Inside Game

About mid-morning of Day 2 our posse of gringas poured out of our house and loaded into two taxis. We went to a rock climbing gym for some team bonding time. Everyone was so encouraging and cheered one another on as forearms became sore and heights became scary.

Shelly (tour discipler) and Sara (tour director) racing to the top

In the afternoon, we went to UDLAP for lunch, team time, and basketball practice. Yesterday during team time as an ice breaker we went through the 4 H's (Heartbreak, Highlight, Heritage, Hobby). Today we discovered two H's that had been neglected, Hero and Honey. This lead to a good hour of stories and conversation. :) We only have two weeks to get to know one another, so we don't mess around!

Today Marnie talked to us about the second AIA principle - Inside Game. The question to go with this talk was "What motivates you?" We read through the story of the prodigal son in Luke. The prodigal son asked for his inheritance, signifying that he didn't need his father anymore. His father was dead to him. Sometimes when things are going well, we stop praying as much and don't get in the Word. We tell God that we don't need Him anymore and go our own way. The younger son's main motivation was worldly pleasures. The older son was motivated by recognition from all the work that he did. His father's love wasn't enough; he wanted a party as well and let pride interfere with celebrating his brother's homecoming. Sometimes we try to earn God's love and approval, when this is something that we already have in Christ.

The world tells us that our performance and other's opinions of us give us self-worth. God says that what He declares true about us is self-worth. This should be our motivation-God's love and grace. How much we serve or how well we can play basketball does not affect the measure of love that our Father has for us. Even when we are playing for an Audience of One, we are not playing for His approval. This we already have as His child and cannot be earned. As result of this, what is the difference between playing for man and playing for God? We talked about playing with a "thank you" response. This means playing basketball in appreciation of what we have already become-in gratitude of God's gifts of athletic ability, freedom from sin, life in Christ, etc.

After this talk, the girls went to the gym and began to apply the principle right away. During practice they check on one another and encourage each other to have the perspective change, to play for an Audience of One with a "thank you" response. It is neat to see how applicable these principles are, not only in sport, but in everyday life as well!

Day 1

Popo peaks above the clouds spewing ash into the blue sky-a magnificent view for the AIA team's first morning in Mexico.

The schedule for the day was only adjusted three times. The team experienced flexible Mexico right away. After breakfast, we went through orientation for the new arrivals. They learned about cultural norms and the vision for the tour. 

We ate lunch at the caf up the hill from our apartment. Sarah was brave and tried the Mole Poblano, this is a traditional dish and well-known in Puebla. Very few tourists enjoy the dish. Sarah described it as dessert chicken.

Each day we have time set aside for quiet times and team times. During team time today we learned about the first AIA principle - Audience of One. We focused on the questions "Who or what do you worship?" and "Who are you playing for when you are on the basketball court?"

We were able to surprise Katie with a chocolate cake and homemade card for her 24th birthday!

This is the Athletes in Action basketball team that will be competing in a tournament with UDLAP, Tec, and UMAD next week. Their first practice marked the end of Day 1 of the tour. The team is a mixture of previous high school and college basketball players, a soccer player, and a rower. :)

The Basketball Tour Begins

The pantry is full; the apartment is clean; the spaghetti is on the stove... we are READY. We've spent the last two weeks making a schedule, editing the schedule, and editing the schedule some more. These next two weeks Athletes in Action here in Mexico will be hosting a basketball tour from the States. There are four girls coming down. This blog will be written from the AIA-Mexico staff/intern perspective.

The focus of this tour will be as an outreach to the basketball girls at three universities here in the state of Puebla--UDLAP, Tec, and UMAD. AIA has been working with the teams at UDLAP and Tec for the past two years. This tour will be using basketball as a platform to develop relationships with the ultimate goal of sharing the Gospel.

The days will be full. There will be basketball practice, preparing for the tournament at the end of next week. Our basketball team consists of Karli, Amelia, Shelley (our director who will be playing when needed), the AIA STINTers (Marnie, Katie, Erica), and possibly two Mexican players. Throughout the week we will be having team talks, learning about the AIA Principles that take the Gospel and apply it to sports. Outreach events and community service will involve the university basketball girls and help build relationships that we pray will lead to the sharing of the Gospel.

This blog invites you to join us on this tour as we share different stories (struggles and triumphs). Also, we'd really appreciate you lifting up these prayer requests with us:

• That athletes would catch the vision of what Athletes in Action means/stands for and would want to be involved in some way
• Safe travels for the AIA team coming from the States (flying into the airport and bus/taxi to our house)
• Getting to know the athletes at Tec and UDLAP (building new and strengthening relationships already in place)
• That our team would be good ambassadors for Christ
• That the Mexican girls who may play with us would be drawn to Christ, and that we would be examples to them
• That we would be bold in sharing during the multiple outreach times that are set-up throughout the next two weeks

- Mandi (summer intern with AIA)