The ETBU Cross Country and Track & Field teams embarked on the 12th Tiger Athletic Mission Experience (TAME) trip on Thursday morning, partnering with International Sports Federation. The group of 34 consisting of student-athletes, coaches and staff, traveled 30 plus hours before arriving in Athens, Greece on Friday afternoon.
TAME was created in order to give ETBU Tiger student-athletes the opportunity to use their God-given talents and abilities to share their faith to people all across the globe, as they strive to transform the world for Christ. Since 2016, ETBU Athletics has sponsored trips to Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, Brazil, Serbia, Israel, Jamaica, Slovakia, France, and Japan.
After getting settled once arriving in Athens, the team spent the evening working with Street Lights, a community discipleship ministry that focuses on working with refugees from Europe and the Middle East. The ETBU students set-up a small festival in Kipsells Square in downtown Athens, where they offered hot chocolate, face painting, balloons and a soccer tournament for the local children and refugees living in the neighborhood.
"Our student-athletes were nothing short of spectacular today as they fought through exhaustion, after a hectic 30 hour travel schedule. Once we arrived in Athens, the team was asked to help work the Street Lights event. Our Tigers did an amazing job interacting and loving on the local children and somehow found the energy to carry on for over two hours in the cold temperatures playing with the refugees," said Vice President for Athletics
Ryan Erwin.
"I'm excited to watch the Lord work through these student-athletes this week and would ask that you pray for the health and safety of our entire team and that the Lord would prepare the hearts of the individuals we encounter during our time in Greece."
