This is a piece I recently wrote for sportsmissions.com, the official website of the International Sports Federation. The first-person approach is a little different style of writing than what I'm used to.
by Mickey Seward
Sitting here, I can't help but to think about life. My life, anyway. I don't usually do this; I'm not the brooding type. I don't sit around and wonder why I'm here or spend time working on to-be-or-not-to-be theories.
I'm not a deep dude at all.
But, honestly, the last couple weeks, my confidence has been shaken. Not so coincidentally, I also seem to be spending a lot less time with God recently.
So, I'm here now armed with two things that I know will bring me back to Him; a Bible and a journal that I kept during my SportsPlus mission trip to Bangkok, Thailand in 2006.
It's amazing how God can use two weeks and four Americans in a foreign country. It might be even more amazing how he can use that experience nearly a year after it occurred.
I had plenty of fear going into that trip. I was a pretty fair athlete once, but that was a lot of years and a lot more pounds ago. The man going to Thailand was an older, much less athletic shell of my old self who wondered if he could even do anything athletic enough to do what SportsPlus specializes in -- using sports to build relationships with people in order to share the love of Jesus Christ.
The fear of physical limitations was just the tip of the iceberg. I don't like flying; Thailand is on the other side of the world from where I live in Rome, Ga. I don't like Asian food, and I really hated the thought of leaving my wife alone while I was on the other side of the world. Of course, the fear of the unknown scared me as much as anything.
But God has a habit of taking fears and turning them into yet another way for Him to show off.
Many of my fears vanished in training camp, where I was introduced to my three teammates. Quickly, we went from being four individuals to one team with a mission to share Christ.
Training camp is a two day team-building time where we learned about each other and the culture we were about to encounter. I've never seen four people become so close so soon.
When we reached Bangkok, we hit the ground running. While we were there, we were to spend our time building relationships with university students on one campus. We spent our mornings in the "English room" just hanging out and helping Thai students with their English speaking skills. In the afternoons, we made our way to the university's gym to meet others while playing basketball, volleyball, badminton or soccer. At night, we would usually join our new college friends at the mall or movie theater.
A university student in Bangkok isn't much different than a university student in the United States. That was one reason Sarah Mitchell chose to take the trip.
"I loved the fact that it was on a college campus, so we could really get in there and impact students my age that I could relate to so easily," said the then-24 year old Mitchell, who is a middle school teacher near Houston, Texas.
"The non-Christian Thais mostly seemed like American college students," said team member Kristin Gassiott. "They are searching. Searching for something to cling to, for friends, for free time, for relationships. They were hungry for social interaction,and loved every second talking to us."
Gassiott is a high school coach who spent much of her time in Bangkok as the only woman on campus who would compete on the same soccer field with guys. Her competitiveness on the field was complemented by her love for Christ and for people off it. It made for a perfect combination.
"Sports have always been my passion," Gassiott said. "Sports are my career now, so it only made sense to me to be able to combine the reason I live, Jesus, with the talents and abilities He has gifted me with to further His kingdom."
Meeting people was hardly a problem. I imagine there are few places in the world with friendlier people. Thailand has earned its nickname as "The Land of Smiles." But underneath those smiles is a hurting nation with little knowledge of Jesus Christ. There isn't any Christian persecution in Bangkok, and sharing Christ's love isn't illegal in Thailand like in many Asian nations. But Thailand is undoubtadly a Buddhist nation in need of Christ.
As the educational and business center of its region, where many come to work, live and attend school before returning home, Bangkok is a great place to reach the lost in Southeast Asia.
Our team from SportsPlus realized that firsthand. As we built relationships, we felt God's encouragement. One night midway through our first week, the four of us sat in our room and shared our disappointment that we felt that we hadn't been sharing Christ as much as we were just "hanging out." The next day, we all were given opportunities to share in very specific ways. That's when we realized (remembered, really) that God was very much in charge of what was happening.
"I saw Thais ask questions about God and His word," Mitchell said. "He made teachable moments happen daily."
Those teachable moments brought project coordinator Mike Brown back to Bangkok for a third consecutive year. He's seen teachable moments change lives.
"I've been blessed to see the progression of a new Christian over the few years that I've traveled to Bangkok," Brown said. "The first year I saw this person begin to show interest in the gospel. After we left, we heard word that she had accepted Christ and wanted to learn more about being a Christian and learning His word.
"The second summer, I saw this same person help the American volunteers meet other Thai nationals, and translate many conversations," Brown continued. "After that summer, this person was baptized, along with at least half a dozen other new believers from Bankok.
"The third summer, she had graduated and moved into the corporate world in Bangkok; a light in such a spiritually dark place. From observing this, I learned that God is at work tranforming lives, and with every life changed, the presence of the gospel multiplies."
Over the course of our trip, we continued to compete athletically, laugh constantly and share Christ's love willingly, praying that teachable moments would continue to occur and leave a mark.
Our time in Bangkok was an experience that will impact each of our lives for a very long time. As I've said many times since that trip, I realized in Thailand that there is nothing more cool than seeing God do something and knowing at that exact moment that I was seeing God work. And I saw it over and over again.
Reliving the experience through my own words in the journal while going through this "crisis of confidence" remind me of something I recently read. Paul wrote in his letter to the Phillippians that, basically, you don't need to have confidence in yourself. In fact, it really doesn't matter. Instead, just be confident in Jesus Christ and make your goal His goal for you.
If you are wondering if He can make Himself known to you, try spending a couple weeks with SportsPlus in Thailand. You'll find Him there.
Check out the International Sports Federation and Sports Plus at www.sportsmissions.com.
