By Jolene FarleyA mission trip to El Salvador and Guatemala by the Hills-Beaver Creek Fellowship of Christian Athletes group is featured in the March issue of the national publication, Sharing the Victory, Faith and Sport (STV).The magazine is published nine times a year by the national Fellowship of Christian Athletes organization with the mission "to communicate the love and power of Jesus Christ in the changed lives of athletes and coaches through the influence of FCA’s ministry."A group of 18 high school and college athletes left for El Salvador and Guatemala Monday, July 28, of last year and returned Friday, Aug. 8. Following are excerpts of that article, written by Christian Ditchfield:It was an opportunity they just couldn’t pass up.When Coach Tom Goehle invited the Hills-Beaver Creek Huddle to join him on a mission trip to Central America, the answer was a resounding "yes!" High school juniors and seniors, plus a few college students — all of them basketball players — made up the 18-member team. Together, they would spend 12 jam-packed days traveling through Guatemala and El Salvador, using basketball, dramas and personal testimonies to share their faith with those who had never heard the Gospel."Once in Central America, the Boys’ and Girls’ teams competed against the top men’s and women’s teams in both Guatemala and El Salvador. They won a few games; they lost a few.For most of the Huddle members, it was exciting just to play against athletes of such a high caliber, even if it meant they were over-matched. But the greatest thrill came after the game, when they took turns sharing their testimonies and inviting the other players and coaches to receive Jesus Christ as their savior.… "The entire experience in the juvenile prison was absolutely life changing for all of us. Jesus and only Jesus could pull off something like that!’ Coach Goehle exclaimed. There were 200 boys ages 14 to 19 being held at the detention center. All of them had been tried and convicted as adults and would be transferred to an adult facility on their twentieth birthdays. They were gang members, drug dealers, murderers — some of them sentenced to more than 150 years for their crimes.Team member Ashley Bosch explains, "When we went to the jail, I went there thinking I would change their lives and bring them closer to Jesus Christ. But when we got there, we realized that their faith was greater than our own. You could see God in them. I will never forget how they changed my life."A more detailed account and photos of the group’s experiences in Central America are included on the website www.hbcfca.com.
