France Trip Report

We're back!

Wednesday evening I finally returned home after our 10 day Lancer basketball cross-cultural missions trip. 

It was the fastest long trip I can remember being on. Each day felt long - filled with travel, activities, and new things that stretched our comfort zones. But it seems a little surreal to be back already. Just a few days ago I was standing at the foot of the Eiffel Tower.

I'll be adding a bunch more photos at the end but I thought I'd share the "mantras" of our trip. These were phrases that got repeated ad nauseum that will stick in our heads for awhile I'm sure. Each of these originated by our host missionary, Dave Hobert, but added to the fun and craziness of our travels.

"We'll figure it out"

When you're on a cross-cultural trip, you have to adapt and be ready for whatever comes up. We certainly had our share of opportunities to be flexible. Time-consciousness is different in France for instance.  In the end though, even the unexpected hiccups turned out well and things did work out. For instance, we had got tickets to a lower-level pro soccer match in the Burgundy area. Half of us ended up at a high school rugby match at first because of an error in directions. But we got to the right field and ended up in the owner's box facility and given a bunch of free food. They even took us out on the field at halftime.

"We gotta go!"

French culture isn't as time-conscious as we are, but that doesn't mean being on time doesn't matter. One factor that made some parts of the trip a little more hectic was the fact that we didn't stay in the same hotel for more than one night. Thus we were going here and there every night after traveling here and there for our clinics, games, or sight-seeing events. We were split up between 4 vehicles too and while the fans and crowds would often like to get autographs and talk after our games but in many circumstances, there was a cut off. And so, "we gotta go" became a rallying cry...only to see our host or some of the players caught in the 'people traffic' and choosing the relational connection over time concerns.

"We gotta stay together"

As described above, travel was always a challenge. And Hobie (Dave Hobert) would often stress the need to stick together on the roads. It didn't always work out that way. Between his driving and some of our others' inexperience driving stick-shift vans - 'we gotta stay together' became a satirical pun fairly quickly. No one got lost though and we made our appointments fairly easily. But there were some interesting moments for sure. 

There were a ton of other more personal stories and observations I'm taking away. And I may share them in the future. 

This team is a special group of guys though. They are special on the court, 31-4 last year/#2 in NAIA. And they have a unique chemistry off the court too. All glory to God for what he did in our hearts and how he used us to plant seeds for Christ.

What Goes Around...

Twenty-three years ago, I took a life-transforming trip to Europe, Germany and France specifically. 

I was fresh off my freshman year of college and a few months removed from our basketball season ending unceremoniously. We had started off fine, 9-9 at Christmas as I remember. We were a young team with a ton of physical talent and ability but were missing experience and internal strength. We then proceeded to lose 13 straight conference games in the gauntlet that was the MCC (now Crossroads League). We lost in every conceivable way. 

Up 4 with a minute left on the road vs. a top 3 team? Check.

Lose multiple leads to less talented teams at home? Check

Have players quit mid-game? Check

Get beat by the (other) worst team in the league? Check

And I was nowhere near the varsity rotation. I was a lowly JV player gaining valuable playing experience on another terrible team. Our JV team went like 0-16 with the closest contest being like 12 points.

Once the season ended, it was clear it was going to be a pivotal off-season for the program. And Coach Kessler had set up a missions trip to Europe for us to put on clinics, play games, and make connections for the missionaries and churches in those countries. 

With players quitting like rats jumping off the ship (who could blame them?), Coach was left with 3 varsity guys and me. He made some other contacts and found a few other people to join us. A track runner from LeTourneau and a middle-aged guy from Columbus, Ohio.

Despite, and because of, all of that background, we had a tremendous trip. Speaking for myself, I will always remember the trip because I got to participate in a trip where I could use my own love for the game to share my love for Jesus. As American basketball players, we had an automatic platform to share our faith and that was such a neat thing to experience.

Twenty-three years later, I am going back. 

One of my side-gigs is being chaplain for the current Grace Lancer basketball team. The program is in a much better place and should be a top 5 team next year in the-now-one-division NAIA (it was two back in my day).  Scott Moore, Coach K's successor whose older brother went to Europe with me, has continued the tradition of taking the team on an overseas trip.

Sunday we leave for France to do much of the same type of ministry. Clinics, games, connecting with churches - all are on the menu. This time, the whole team is coming. And this time, I get to go as a coach, driver, chaperone, and chaplain intent on pouring into these young men so that they can have a similarly transformative experience.

Prayers are appreciated, it's going to be a crazy trip without a doubt.

One of THOSE Moments

A long-time friend of mine currently coaches my high school's basketball team. It has probably only been just over a year since he was hired. He's doing a great job. They had a pretty good season, winning their conference and generally showing promise for the future. 

Part of the off season schedule includes running camps for the younger kids in the community. He does a terrific job teaching the basics and making the game fun. Over the weekend, he shared this video of a young camper winning the championship for his team...after not really scoring at all but trying his best throughout the time.

https://twitter.com/CoachMattMoore/status/1400909445106970625

My initial thought was, "How awesome is this? That little guy is never going to forget this moment".

Then my mind drifted to a basketball memory of my own when I was close to that age.

I was around 9 or 10 years old and my church was sponsoring this community sports clinic at our facility. We'd recently built a gymnasium - or "multi-purpose room" as some insisted on calling it - and our church leadership saw the opportunity to have a Saturday where kids from the community would come and get some instruction in various sports. I remember that we had the option to participate in two sports and we'd go to the station and a coach would teach us some basics and have us go through drills. 

This was like a dream come true for me. I loved sports. I played in imaginary games in my room and in my yard in all sorts of games. I had an imaginary alter ego, "Jonathan Jims" who was an all-pro football player for the Chicago Bears and an all-star hooper suiting up for the Boston Celtics. I played alongside my heroes Walter Payton and Larry Bird and led my teams to championships in glorious fashion. 

Now, as I registered for this clinic that Saturday morning, I had a choice to make - how do I pick which two sports to play? I know for sure they had baseball, soccer, and basketball and think they had a couple others too. I landed on soccer and basketball. The time practicing and learning more about soccer was not very notable as I recall.

The session with basketball was everything and then some. Coach Jim Kessler of Grace College was in charge of this part of the clinic and he had a number of his own team there as well as some Warsaw High School basketball players. I even remember 1984 Indiana Mr. Basketball Jeff Grose was a part of this, though I would ask him years later and he had no recollection of it (though that would be understandable). All of these were giant men and I was a bit in awe of being so close to these heroes.

After running through some basic passing and dribbling drills, they divided us up into two teams and had us play for a few minutes. Now, let me set the scene for you as accurately as I can. 

First, this was a half-court game. The other side of the gym was being used for something else. Second, since basketball was so popular, there were a lot of kids at this station. It may have been only like 8 on 8, but it felt like 15 on 15. Looking back, it is amazing I ever even touched the ball. It was chaos to say the least, but at one point down the stretch someone passed me the ball around the right elbow by the free throw line. I saw an opening and dribbled right towards the baseline and loaded up and shot the ball. It was an off-balance jumper from about 10 feet that bounced on the rim a couple times and dropped in. I remember some of the Grace players sitting out of bounds jumping up and cheering - as this was the first and only basket of what surely was a poorly played-hard-to-watch game. 

A few minutes later, as time wound down, our team fouled the other team. The shooter, a kid from our church named Andy Plank, made one of two free throws. Our team would win the game 2-1 and they selected me and Andy as "players of the game". I got first pick of a prize, either a Lancers Shirt or some bball shorts. I picked the shirt which immediately became part of my clothing rotation and would for years to come. For the record, Andy became a much better player than I did - starting a couple years on varsity while I barely made the team. 

But it was that shot falling that inspired me to pursue basketball. I played some Little League and summer soccer, but basketball became my primary love. That shot gave me the confidence to keep at it after getting cut from my 7th grade team. It gave me the confidence to keep working and make varsity as a senior after two years of JV in high school. It was at the foundation of my self-belief that led me to later play at Grace for Coach Kessler. I was a JV practice fodder player at first but worked to become a valuable contributor to a 25-10 team my final year.

I hope this young man has a similar journey. Maybe he'll let the joy of that moment fuel him into a nice playing career like mine did for me. More importantly, I hope that this thrill gives him confidence in life to keep working at whatever challenge he might be facing.

And I'm thankful to God for giving us these kinds of beautifully gracious moments where pure joy and happiness overwhelm us. I love THOSE moments.