Israel trip for women’s basketball
Head Coach Carey Green knew that a trip to the Holy Land can be a powerful experience for Christians as they roam the areas they have read about in the Bible.
When Green prepared to take his team to Israel to host basketball clinics in the first few weeks of August, he was asked by his team what he expected from this journey. His answer was simple.
“I’m expecting to see God’s faithfulness,” Green said. “I saw all these things on the trip, and I came back and can say I saw His faithfulness.”
The impact of this trip, however, went beyond the game of basketball. It helped the Lady Flames build the individual lives of each member of the team, opening the opportunity for every person involved to grow spiritually.
“This is an opportunity,” Green said. “It doesn’t mean you will grow. But every time I’ve gone, I’ve grown, and every time I get back (into) the Bible now, it just explodes because I’ve seen it.”
Green wasn’t the only member of the trip that felt the Bible come to life. Audrey Clark, a junior theology and apologetics student, felt this trip helped her ability to share the gospel more effectively.
“Studying commentaries for three years and then going to see the living commentary of all these places is another tool to share the gospel,” Clark said. “Now when I tell people about the trip, it’s not just saying I went to Israel. It is ‘I was in Israel. I was in Jerusalem. I saw the empty tomb.’ It opens a way to share the gospel.”
Tools to share the gospel weren’t the only thing that the team sharpened through this trip. It opened the chance to see each other through a different lens than the basketball court.
“It was cool that we got to see a different side of each other,” Clark said. “It makes your heart tender to the Holy Spirit and each other.”
The Lady Flames are now setting their sights on this season as they prepare for their season-opener against FGCU Jan. 2. The effects of this trip, however, will remain with the team as they go through the year and the rest of their lives.
“It was an experience of a lifetime,” Clark said. “I won’t forget it.”
Elmore is a sports reporter for the Liberty Champion. Follow him on Twitter