The Tournament Begins

Today was the first day of the tournament, our main outreach event. We had time in the morning to be tourists. The team had their first bus riding experience as we rode the bus to the entrance of the pyramids in Cholula. However, everyone was able to sit down on the bus, so they didn't quite receive the full experience. :) We slowing made our way up the pyramid to find a magnificent view of the city and a beautiful church.

The team gathered in prayer before their game against Tec (below). Seven gringas and two Mexicans make up the team with quite the mixture of basketball backgrounds (ranging from no experience to college experience).

It was a fun game to watch! The score was always close, but AIA came ahead in the end. Ganamos! The following is text from Katie's blog for a player's perspective:

We won our game, in a pretty exhausting 65-71 victory.  It is such a blast playing with these girls against some really tough competition.  We are all attempting to transform our minds into thinking about sport as an opportunity to worship.  We have talked a lot about a “thank-you” response: playing with a broader purpose in mind, for eternal glory, and giving our 100% all the time because God has given us the ability and passion to play this game.

We stayed around to cheer for the teams playing the second game and mingle with the girls from Tec. 

We had girls from each of the three universities in the tournament join us for dinner. Abbey and Katie were able to share the Gospel with three Mexican athletes! We also handed out some bracelets with the Gospel message and were able to explain their significance.

After flautas, we gathered at a common area in our dorm to watch the Lion King. It was Abbey and Karen's first time seeing this Disney classic. Despite the glitchy internet and thunderstorm, the evening was a success! It is so nice being so close to campus. It's easy to invite girls over. Also, each opportunity we get, we walk across the street to campus to see if we'll run into anyone we know.

This glorious view is looking down the street we live on, Camino Real. God's Creation never ceases to remind me of His glory!

Today was a pretty full day. The team's time here in Mexico is winding down. Please pray for energy as we keep up this sprint to the end. It was so encouraging to have so many girls come to our outreach event today. We plan on having something each night. Pray for continued boldness in having spiritual conversations and for girls to come to our outreach events. Thank you!