Athletes in Action News and Commentary

Volleyball update

Sunday morning started out very similar to our every other morning so far in Russia. We got up and had breakfast together as a team around 9:30 and then went we all went back to our rooms for a mandatory team nap J! Three of the guys; Christian, Jimmy, and Chase, decided to skip the nap though and went into town to get authentic Russian mullets at the local barber shop. It was hilarious to see what had happened to their hair when they got back to the training facility. They now had amazing Russian mullets! After the mullet excitement died down we went to lunch and ate one of the best lunches we had in Russia! It was a plate of noodles with a ball of meat similar to meatloaf and it was amazing. To us it was the greatest because we had been having nothing but chicken legs and mashed potatoes for lunch and dinner for the last 3 days so we were just happy to see something different.

                         After lunch we went back to our rooms and got ready to go to Illia’s dad’s church which started at 4:00 pm. Illia was our correspondent in Kursk and he set up all of our matches there. It was really weird for all of us at first because we are all used to going to church in the morning. When we got to the church people immediately came up to us, greeted us and shook our hands. It was amazing to see how hospitable these people were to us since we not only were strangers but also foreigners. When the service started none of us quite knew what to think. The worship in this Russian Christian church is something of its own and I have never heard worship songs like these. The only thing I can think of to describe it is that it was similar to an upbeat polka party! But I don’t want to play it down because at the same time god moved through us and even though we couldn’t understand the words we all were still able to engage in worship and glorify god. It was difficult at first to stay completely focus on the message and prayers since we had to hear it all through our three translators but the pastor and several members took several breaks in the service where the addressed our team and just thanked us so much for all the things that we were doing in Kursk and for the Russian people.

                          God really started blessing us and making the language barrier less of a factor as the service went on which was incredible to see him work in that way. The most amazing part of the service was when Bobby got up and was able to give his testimony to the church. All of the members were so grateful that he opened up his past mistakes and coming to know god and they seemed just amazed with how much he shared with them. After his testimony the pastor asked our team to stand up and the entire church laid hands on us and prayed for our time, our ministry, our hearts, and the relationships we were building between us and the church as Christians as well as the relationship between our two countries of Russia and the United States. After church, we had tea and cookies and just socialized and got to know the church members a little better.

                         The rest of the day was left for some play time! Since it doesn’t get dark here till about 10:30, we were able to go to the beach and play in the river as well as play some sand volleyball for a couple hours. After it started to get dark, we headed back to the Olympic Judo training facility where we were staying and had a healthy meal of chicken legs and mashed potatoes. After dinner we all went with victor down to the sports room of the facility to play Russian Billiards and watch the Futbol (soccer) between the U.S.A and Brazil which was the final match of the FIFA Confederation Cup. Here is the thing about Russian Billiards…….it’s absolutely the hardest game ever made!!!!! It has bigger balls (nearly twice the size) than American billiards but the pockets are smaller which makes it almost impossible to fit the ball into the pocket unless your shot is perfect. Also, the balls are all white and only have numbers, no stripes. The cue ball is also very different because it is a dull yellow instead of the usual white which throws you off. After that game we watched the World League volleyball match between Russia and Bulgaria. After that it was bed time and we had to get some sleep for our match on Monday verses the Medical University which was the best collegiate team in Kursk.

-Brandon

Hello from Eric

Monday June 29^th – Eric

 

Today was one of the best days of the entire tour.  It started out with a tour of the Medical University in Kursk.  This was the University that we would face in a match later that day.  Our tour started out with a spirited tour of the Museum of the Medical University.  The Museum was one room and we received an excited monologue on the history of this university by an over exuberant museum curator.  He certainly did enjoy his job!  The next part of our tour took us to the Anatomy Alley.  The smell of formaldehyde hit us immediately as we entered the room.   In the room was almost every body part one could imagine.  There was also a woman leading our tour who knew a lot about every single container.  She too was quite exuberant, but at least this one spoke English.  Several highlights included:  several do it yourself mummies and Cyclops: a fetus with one eye and 6 fingers on each hand.  We then toured the University’s Sport Facilities.

That night we played a match against their University Men’s Volleyball team.  Our host, Alexander (who coaches the men’s and women’s volleyball teams) did it up right for us.   They had an American Flag and did formal introductions and played the national anthem of each country.  Our match was one of the most competitive.  We got out to a slow start going down at one point 8-1.  We came back to make it respectable, but lost the first game.  The second game was also close, but we lost.  Then in the 3^rd game we put together a great game to win 25-18.  We then dropped the 4^th and the match with a hard fought 22-25 loss.  It was a fun match with both teams showing respect for one another and some exciting volleyball.  This was also our largest crowd of the tour with around 100 people showing up.  Between the 2^nd and 3^rd games, Austin Glass gave a great testimony about how he has recently learned to play for an Audience of 1.  We also got to pass out brochures to the crowd and Gospel of Johns in Russian.

After the match, we were presented with a trophy to commemorate the event and each of us were introduced and given a gold medal!  And then,  Alexander had a sweet spread of food and drinks for us and his team.  We played a get to know you type game with everyone sharing their names, majors and for us Americans, one thing that we liked about our trip so far.  This turned out to be a very time for us.

After the match we went off to a real cultural experience.  Our in country director, Victor, wanted us to experience a Russian Sauna.  It was pretty wild as we went into a wooden room that was heated to close to  200 degrees F.  We worked  up a big sweat and then went into a cold pool or a big wooden barrel of ice cold water!  All of these venues were clothing optional.  If you wanted a true Russian experience, though, you can guess what needed to happen.  Some team members were more bold than others.  (Only the guys were invited to this event).  Four of our team members experienced the real “Russian Sauna.”  Jimmy, Christian, Scott and I (Eric) were brave enough to allow Victor to shake two hand brooms of tree leaves that had been soaked in water over our bodies.  He took each of us one at a time in the  sauna room and whipped the leaves over us and did some sort of massage.  It was actually quite relaxing,.  I will never forget this night, for sure.  It was a cultural experience and some folks really let their hair down, so to speak.

Thus endeth the 29^th Day of the Month of June for the 2009 AIA Men’s Volleyball tour.  Eric K.

Hello from Austin

June 27^th 2009

Today was the Sand volleyball tournament in Kursk.  The sand courts were located about twenty minutes away from the judo camp.  We departed for the tournament at around 11:00am in four separate taxis.  When we arrived we were greeted by the coach of the Medical University team, which we would later play.  On arrival most of the team noticed that something was a bit off about the scenario.  The swimwear in Kursk was, to say the least different from what we were used to.  Men were dressed in Speedos or less. And for the women, it seemed that there was only one size of swimsuit which each woman, regardless of size, wore.  Anyways the tournament kicked off with four US teams and six Russian teams.  The US team pairs were myself (Austin) and Christian, Scott and Bobby, Jimmy and Garrett, and Nick and Brandon.  We played pretty much all day, starting around noon and ending around eight in the night or so.  The last match of the day was Jimmy and Garrett vs. two tall Russian guys in a game to determine who would be named third place.  We later would find out that these two guys played for the Medical University.  Garrett and Jimmy won the first game 15-11 but lost the second game 12-15. Garrett and Jimmy took control of the third game easily winning with a score of 15-9.  During the game Christian and others went for a swim in the nearby river before he left though he had become quite famous with a group of kids.   At one time he had quite a large following of kids and at one time got to share a little bit of the gospel with them using the pamphlets we were passing out.  The tournament day ended with Scott sharing his testimony with a crowd of around forty people including about ten kids that Christian had rounded up.  After Scott spoke we hung around and chatted with the locals for a while then headed off to an internet café. We checked emails and what not for about an hour then left for the camp again.  At around 11:00pm myself, Victor, Garrett, Jimmy, Nick, Brandon, and Bobby left for a sports bar.  At the sports bar we had the privilege or watching the Russian and Bulgaria National teams face off.  About halfway through the third game I hit a wall and was pretty much gone for the rest of the night. I slept on the taxi ride back to camp and then we all went to sleep. Overall today was one of the most memorable days here in Kursk. Thank you for all your prayers and thoughts.  See ya’ll soon!

Austin Glass

Hello from Bobby

Thursday, June 25

                Thursday was a day of travel as we left the volleyball sports camp in Moscow for a different sports camp the city of Kursk. A 12 hour bus ride that should have only taken 6 – 8 hours.  This was caused by several worldly factors that included road closures, drivers getting lost, and us having to use the restroom…which was the brush on the side of the road.  And of course, since we’re volleyball players, we just had to pepper on the side of the road.  This kept us somewhat loose and awake for most of the time.  Along with the peppering, there were books being read, cards being played, and LOTS of sleep that was desperately needed.

                Lunch was something else altogether.  We stopped at a little truck stop and were given two options for lunch, beef or pork.  I, myself, had the pork that wasn’t like the pork back in the states.  It was breaded and fried with atop some macaroni.  The beef was also served on top of macaroni.  I heard the beef was amazing, but wasn’t about to try it for myself.  We also had tea to drink, something that is served with every meal, and Pepsi, which was refreshing.  God was really looking out for us as we were traveling for those long hours.  After being lost for several hours after taking a detour that the drivers hadn’t expected, we stayed patient and faithful during the trip.

                We had finally arrived the camp late, and in the middle of their, which was outside and right by the parking area where we were dropped off.  As we unloaded our stuff, the kids dancing had to stop to greet and wave at us.  As we were unloading for the night, we were told that this camp was for karate athletes and had been training like the volleyball athletes.  After unloading our stuff off the van and packing our rooms, it was time for dinner and more sleep for we have a long day tomorrow.

                Dinner was great.  Chicken and mashed potatoes; a familiar dinner and a favorite among us.  Usually after dinner, we would play some beach volleyball at the other camp and mingle with the Russian kids there.  Not the same here.  After dinner, I read a couple of passages from 2 Corinthians, Romans, and some of Tony Dungy’s book, Quite Strength, and went to bed after a long day.  This concludes a long, uneventful day of travel.  I ask that you pray for our safety, that we keep a cool head on our shoulders, Christ in our hearts as we have a match tomorrow against another university.  I also as that we keep our focus on an audience of one to glorify God through our gift of athletics.

 

Thanks, god Bless,

Bobby Roidt

Hello from jimmy

June 23, 2009

Hey there everybody! This is the man with the big hair, Poofy Jimmy Lundgren.  Today was our first day trying to make the change to the Moscow time zone.  I know for me, it was tough getting up.  I was so tired from all the flying and then of course being the athletes we are, we could not turn down an opportunity to play with the kids here at the camp some “Beach Volli”, as my Russian beach volleyball partner, Ali, liked to put it.  It is so tough to turn down an opportunity to play beach volli when the sun does not set until 10:30 at night.  So this afternoon we paid the price of staying up late, playing beach volli, and still adjusting to the time change.

Practice was very rough but it was good to get all the dust off our passing, setting, and hitting.  We worked hard to finish all the drills strong and try to play to the best of our ability.  Today was Austin’s favorite lunch of the trip.  We had fish, mashed potatoes, bread, and we all went back to our t-ball days and drank from juice boxes.  During lunch, Ali brought his friend Vitaly, a 14 year old opposite hitter on the team here, to remind us that we were going to be scrimmaging them later today and to watch out.  All of the guys on our AIA team have really enjoyed interacting with the kids here.  The kid’s love the game and passion for it. It has been amazing to see.  Hopefully we can minister to them and maybe by the end of the trip, they can have the same kind of love for Christ and God as they do for the game of volleyball.

At four o’clock we had our first official game.  We played Vitaly and Ali’s team who have players that range from 13 to 15 years old.  Pasha, a setter and outside hitter, had a great jump serve that threw our service receive off.  Ali and Vitaly did a very good jump swinging through our block and getting some very impressive kills.  When these players or other players had these great plays, we were thankful for their success rather than being jealous of other’s success because it meant they were possibly out performing us.(??????)

 But even with the great play by their team, our AIA team was able to pull off a three game match win.  This of course as we have learned on the trip is not the most important part.  The fact that we played with honor and integrity was what really counted.  When the referee missed a call, we made sure that we told him that the ball was in rather than out, or that we touched the ball off the block and the other team should be rewarded with the point.  This surprised the other team and they were confused why we would turn down the opportunity to win a point.  But as we learned at training camp, it is better to compete by the rules all the time because we then expressed what is fair.  By doing this, the game is just and orderly (God’s character) and allows it to flourish. 

After the game we got the other team, coach, and spectators together to have them hear Nick’s testimony.  Nick enjoyed telling others about his story about his life without God’s love and then realizing that God is love as it says in 1 John 4:8.  He learned that if someone can love him so much, then he should try to do that to anyone he meets, including the other players, coaches.  After his testimony all the players, spectators, and coaches wanted our autographs.  For me I felt like a celebrity with all of these kids swarming around me to sign the pamphlets we gave them with our pictures on them.  Austin said, “The experience was crazy. I was thinking, ‘do these kids know who I am?  I am a nobody’.”  I have yet to figure out why we are so popular.  But we use these opportunities as a nice transition to start the conversations with them about God and their faith.  

During dinner tonight we had another visit from Vitaly and Pasha.  They wanted to play beach volli again. We decided to go play beach volli for a bit. When we play beach volli it is a good opportunity to mix the teams up with Russians and Americans.  We learn to communicate differently than we do with our familiar American partner.  There is constant body language being translated and very small simple words or phrases to get our thoughts across.  This is also a great time to talk to the kids on the sideline waiting to play.  Chase Dannen has been doing a great job being our translator with the kids.  He says he is not very good, but he is obviously better than all of us combined on the team.  Chase will translate with us and the kids talking about favorite music, talk about school, and start planting the seeds with the conversation we idly want to have with them, talking about their faith.

Garrett M. presented some shirts to Vitaly and Pasha saying he wanted to trade with them.  Vitaly and Pasha were very excited and ran back to their dorms to get some shirts.

I brought some of my old college club uniforms and traded with both Vitaly and Pasha.  I got a club volleyball shirt from Pasha and then I got a Beach Volli tank top from Vitaly.  They were very excited to trade with Garrett and Scott as well.  They do not want us to leave.  We told them that we were heading out soon and they were very upset.  We exchanged email’s and Skype names and will hopefully keep in contact with them.  This is important because we can then try and keep talking to them about their faith if we can get them to ask us questions.

Tomorrow we will be playing a very very very good team here in Moscow.  AIA has never beaten them in the past but as we have learned, winning is not everything.  We try to constantly remind ourselves of that while playing so it makes the game completely different.  What we try to do, every time we step onto the court, is that we are competing to win which consist of a serious challenge while enjoying the pursuit.  PEACE.

Jimmy