Alyssa's Reflections
Naples Naples Naples! I am apologizing already for the lengthiness of this blog! I just would hate to leave anything out! Plus for those that know me know that I love to talk anyway! This was hands down one of the best experiences of my life. I am beyond blessed to have had this opportunity to go on such a trip and be with such amazing people. When most people think of Italy they think of the Tower at Pisa, Coliseum, and maybe even fashion and Italian boys. This is all very true in some parts of Italy, but not in Naples. Naples is a very different from the rest of Italy. It is very dirty and is one of the poorest cities in all of Italy. Naples is very much in need of the Lord. My teammates and I had amazing opportunities these past ten days to step out of our comfort zones and show others our love for one another and our love for the Lord. As much as I hope that I touched the lives of the people of Naples, they touched mine so much more. We all really developed some great friendships with not only Charlie and Shannon Worthy and their children but with the Neapolitan people as well.
I really got to know four children at the elementary school quite well. They were four autistic children named Carolina, Jon Carlo, Simone, and Francesco. They put a smile on my face each and everyday. I will never forget how excited they were every time we came into their school! I also really got close to two older boys from the basketball courts. Michele and John Carlos. I was able to share my testimony with them and we had some great conversation. I encouraged them to go to church with Charlie and they both sounded quite interested and I hope that they try and follow through with him since we are now gone. Not only did God work through me but in me as well!
What I like about this trip is that we are all basketball players but that is not what we were this week. We did not see each other as Mick the great post player or Mick the big guy that walks around campus, but just plain ole Mick Hedgepeth. I wish I could try and explain these feelings of seeing all my teammates in this way but it is very difficult. Our relationships are no longer based on our connection through basketball but yet our connection through our faith and love for the Lord. I especially think this was true within the girls on the trip. Cacy, Haley, Kristin, and Tristan and I had some really great bonding experiences through this outlook. Many nights we had a little “girl talk” time. It was full of jokes, laughs, tears, and unspoken thoughts and feelings. Amazing is the only word that somewhat describes it. We all became so much closer and decided to take what we have learned and how we have grown into our team next year. It can be an absolutely program and team changing experience.
Overall I wanted to say thank you to anyone and everyone that had anything to do with this trip. It is something that I will always remember and cherish. Thank you!
- Alyssa
To everyone who went on the trip: I love you all so very much and had the most amazing time getting to know you all and I can't wait to continue our friendships within these years to come!
As the plane touched down Thursday night in Nashville to end our journey I said a prayer of thanksgiving to God for safe passage of another sports evangelism mission trip. When I crawled into bed I said another prayer of gratitude for my home and the comfort therein. I always recount my many blessings following these yearly trips.
I’m truly sorry it has taken me so long to write. I have been waiting until the very end because I feel like I could not express how amazing this trip was even if I tried! My time in Italy was one of the most memorable trips of my life. I will forever remember the people and places. My favorite part of the trip was being able to play with the kids, and seeing how happy that they were when we were with them really made me so happy! We were at the same school every day, and we went to the same park every night. This gave us the opportunity to really get to know the kids. The time we spent at the park gave us the best opportunity to reach out and not only spend more time with the kids, but it also allowed us to see their parents and talk to them. The park really opened the doors for us to do our work. My role was playing with the kids, and I LOVED every minute of it! Being able to put smiles on the kids’ faces warmed my heart and I will never forget them!! It’s funny how such small smiles and laughs can make me feel so amazing, but it did. I hope that I have had some impact on their life because they definitely changed mine!! 
A weary but happy group of travelers arrived safely back in Nashville just a little after 6:00pm this evening. Thanks to all for following along with the blog and for providing much appreciated prayer support for the trip.
Well the time has finally come for us to leave Naples. I'm actually writing this blog as I'm sitting on the plane headed to Chicago. As I look around Alyssa is sound asleep to my right along with Trevor and JJ. Mick, Brandon and Adam are right in front of me catching some zzz's too I guess everyone is pretty exhausted from this trip but what better way to catch up on some sleep then on a 10 hour plane ride?? Oh yea Tristan is up here coloring in her Hello Kitty coloring book with her crayons too :)
J.J. – “The Energizer” and “Most likely to be seen with a small child” J.J. Mann, the energizer, was a crucial part of this team. Due to a lot of walking, late nights, and a long week of working with kids there were times when it was difficult to keep up the energy that the people of Naples deserved from us. J.J. refused to let the team energy go down. Whether he was clapping, yelling, breaking into a dance, or all three of those things, we could always call on J.J. to get us going.
Also, small children LOVE J.J. It seemed all week he was holding either Alysa or Ben, the two smallest children of our host family. The little kids just connect with him. We haven’t decided if this is because J.J. has the heart of a kid, or the I.Q. Maybe both.
Mick- Wins the “Keaton Belcher” award and the “Award for most humbling blocks” Last year in Malta Keaton Belcher was our mission trip expert on the team. He was a senior, he had been on four mission trips before, and he knew the routine. Every time someone needed to step up or out of his or her comfort zone, Keaton was the first to do so. Mick has done a great job assuming this role. He was the first to give his testimony, and has been a great leader all week. One of the things we have tried to instill in these children is the importance of teamwork. We always preach the importance of passing and working as a team. There is even a rule that the kids must make 3 passes before they can shoot when playing against us. Mick is the enforcer of this rule. If any child chooses to ball hog or shoot without passing, Mick throws their shot to the other baseline.
Drew- Wins “True point guard” award and “Most likely to eat his weight in bread” A true point guard is someone who can make his/her teammates’ jobs easier without getting any of the credit. Drew has been a true point guard in Naples. In a literal sense he has been a great point guard, in our 5 on 5 scrimmages he has been averaging about 7 assists per game (the games usually end around 20-20). But his presence as a point guard in a deeper sense has been his greatest impact. Drew is in charge of all drills during our time at the schools. The kids are introduced, and then turned over to Drew for ball handling drills, shooting drills, and relays. Drew has made everyone else’s job easier this week; his teammate’s jobs of helping the kids, Wes’s job of directing the children, and B-Dub’s job of reaching the kids spiritually. Drew has done all of this on a diet that seems to consist of only bread and water. As the pickiest eater on the team Drew has rarely enjoyed the authentic cuisine here in Italy. Luckily these Italian restaurants have delicious bread in large quantities. 
Haley- “Teammate who most obviously has made the best career choice” and “Teammate who gives the best advice” Haley is studying to become an elementary school teacher and if you watched her for 10 seconds here in Italy you would understand why. The kids love her, but I think she may love the kids more. It is obvious that the children make her happy and she is so incredibly good with them. The energy and happiness that she gets from the kids is contagious to all of us, and a huge reason that we are able to reach these kids. She also is a superb advice giver. We have had many discussions about our future careers since they are so similar (I want to teach high school) and she has had some great ideas for me! With her passion for children and her ability to advise others I have no doubt she will make an excellent teacher one day.
Adam- “Happiest person in Italy” and “Most received alley oops” Adam is ALWAYS smiling. Always. We have had some late nights followed by some earlier mornings, but it never seems to interfere with Adam’s level of happiness. Throughout this entire trip I have counted on Adam as someone who can cheer me up and make me laugh. He is always joking around, laughing, or doing something to make others laugh. There was only one time this entire trip that Adam stopped smiling. It occurred when some trouble making hooligans tried to make a joke with Adam. The young boys were terrorizing the entire subway and frustrating and scaring everyone. The leader tried to joke with Adam. He is the only person I have ever seen to fail to get a smile out of Adam. Adam has smiled his way into the record books; because I am 99% sure that he has broken the record for most received and finished alley-oop layups in a game situation. Guinness has not gotten back to us yet.
Cacy-“Best life saving catch” and “Best fisherwoman” Cacy’s first award is very special to me…she wins it for saving my life. In one of our many trips to the park this week I tried to step over a chain ink fence that was only about 1 foot high. I had done it many times before without trouble, but this particular time it caught my foot. I had basketballs in one hand and Bibles in the other, and if it had not been for Cacy it would have been awful. I may not have died but I would have been hurt and thrown Bibles on the ground. Her second award also involves saving lives. In the Bible Jesus called his disciples to be fishers of men. Cacy is one heck of a fisher! It is incredible to me how skilled she is at testifying to people at the park. Her previous blogs have chronicled some of these stories, and it amazes me when I read them. She is doing the Lord’s work in Naples, just as he commanded in the Bible.
Trevor- “Best alley oop” and “Biggest transformation” Trevor has come such a long way since he first stepped foot on this campus as a freshmen. I have only been here a year longer than he has, and I have been though similar changes, but it is still amazing to see strides he has taken her in Italy. Even though he was one of the newcomers and the last to share his testimony, there is no doubt in my mind that he has had a profound effect on the people here. He has done a great job connecting with the locals, both kids and young adults, but he has also had an impact on my life. I will never forget some of the things he said in our first debriefing session. I feel like this hasn’t been given enough attention on the blogs; Trevor caught a SICK alley oop and absolutely put one of the streetballers from Naples IN A POSTER! I was not there to personally see it, but everyone who did see it said that it was easily the best play of the trip. That’s saying a lot considering that everyday we have been playing competitive games to 52 in one of the parks here.
Debbie- Winner of the “Walk 100 miles miles” award and “Best job of tossing your uneaten sardines onto Trevor’s plate while the host (and chef) of our dinner was not looking”
It seemed everyone walked more this week than they had all year and Miss Debbie walked more than all of us!! Seriously, she may have walked multiple marathons this week. Thank you so much Debbie! You are such a big part of the success of this trip, and I’m sure I don’t even know half of the things you did to make this trip happen. We all thank you. As for the “Best job of tossing your uneaten sardines onto Trevor’s plate while the host (and chef) of our dinner was not looking” award…she did that. It was hilarious.
Wes- “Manager of the year” award and “Best new friendship” (staff division) Wes claims that he has not had to do much in terms of leading this trip. I think he is wrong. He has led by example from the moment we got to the airport and is a very critical part of why I feel this team has been able to reach so many people here in Naples. There are many talented people here on this team, but that doesn’t make the job of leader any easier. He has done a great job of knowing when to let us do our own thing and when to push us into a specific direction. Wes is also winner of the best new friendship of someone who works at Belmont. It has been great getting to know his this week, and I extremely grateful that we were both able to come on this trip.
As impressive and touching as the testimonies were, we had not scratched the surface of the emotional and spiritual impact that would come later. After our work in the schools we grabbed lunch (the aforementioned “magnifico” pasta) and came back to the hotel for a debriefing session. It was intense. It is hard to describe the emotional level of the meeting without breaching the trust of everyone involved, but I will say this: Earlier in the park a four year old Italian girl was hit in the face by an errant half court shot…I out cried her today, hands down. And I would do it again in a heartbeat; the tears that were shed, the friendships that were strengthened, and the love that was shared in that small Italian hotel room will stay with me until the day that I die.
Last evening at Betty Wiseman's home, the 2011 team gathered for a time of fellowship, trip packing, and prayer. After filling up on lasagna, KFC chicken, fresh corn, salad, and a to-die-for chocolate cake, the group sat together to hear Betty talk about a different sort of Biblical fasting that applies to the digital age. The concept of leaving something behind for a period of time so that one's focus is concentrated on our relationship with God is repeated throughout the Bible. In a world of iPhones, headsets, Facebook, and instant information we tend to be tethered, technologically, to the world around us and more easily distracted from things of a spiritual nature. B-Dub suggested that each member of the team make plans to disconnect from distractions as the team gathers next week to travel to Italy. Un-tethering for a time would mean that the forward focus of the team is concentrated on the needs of those who will be touched by a week of ministry led by student athletes and not restrained by anything that might pull the group backward to the hectic, always connected, lives we live stateside.