Seeley opened up with a great devotional that tied perfectly into missions and why we are here. Elsi (Johan's wife from yesterday's post) added to the devo by telling the girls to 'every day, look for what God needs to change in your life.' I thought this was powerful, especially in the context of service.
After packing our sandwiches for lunch, we were ready to go to the clinic, however, they told us there were problems with the bus, as it was stuck in the mud, (it is still stuck as we write), but they are hoping to get it out in the morning!
While waiting, we talked about Spanish questions or phrases that would help us coach the children at the clinic. Luckily, we have four players that can speak Spanish, so things ran much more smoothly and the kids loved playing soccer with the girls and their coach was very thankful. We left them with five soccer balls and a set of pennies for their future practices. To summarize the soccer portion, after being outside for two hours at the clinic, and hiking 30 minutes to the field, the girls played another straight two hours of soccer.
While the girls were exhausted, they persevered, and continued to work hard. The team we played even asked if we could play us again later in the week, as they had so much fun and enjoyed the competition. After walking back, we had a delicious dinner and then created a daily bathroom cleaning and dish washing schedule.
At this point I think everyone was ready for a good long sleep, however, it didn't take long for our rooms to be filled with evening worship music as several of the girls gathered on the balcony porch and sang praises. We are also blessed to have guitar players and singers on this team. We are looking forward to Bible Distribution and on-site service work here at the YWAM base tomorrow," Coach
Kristin Cox said.
