Before I write this blog, I want to tell all the readers that while I write this, I have 15% battery life on my tablet, about 5% battery life in my body, and about 2% in my mind, so if you notice any glaring spelling or grammar mistakes, I humbly ask for mercy.

Day 6:

Day six was a relatively relaxing day compared to the other days we've had.  Early in the morning, we got up and ran with Ricardo, the owner of the farm we are staying on.  He took us through the many hills and backroads of the Costa Rican mountains, and while the run was immensely difficult, it was amazing to see the more natural side of Costa Rica.  Afterward, we ate breakfast and had another clinic with the kids of the Santa Domingo area.  By now, we were all well acquanted with the kids as many of the players had guys that they had gotten to know really well.  Although the kids primarily spoke Spanish, it was amazing to see just how much English they knew.  Most of the kids attended private schools where English was taught, so to hear them practice their English on us, and likewise with our Spanish.  We practiced after the camp then went to the local mall for some shopping.  Contrary to popular belief, the prices were actually higher than we expected.  The culture of Costa Rica seemed to be about surfing and skating, so brands like Quicksilver, Vans, and Volcom were on display.  The extra rest from not playing a game really helped us regenerate for...

Day 7:

Everything I said earlier in the blog about the battery charges were a result of today.  We started the morning early with breakfast, then headed to another clinic for the kids.  Today was a game day, so we divided the kids into age groups and played games all day.  The kids really seemed to have fun today and the competitive side of the players really stood out.  We followed the clinic with another team practice where we took batting practice and the pitchers worked on individual work.  After practice, we grabbed lunch then headed over to Cesar's house to paint.  Part of our service to Cesar was that we agreed to paint three rooms in his home, in addition to four or five walls on the outside of his home.  This process took about three hours of work in the sun, and this really took a lot out of the team.  It was great to be able to help Cesar and his family after all he had done for us in translating our instructions during the camp.  After we painted his house, we headed back to the field for our 4th game.  The tiredness definitely set in as we ended up dropping the game 9-8.

Throughout these days, it's been a real struggle keeping our spirits high on such short amounts of sleep.  Our team is ready to spend a day sleeping and resting, but unfortunately for us, we don't have a day like that planned in the schedule.  God has been faithful in keeping us free from injury and sickness throughout the trip and more often than not, we've overlooked that provision.  I think this is a problem we have in America today.  We are constantly looking for God to provide unessential things for us, and because of this, we are blinded to seeing the provision he gives us every day.  My prayer for this trip is that we would see that God is in the business of providing for his children, and even though we don't always get what we want, God gives us exactly what we need.  

I apologize to all the readers for being lazy and missing a day yesterday.  I was about to call it a night and pick it up again tomorrow, but I couldn't convince myself to do it, no matter how tired I was.  As I've written in the past few blogs if you would like to see pictures from today and yesterday's happenings, go to the link below.  Thanks for reading!

In Christ,

Christian Garcia, CCU Baseball

https://www.facebook.com/HPSCostaRica?fref=ts

CCU Baseball: Costa Rica

Day 5:

It's hard to believe that we've been here this long.  I was talking with some of the teammates today and we all decided that there is a point where no amount of sleep can help cure the total exhaustion of the body, and we reached that point these past three days.  Today was a relatively shorter day compared to the other days.  We started our Sunday with breakfast, then headed to Cesar's church for Sunday worship.  I know I can only speak for myself with 100% accuracy, but it sure seemed like all of the team enjoyed experiencing church in a different culture.  We recognized one of the worship songs they played, and it was awesome to hear an entire congregation sing it in Spanish.  After Cesar introduced Coach Hutcheon and the team, we split off with the lead pastor Lamar and went with the other college and high school students.  Cesar had two players, myself and Mark, stand in front of the students and give our testamonies.  In my life, I've never been afraid of public speaking, but for some reason, speaking with a translator really threw me for a loop.  For those who know Mark, we all know he can do no wrong, so when he stood up to give his testamony, everything was smooth running.  All jokes aside, it was an absolute honor to get the opportunity to share my testamony with the kids there, even if it wasn't in the language they understood.  After we finished with that, Lamar took us aside and brought us the word.

Some background on Lamar: he's a native of South Carolina and currently serving as the head pastor of the church we attended in Santa Domingo.  He gave a bit of his testamony in his sermon, saying that when he attended a missions trip in high school, God called him to serve in Costa Rica.  He's been pastoring the church for 13 years.  His message was over Revelation 3 on the letter to the church of Laodicea. In this letter, Christ is saying to the church that they are neither warm nor cold, and he wishes that they were one or the other.  Because of their lukewarm nature, Christ will vomit them out of his mouth.  The theme of the message was that as Christians, we need to make a definitive choice on who we will serve.  I've heard this message before, and every time I hear it, I'm reminded of Joshua 24:15 where Joshua is addressing the Israelites after their numerous conquests in the Promised Land.  The most powerful part of this verse for me is when he says, "Choose for yourself whom you will serve, but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."  Joshua knew that God demanded his entire devotion.  As Christians, we can't been on the fence with living the Christian life.  If we aren't ready to be 100% devoted to the cause, we are doing more harm than good.  By no means am I advocating that we need to have it all together, but I am advocating that we need to be commited to the Christian life in all its aspects.

After church, we went back to the baseball field for our third game.  We ended up losing 10-9.  Having interaction with the players of the other team has been nothing but a blessing, both in the spiritual and athletic aspects.  As a team, we are using this time to come together and really get to know each other.  I can guarentee that after this trip, we will be a tighter unit than before.

Tomorrow will be our first day without a game, so the team is really looking forward to the extended rest.  From what I know, we're planning on visiting the local tiendas (shops) and doing some local shopping.  I think we're putting on another camp, but I'm not entirely sure.  For those who didn't read the blog yesterday, below is a link for the organization we're working with.  Cesar has been such a blessing in staying dilligent in taking pictures of all we do.  Thanks for your continued prayers and support!

In Christ,

Christian Garcia,  CCU Baseball

https://www.facebook.com/HPSCostaRica?fref=ts

CCU Baseball: Costa Rica

Day 4:

Today was the first day on trip that we were properly able to sleep in.  The extra sleep really did wonders for our team morale as the extra energy was much needed.  Today was essentially the same as yesterday in that we held another clinic for the kids and played a game after.  Being a Saturday, more kids attended today's camp than yesterday.  It was great getting to see familiar faces and we were able to develop personal relationships with some of the kids, even thought the language barrier was pretty steep.  We played another Costa Rican national team with a lot of the same players from yesterday's team.  Although the game took four hours, we ended up winning 14-12.

Personally, I've spent a lot of time thinking about the difference we're making in the lives of the kids we come in contact with.  I've been to Mexico twice so I have a general idea about Latin American culture, and one of the things I've noticed in all the kids is that they are incredibly respectful.  They are excited to get outside and play the game of baseball.  It's both a refreshment and a challenge to see these kids working so hard.  It both challenges us to become better players and creates a point of conenction between us and the players.  Although we don't speak the same language, we can connect through baseball on the field.

It's been amazing to be around teammates that truly love serving the Costa Rican kids.  While we're all on different levels in our relationship with Christ, it's evident that we are fulfilling our purpose of serving others.  It's important on trips like this to make sure that we are allowing ourselves to be served because we are all on the same level.  Regardless of our wealth, social status, or beliefs, God values each of his children equally.  We are all made in his image.

Below, I've posted a link to the Facebook page of the organization that we are working the camps for.  Our partner Cesar has been dilligent in taking photos
of everything we're doing.  If you are a parent of one of the players on the team, this is probably the best link you'll have to get an idea of what's going on.  For those others who have kept up with our trip, these pictures represent some of the many moments we've spent in Costa Rica.  Thanks for your prayers and continued support!

In Christ,

Christian Garcia, CCU Baseball

https://www.facebook.com/HPSCostaRica?fref=ts

CCU Baseball: Costa Rica

Day 3:

Although this is the third official day of the trip,  today was our first full day in Costa Rica.  We started the day early with a good workout and breakfast.  Before we set out for the day, we had a team devotional led by coach Luke Sawyer.  Today consisted of running a baseball camp for kids in the Santa Domingo area.  This was our first official act of service for the community, and it was a great success.  The organization we are working with specializes in putting on sports camps with the intent of bringing the Gospel to those who attend.  We had some time to relax a bit before we had our first official team practice, which was to prepare us for our first game that we played against one of the Costa Rican national teams.  We ended up winning the game 12-8.

Today was probably our toughest day in terms of maintaining energy throughout the day.  Again, we started with an early morning, and the two days we spent in airports, coupled with the less than optimal amounts of sleep and workout we did in the morning really took its toll on our bodies and spirits.  When we finally did make it back to the place we are staying, it was evident that the team was exhausted.  However, it is in our weakness that Christ is made great, and this concept is something we are trying to remember and practice throughout the day.

Amidst all the distractions that we've dealt with on the trip, I think we've done a good job as a team of keeping things in perspective.  Sure, the 70 degree weather and chance to play baseball is nice, but we all know the reason we're here is to help bring the Gospel to the kids we come in contact with.  We continue the day tomorrow with another camp and another game.  For those who are still following, please keep us in your prayers.

In Christ,

Christian Garcia, CCU Baseball

CCU Baseball: Costa Rica

Day 2:

Given the way things went yesterday, anything would be an improvement from what we went through.  That being said, we started our morning at 4:00 AM after staying in a hotel the airport booked us in after our two flights got cancelled.  Because booking flights for 25 people is no easy task, we were forced to take seperate flights in order to get to San Jose.  We departed from DIA at 7:30 and arrived in DFW at 11:00.  At this point, our team divided into two groups.  The first group stayed in DFW for six hours and flew straight to San Jose, while the second group flew into Miami International Airport and connected to San Jose soon after.  After two days in and out of the numerous airports we visited, we finally reached Costa Rica.  Customs didn't take long at all, and after a few more short hours, we made it to our resort.

One thing that impressed me more than anything was the positive attitude we maintained throughout the entire ordeal.  We obviously suffered through less than ideal travelling conditions, yet we were able to keep a joyful spirit as a team.  I have no doubt that God was prepping us for what is to come on the following days of our trip.  Even as I write this, as a collective team, we are all exhausted after running on low amounts of sleep and numerous flights.  Tomorrow will have its challenges, but we're ready to meet them head on and begin serving the community.

Tomorrow, we start our missions work as we are hosting a baseball camp for teenagers in the area.  This will be the first service project we've done on the trip, and I'm excited to see how God will work through it all.  I'll start posting pictures of the sights we experience tomorrow.

In Christ,

Christian Garcia, CCU Baseball

CCU Baseball: Costa Rica

Day 1:

What a way to bring in the New Year!  We arrived at the CCU gym early this morning to load the bus for our flight to Costa Rica.  We were greeted with a pretty hefty snowstorm, and as I write this blog now, it continues to bring heavy snowfall.  We arrived at the airport for our 11:55 flight which was delayed 30 minutes to account for the storm.  When we finally did board our flight to DFW Airport, we stayed on the plane for an hour and a half without moving, only to find that there was a mechanical issue with our plane.  We deboarded the plane and continued to wait and see where we could get our next flight.  After waiting in the airport another two hours, we reboarded the original plane that we were meant to take to DFW.  There was a greater than zero chance that we wouldn't even make our connecting flight to San Jose, but we reboarded the flight anyway.  After another hour and a half of waiting on the tarmac, we found out that there was another unrelated mechanical issue with our plane, and we deboarded once again.  As I type this, our team is sitting in the airport waiting to find out what our next move is.

All this being said, it's important to try and take something from the situation.  This trip is something we've all been looking forward to for a long time, and I can't help but think that God is working something through our team in this situation.  What that something is, I'm still trying to figure out.  We're waiting to see if we can potentially make a flight to DFW tonight and work on getting to Costa Rica tomorrow, but booking tickets for 25 people is difficult to do no matter where you're going.  We will continue to be patient and allow God to work through us, no matter where we end up.

I hope to have better news for everyone tomorrow, but as of this minute, we've been at the airport for over six hour and travelled zero miles.  I'll post again tomorrow, hopefully with better news than we had today!

In Christ,

Christian Garcia, CCU Baseball

CCU Baseball: Costa Rica 2014

I'll start by introducing myself.  My name is Christian Garcia, and I'm junior pitcher at CCU and I'm going into my third season with the baseball program.  At our most current meeting about the Costa Rica missions trip our team is going on, I volunteered to blog about what was going on during the trip.  I'm honored to get the opportunity to share with our readers the amazing things God is doing in Costa Rica through our team!

During our fall season last semester, Coach Hutcheon brought up the idea of going on a team missions trip.  After numerous meetings and prayer, we decided, as a program, to commit to going to Costa Rica to help serve the community on a missions trip.  Throughout the relatively short history of the CCU Baseball program, our team had only previously gone on one missions trip, and none of the players on the current team were even at CCU during that time.  One of the striking differences between CCU Athletics and many of the other athletic departments across America is that we truly commit our time and resources to serving the community.  We take seriously our calling to bring the Gospel to all nations, and I'm proud to be a part of this calling.

As we finish up our Christmas shopping throughout the day, I can speak for not only myself, but also CCU Athletics by reminding us to take time to remember what it is we are celebrating.  While many of us have heard the Christmas story countless times, it is important to never let the gravity of what we are celebrating lose weight.  As our baseball team nears our trip to Costa Rica, we remember that our trip is only happening because Christ came into the world as a child, lived a sinless life, and died bearing the sins of those who didn't deserve it.  Without the birth of Christ, all of this wouldn't be happening.  This is the true message of the Gospel, and CCU Baseball is excited to get to share this message with Costa Ricans everywhere.

Merry Christmas!

Christian Garcia, CCU Baseball