Our First Day

We are here safe and sound! We landed last night, met up with Marcos (Director of CDUC) and his family, then drove a bus through the winding mountains of Medellin and arrived at the CDUC stadium.  Our team is staying in a bunk room on the second floor of the stadium... this was just finished before we got here and we are the first to use it (I think they got it done quickly just for us!). We woke up today and jumped right in. We had a time of devotions and worship with the CDUC staff and coaches and then spent some time getting to know the coaches and staff here.  The language barrier was a new experience for many of us. It was a very evident obstacle for some and not so much for others (Kent and Brian, haha).  We then got a quick snack (nothing like soda at 10:30 in the morning) and then met again for a coaching clinic lead by Coach McCarty for the CDUC coaches.  We grabbed some delicious lunch from the CDUC´s cafeteria and we are about to start a practice session for the coaches here, where Coach McCarty will run through some Messiah drills with Messiah players and show the CDUC coaches some new and different drills and things.  Then we´ll play some small sided soccer with the coaches and hang out some more.  I believe we are going to visit the brownie factory later on today, which is part of the CDUC´s mission work here(we had some brownies last night and they were amazing).  It´s been an amazing day so far and it´s only just begun. Right off the bat I was struck with the realization that God´s love transcends all languages and cultures.  It was awesome to see English and Spanish Bibles opened up while listening to English and Spanish words proclaim the love and glory of God. 
Brushing up on my Spanish,
Sam

Updates will probably not be this frequent while we are in Colombia, but I thought I'd take advantage of my phone while it still works. The team is in Miami, next stop, Colombia! I think we get a meal on this next flight, which is cool for me because I've never flown internationally and never had a meal on a plane. - Sam

Posting from my phone... In Reagan Airport, made it through security, and hanging out by our gate. On our way to Miami, then on to Medellin!
Love, Sam

Time To GO!

In about 9 hours Messiah Men's Soccer team will embark on our 2011 Trip to Colombia. Guys are really excited, but I'm pretty sure guys will fall asleep pretty quickly considering that for the last 5 hours we've been vigorously cleaning our dorm rooms and packing our bags for the trip with RA's and RD's breathing down our necks.  It's hard to believe that it's finally happening, we're going, there's no turning back, the time is now! This time tomorrow we will be in Medellin, Colombia.  Next time I write on the blog it will be from the CDUC's computer.  Thank you for your continued prayers and support!
God Bless

Trip Preparation

Here is a short pre-trip preparation recap from the last few days:

Tuesday: Exams ended….finally!

Wednesday: Practice in the evening, team time and dinner

Thursday: Morning practice, afternoon practice, ran clinics for local soccer clubs, team dinner

We’d like to thank Carlisle Area Youth Soccer and Dillsburg Area Soccer Club for allowing us to run soccer clinics with their teams.  This gave our team an opportunity to practice working with young soccer players in a way similar to what we will be doing in Colombia. Messiah players ran 1.5 hour long sessions with girls and boys teams from u-9 to u-12 and they were set up in a way that mimicked they types of sessions we will run in Colombia.  Teams also donated gear and money to support our trip. Thank you players, coaches, and parents for being a part of our Colombia experience!

I cannot say it enough times to those who have supported us, Thank you! From the bottom of our hearts, we are truly appreciative of all the support given to us by friends, family, neighbors, churches, and teams.  God Bless.

Gear Collection

Aaron Faro, Nick Thompson, Jordan Sands, Danny Thompson, and myself spent 2 hours today sorting out all the soccer gear that was sent to us for Colombia.  It was remarkable how much gear was donated and we want to thank all the generous schools, groups, and individuals who gave gear:

DASC: Dillsburg Area Soccer Club

Brent Shoemaker

The people of Beaver County Christian School

Martin Meenan and Garnet Valley High School Boy's Soccer

Brandywine Youth Club of Delaware County 

Paul Tanimae, John Jenks, and AKKA Soccer

Paul Rittenhouse and Western Albemarle High School

And all other individuals who donated personal gear

THANK YOU!!!

We stuffed 23 soccer bags full of gear!!! Soccer balls, bags, shirts, shorts, shin guards, goalie gloves, jerseys, and a ton of cleats.... it was awesome to see all the bags of gear pile up. These gifts will be a true blessing to all the kids we work with and minister to down in Colombia.

Almost there!

Hello Everyone,
I need to apologize for a lack of action on the blog the past week or so.  It's been a long two weeks of studying and school work for all the guys here as school has come to a close... and it's finally over.  Now we are only five days away from our trip! It feels like just yesterday we started this blog and sent out our support letters for the trip. We've been filling out our final paperwork, collecting our passports, packing bags, and collecting some final supplies. This is really it! Over the next few days we'll be making our final preparations before the trip. Your prayers this week will be a true blessing to us as we get ready. Our plan and our hope is that this blog will continue while we're down in Colombia as a way to keep family, friends, and supporters updated on we are doing... So keep checking it out!  Thanks for the support and the prayers.