Athletes in Action News and Commentary

"No Bacon"

What an Awesome God we serve!

Hola from Guatemala,

During our second day at the physical education school the team continued to share their knowledge with eager students. It's fun to see them put on their game face and teach passionately.  Fortunately they still had their game faces on when they scrimmaged the students in a basketball game!  A very special moment was when the principal arrived and to Cristobal's surprise was a former Bible study student of his, who invited him to return to the school and begin a Bible study! 

Next we headed to the university where the team finished up teaching on heat illness and abducter rehabilitation. Thirty names and email addresses were collected from the students for follow-up by our in-country staff.  The dean finished the session by presenting us with certificates and sharing with the class the ethical and spiritual work that AIA is doing in their country.More...

What Happens in Guatemala... Stays in Guatemala!

After breakfast and our daily devotional, we packed up the van again and headed to a local high school where the kids are preped to teach physical education upon graduation. We had 75 kids that we were able to reach in the classroom today through our sports medicine talks and Beth's Testimony.  We had a fun time of activity on the basketball court as I lead the kids through a dynamic movement warm-up.  The kids all seemed to have a good time especially since Dr. Tracy joined in the festivities (although his movement patterns were pretty good!). We continued our life stories with Mom's (Tracy S.) tissue filled testimony on the way to lunch. After lunch we shared time as a team discussing having a life filled with the Holy Spirit. The first part of the evening was spent with 77 of the National University physical education students and falculty. We ended the night begging Dad (Jim) for more money to get ice cream sundaes from Burger King after dinner! Cristobal took us to through one of the suburban neighborhoods that sat on a mountain just outside of town. The area also boasted a gorgeous overlook of the city as it was lit up tonight. Prayers for our work tomorrow are appreciated as we will be sharing our faith and talents again at the high school in the morning and at the university in the evening.

Buenos Noches

David

Bonding Time in Antigua

After breakfast and a devotional by Tracy S, we headed up to Antigua, the first capital of Central America, to attend church.  The worship was meaningful and the message challenged us to be followers of Christ and reach out to those around us.  After the service Dr. Tracy even connected with two people from back home.  We had great lunch in a beautiful colonial setting with Cristobal's family.  Several of the team discovered that making handmade tortillas were more challenging than they thought.  We finished the afternoon shopping for Guatemalan made gifts for our family and freinds back home.  The highlight of the day was having Dr. Tracy, Beth, Danielle, Corey and David share their "Life Testimony" which included their Heritage, Highlights, Heartaches and Honey (relationships).  It was a special powerful time as each shared from their heart.  We discovered that we all come from different backgrounds and have struggles but the Lord is working and making us more like him each day.  After dinner in the food court at a nearby mall, Tracy S lead us in a discussion on who we are in Christ.  It was a meaningful time of interaction.  The day was filled with experiencing the Guatemalan culture to a new level, but the most important thing was being able to draw closer to each teammate and the Lord!   

Team Director - Jim

Greetings from Guatemala!

We started off another great day, bright and early with a very entertaining talk show host from the #1 sports radio station in Guatemala. We shared who we were, where we were from. We also answered questions from callers around the country. We then headed to the oldest Physiotherapy University in Guatemala and taught a very receptive group of 2nd and 3rd year students. We had a good time showing them rehab exercises, evaluations and taping techniques. One interesting fact that we learned was, they do not learn as PT students how to evaluate injuries or how to tape. This remindes me of how great our education is in the US and I am greatful for it. After, Cory shared with us and the students, a very moving testimony of his life and walk with Christ. Chirstobal then shared some of the gospel and prayed for the hearts of the students. Again they were very attentive and receptive. It was very encouraging to see all of this happening. Lunch was spent among a ton of Barcelona fans watching them beat Manchester United.....good times! We also had dinner with a recreation league coach and the Guatemalan National Track and Field coach.who is a AIA volunteer.  We shared how to talk to their athletes about Christ, and also how if they enhance their spiritual life it can enhance their sport performance. I just sat back and pondered how great this fellowship has been down here and its only the second day. Now its time to rest up for our adventures tomorrow in Antigua!!   

Buenos Noches

~Beth 

Team United as God is Faithful

Friday morning the room was filled with around 100 doctors, physiotherapists, professional coaches & athletes, physical trainers and students as Dr. Tracy R started off our presentations.  He was followed by Corey, Beth and David that featured topics on hip, ankle & knee injuries, sports massage and finished in the afternoon with a great time of hands on demonstrations and interaction.  Our team was able to connect with the participants not only through sharing of their professional expertise but as David shared his spiritual journey and Cristobal followed with a powerful gospel presentation.  We found out that the National Badminton Head Coach was there and asked Cristobal if he would start a Bible study with his team and a indoor professional soccer coach approached him and said he was interested in starting a Bible study with his team.

After a filling lunch the team was blessed as Cristobal shared his ministry journey and how God has provided as he was obediant to follow.  Our team is part of that provision.   We finished the day with a great meal with some of the leaders from the conference.  It ended as our last two team members Tracy S and Danielle joined us a day later than planned.  They where stuck in Dallas Texas because a hail storm damaged many planes and canciled flights.  Our team is resting now as we will be up at 6:00am to have a 30 minute interveiw on the #1 sports radio station in Guatemala!

Team Director - Jim