Two Weeks and Counting... Beads
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Betty and four of this year's team gathered Friday morning for the bead counting project. The video on this post is just a glimpse of the behind-the-scenes activity that surrounds a mission trip...it is not the kind of thing that you'll see on the evening news, but it does illustrate that there are no 'unimportant details' and that there are jobs for anyone with a passion for ministry. You can count on seeing these same beads in future posts, and I'm willing to predict in advance that there will be smiles and inspiration attached.
This post may be the only one you will see that features Debbie. She isn't one of the tall, athletic-types that draw instant attention when they appear anywhere the team shows up...but Deb is definitely there. Somewhere in the background she is taking care of business, seeing that logistic details are covered, handing out a Tylenol, providing water, sewing on a button, or being her life-long resourceful, servant-leader self. The picture you see on the left was taken in 2005 in Koresten, Ukraine while the student athletes were playing volleyball and soccer with a group of church youth leaders. Debbie found herself in the middle of one of those Divine Appointments that Betty talked about. Sure, there were language barriers in this case, but the young Ukrainian women surrounding Deb found fellowship with an American visitor who shared a common love for knitting. Pretty amazing if you think about it. When Deb took needles and yarn on the trip, she had no thoughts that somehow that might lead to an opportunity for ministry. Her plan was to make a scarf during some of the quieter moments. Before this particular day was over, one of these women smiled and waved at the departing bus, holding a set of Deb's knitting needles. All of the women parted, understanding their common faith with a deeper appreciation of how big the familiy of God is...something that probably woudn't have happened if Deb had not been in that specific place at that specific time, half-way around the world.
May 15th is our departure date for Maturin, Venezuela where we will be working with career missionaries, Paul and Shelley Scott. This venture into South America began over a year ago with a request from the TBC Partnership Missions Department in celebration of their 25th Anniversary of Partnership Missions. All previous partnerships of the TBC have requested a team from Tennessee to come and minister during this year of celebration. Missionaries in Maturin, Venezuela requested a Belmont Sports Evangelism Team. I met with Paul Scott, this year's missionary host, prior to last year's trip to the Ukraine and agreed to bring a team of Belmont athletes to use basketball as a platform for sharing Christ. This will be a "first" for the Scott's to host a sports evangelism team.
In less than a month, Belmont's 2006 Sports Evangelism Team will be on location approximately 250 miles east of Caracas, Venezuela in the city of Maturin. The 16 athletes and staff on this trip will work with IMB missionaries in several area locations holding clinics, sharing testimonies, participating in worship services, and providing whatever support that is needed.
