Tiger Athletic Missions Experience Blog

Day 5 Blog
Kennadie Ransberger (Fr./Waco, Texas)
Tia Steen-Baker (Jr./Austin, Texas)
Stephen Brown (So./Tyler, Texas)
Tuesday, January 7, 2020


The ETBU Cross Country and Track & Field team spent Tuesday serving in several areas throughout Athens, Greece, as a part of their TAME trip.  Freshman Kennadie Ransberger from Waco, Texas, Junior Tia Steen-Baker from Austin, Texas, and Sophomore Stephen Brown from Tyler, Texas offered their reflections on the trip and ministries activities.

Kennadie Ransberger

"Every morning feels like it gets a little to harder to wake up and honestly I feel like the days are all starting to blend together, but we are all still going.  This morning we walked to Street Lights and one of the leaders at had a few words of encouragement and also shared a verse with us from Ephesians 2:10 that talked about workmanship.  He related this verse to some questions about who we are as people and what God's plan for our life was. He then gave us 20 minutes of quiet time to just do a spiritual mentality check.

"I was then placed in an eight person group that was allowed to visit a local refugee camp.  It was a long and cold walk down the streets and we took multiple trains to get to the camp, but before we entered, our leader from ISF gathered us to pray for strength, guidance, and for us to be the light God wants us to be in that place today.  The prayer was super helpful and definitely eased any unsure feelings that I had, but honestly I did not know what to expect and I can definitely say that it was not what I expected.  There were a [lot] of small room sized houses called containers and every house was painted a different bright color and placed in lines and rows.  Certain walls were painted with different designs and art work and there was such a sense of happiness there, even though these people did not have much.  

We visited with one family in their container, who had two children ages two and three.  We all introduced ourselves and sat down and the woman told us her testimony.  She was not a believer, but her story was extremely moving and brought tears to my eyes.  She talked about her past life that brought her to the camp and how difficult and heart breaking it was. However, she also talked about how strong she is today and the person she has become because of it. We moved to a different container and met a few others and had lunch. It was chicken and rice and it was very good.  After just learning about their life and pouring as much light as we could into them, we eventually had to leave. This part was actually super sad because they really did not want us to go.

My favorite part of the day had to be on the way back when we stopped at a coffee shop and just reflected on what we had just experienced. I got to listen to everyone's point of view and just see how much of a humbling and eye opening experience it was for each one of us.  It really shrunk the problems that we as Americans deal with on a daily basis and changed the outlook I have on life. After that we walked back to Street Lights to play games with the kids and host a basketball and soccer tournament. I love getting to play with the kids every night and I cannot wait to see how it will impact not only their life, but mine as well." 

 Tia Steen-Baker

"Today was a rather calmer day for me than normal because we had a quiet time to read our Bible, journal, and pray after our morning devotional. I worked at the Street Lights ministry today, where we helped clean and organized many of their supplies and other things.  Today was a day that really kind of put things in perspective for me because I was able to hear about others backgrounds and where they came from and what they have been through. Even if our conversation was not strictly about their lives it was good to be able to relate to one another.

In the evening we hosted a basketball and soccer tournament at the elementary, which was more fun than I pictured and though we all were not necessarily great at what we were doing, it was more about having fun and bringing joy and laughter to one another and the children.  I believe we all appreciated this time tonight because it felt like we all could be kids again and we did not have a care in the world. That was definitely something I had not felt in a long time."
 
Stephen Brown

"Today our first half of the day had our three groups serving at a refugee camp, Street Life, and a local elementary school.  At the refugee camp, heart touching stories were told as they bonded and ate lunch with a few new friends.  At Street Lights and the school there was more productive work done, which consisted of cleaning, organizing, and making big and beautiful changes to both places.

After lunch we all met back at the elementary school and had an phenomenal time hosting a soccer and basketball tournament with the local children, which they absolutely loved.  Also a handful of volunteers continued to finish final painting and organization of the classroom at the local school.  Once the tournament ended, we had one big soccer game with ETBU versus everyone else and followed that up with an amazing dinner afterward."