Posts Tagged ‘softball’

Friday

“If life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” So goes the saying. The reality is that God often throws in cake as well. We awoke Friday to a steady rain. Our plans had been to go to the park for our last day with outreach and softball with kids. His plans were better.

During our week, our presence in the park drew the attention of the director of the YMCA here in Krakow. He brought dozens of their kids over to participate in our program. As a result, he urged the missionaries here to please contact them if we needed to because of inclement weather.

That’s exactly what Shae did on Friday a.m. 

The team was able to spend the entire morning with 50+ kids, working on softball basics and playing games with them. The real fruit however, is a valuable and blessed connection with the YMCA that the missionaries now have. The personnel there invited them back once or twice a month to do more work with the kids.

Also on Friday, we toured (quickly) Wawel Castle. You may recall my visit to it back in October. It’s no less majestic on the second go-round.

After a looong walk, we met the guys baseball team for a scrimmage that evening. It was a great way to allow them to see what a game would feel like. It was their first opportunity to put into place what they’d been learning and practicing over the past weeks.

In a matchup of girls vs. guys, the UAM Cotton Blossoms won 6-5. They had a little help from McKenna Massengale, who belted several beyond reach of the guys, and yours truly… who was asked to play catcher.

From there, we went to Friday night coffee house. It’s a weekly event that the missionaries host. This Friday was line dancing. We weren’t quite sure how it would go over, but we discovered quickly when the place packed out just how excited the Polish people are about opportunities to fellowship and build relationships.

We had a great time… watching the team line dance. 

Saturday

We were thrilled to have the morning off on Saturday. After three consecutive days of nonstop action, walking, relationship-building and softball, it felt good to sleep in. Unfortunately for me and Tracy, we’ve had problems sleeping since the sun comes up at 4:30 a.m. So we find ourselves cruising the streets of Krakow on trams, waiting for coffee shops to open. (They do not open until 7 a.m.!) If you follow me on Facebook, you can catch some of our daily video updates that we’ve been making. Saturday’s was our favorite so far.

After lunch, we went to Jordana Park for a cookout with all the new friends and contacts that we’ve met this week. The park itself is incredible. The equipment for kids, basketball and tennis courts, rock climbing wall, skateboard park, and pond and trails are really very impressive. I haven’t seen anything like it in the States. And it’s well-used by the folks here in Krakow. It’s always full.

At the cookout, we played wiffle ball and treated everyone who came to grilled hamburgers and hot dogs. It was a big hit. The main thrust, however, was to allow the team to share a little about the “why’s” of their visit to Poland. In interview style, one of the missionaries facilitated a Q&A time. The girls were able to share about their love and with relationship with Jesus Christ clearly and passionately in front of the group as they reclined on blankets in the grass. It was a beautiful scene.

Afterwards, we trammed it to the mall where we ate and did some shopping. We retired back to the hostel for a devotional time and an exhausted lights out, or so we thought. After devotionals, it just seemed that it renews our strength and perspective. The laughter and general goofiness lasted well into the wee hours of the a.m. 

We were quite sobered by the fact that we only have two more days in Krakow. Time has flown. God has been good.

Thursday was another amazingly full day. The members of the UAM Cotton Blossoms who are on the trip with us – Becca Tipton, Kayla Temple, Savannah Morin, Lindsay Randall, Amy Mardis and Becca Sustaire – have been simply incredible. We all knew their team was fantastic, but what we were unprepared for was just how good these girls really are – not just at their sport, but in their love and work ethic.

They have burned the candle at both ends and served long, hard hours in kids camps and practicing with a newly-formed baseball team here in Krakow. All at their own expense and from the donations and love of others. The end goal is to honor and bring praise to Jesus Christ here in this beautiful city.

They’ve built relationships and opened several doors for the missionaries to continue their work and ministry. I’m also grateful for the parents and families of these girls who have trusted us and Journey Church. They helped contribute and encouraged us as we pressed forward with this trip – even with scant details.

Carolyn and I have been grateful and so blessed to see how the Lord has used every member of our mission team so far on the trip. Lou has been simply incredible with the kids that she has taken under her wing. She’s been a constant strength and source of help at every phase. Tracy has continued to battle with me for title of funny man of the week. Too bad he’s losing so far. Seriously, I am so grateful for his presence and his witness and leadership. As a campus minister, trips like these not only help him connect with the students with us but capture a vision for ministry on the campuses of the world.

After another jam-packed day of ministry and softball, we cleaned up and ate at a Chili’s-style restaurant called Yummies on the Rynek, and it was delicious. Two of the baseball players joined us and then took the gals around after dinner while us old folks searched for an ice cream stand before heading back to the hostel for a rousing game of Phase 10.

Truly, there is nothing more surreal than walking around the Rynek at night with the gorgeous lights on the St. Mary’s Cathedral and seeing the carriage rides lined up along the cobble stone roads. Thanks to those of you who gave so generously to make this trip possible. We are supremely grateful at every moment for the sacrifice and generosity that you displayed.

We had a blast.

We were amazed.

God is good.

When you bring a mission team overseas, you always emphasize the “F” word. That’s flexibility. You just never know what will happen or how your plans will actually turn out. 

Our hope all along for this trip was for the UAM softball gals to be able to conduct a sports camp for kids here in Krakow, to teach and demonstrate the sport of softball to a European town that cherishes soccer above all else and doesn’t even have a baseball field. That was our hope, and it was high.

We actually didn’t know if anyone would show up. The missionary team who are in Krakow had worked hard the last few days, passing out fliers and creating a buzz, but they too, had no idea if anyone would show up. That was until 11:00l 11:00
English: World English Bible - WEB
Štetje svetopisemskih vrstic se začne z ¹! Vrstica ⁰ ne obstaja!

WP-Bible plugin a.m. yesterday. It was then that more than 50 kids showed up, full of excitement and enthusiasm.

We were so proud of the girls. They were more than champs. Not only did they conduct this impromptu, unstructured camp in a setting that was challenging, but they did so with joy and deep character. They showed the kids softball. But larger than that, they showed them their hearts.

And while they were swinging bats and throwing balls, the Lord was behind the scenes hitting homeruns. One of the leaders of the Krakow YMCA “just happened” to be in the park, and he offered the use of their building this week should it rain. He also wanted to coordinate future things with the missionaries here. A great contact!

After a wonderful afternoon in the Rynek Square, we went to another location, and the girls worked with a newly formed guys baseball team. Baseball was new to them. So were girls who could outplay, outhit and outthrow them. I think it was a little difficult on them in this culture getting trained (and schooled) by girls. 

One of my favorite moments of the day was when Becca and Amy suited up and threw pitches. The loud pop of Becca’s glove hitting her leg after her pitch, followed instantly by the louder pop of the ball in Amy’s glove was pretty awe-inspiring. The kids and later the guys watched in awe. So did we. 

All the girls found key roles to play, and when we had our devotional time last night in the hostel (the Techno Twins weren’t around), we celebrated and unpacked a full day of ministry after Tracy shared about Elijah from 1 Kings 18. 

We are all grateful for your prayers and your generosity that got us here. God is at work. Will you please continue to join us in this great work with intercession? More later!

If it was real flowers I were talking about, I think they’d wilt before they got there.

However, I’m talking about the University of Arkansas at Monticello girls softball team. They’re the Cotton Blossoms! They’re pretty darn good this year (currently in first place of the GSC West Division (32-7, 11-5).

One of our church members is a pitcher on the team, and when I first approached her about taking the Blossoms to Poland this summer, she was a little hesitant. The main issue it seems, was money. Most of the girls are on scholarship and like other college students just don’t have $1500 to pack up and go to Central and Eastern Europe.

However, after several interest meetings and constant encouragement, there are now seven girls who are committed to going with us. I’ve told them time and again that we could raise the money for them all to go. Lou Arnold, another member of our church, has raised 105% of her goal through her Facebook ChipIn page, so I figured that between creative internet fundraising and old-fashioned bake-sale-car-wash-type fundraisers, we could send these girls to Poland.

Here’s what they’ll be doing:

• Sports clinics (softball, baseball, etc.)
• Conversational English classes
• Coffee houses
• Cultural tours
• Attending Polish church worship service
• Trip to Auschwitz

The overall purpose of the trip is to help the missionaries in Poland build lasting relationships with more people with the hope of leading them into a love relationship with God in Jesus Christ. I’m confident that this trip will also be a life-changer for many of those going as well.

Here’s what I’m asking you to do:

• If you’re on Facebook, join the Blossoms to Poland page and leave the team an encouraging note.
• Donate the cost of a tall coffee at Starbucks to the trip ($3). If you’re feeling extra generous, donate the cost of a large pizza at Pizza Hut ($12). You can use the ChipIn widget below (we have to manually post the donations, so don’t worry if your donation doesn’t show up in the totals immediately).
• Pray for the girls and the others going on this trip.
• If you’d like to receive an autographed softball by members of the girls softball team, please leave a $25 donation, and email me your mailing address using the contact page above.

I’ll keep you posted here as to the status of our fundraising.