I couldn’t believe it. After months of anticipation and expectation, my field hockey team and I were leaving in the morning to travel to Argentina on a mission trip. Anxiousness and worry crept inside me, and I was beginning to doubt that the trip was a good idea. All of the teams coordinated through Messiah’s sports ministry effort—AROMA, a Revolution of Missional Athletes—teams that night to go on a prayer walk to prepare our hearts and minds for what we were about to encounter. The whole time I was praying but still felt uneasy about the trip. When we arrived at our destination by the creek, we sang as a group and a girl from the volleyball team shared Luke 17:6; “He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.” This verse caught a hold of me and I prayed, “God, I feel as though my faith about this trip is the size of the mustard seed, but here it is if you would like to use it.”

God works in amazing ways. Upon our arrival, our team was treated as celebrities and served Argentina’s specialty meal that includes lots of meat. We had several opportunities to not only teach young girls field hockey skills but also have fun with them. Even with the language barrier, we were able to connect with the children while playing the sport we love.

The intersection of field hockey and faith

We also had the opportunity to scrimmage field hockey teams in the Argentine cities of Cordoba and San Francisco. One specific game stuck out to me. It was Tuesday night and we rushed on a bus to play a game in San Francisco. A dirt field lit by one light in the center welcomed us as we entered. We had never played in these conditions before and when we began to warm up at the circle on our end of the field, we quickly learned it was difficult to see the ball. The game was a challenge between the skill of our opponents and the dimly lit playing surface. After the game, we went to a restaurant and had dinner with the other team. We were seated at long tables, and I found myself on the complete opposite side from the translator. I only knew a little Spanish from high school and suddenly became nervous. Then I remembered the mustard seed verse and immediately prayed silently for God to use me and to help me communicate with these girls.

Amazingly for the next two hours I was able to communicate with the girls using my very poor and broken Spanish and was able to truly get to know them. It was such an amazing, humbling experience to see what God was doing through me. At the end of the dinner, Juliana Hershey and I were able to share our testimony. The girls at my table cheered as I shared and I was overwhelmed by what God was allowing me to do. After I sat down, the girls and I were able to discuss faith, and we had the opportunity to discuss Jesus and what he did for us. The next couple of days while teaching field hockey, I was able to connect with them and build relationships. God was able to take the little faith that I gave Him and make it into something beautiful.

He used my mustard seed! It is a great reminder that even if I feel weak or confused, if I am willing to trust what God can do He will exceed my expectations and use me for His glory.

Story and photos submitted by Brittany Horst `15.

This entry was posted on Monday, November 4th, 2013 at 9:26 am and is filed under AROMA, Athletics, Service, Students. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.