Somewhere in South America...

Well friends, I wish I had more to post, but in reality I have no idea where my husband is at this moment. Yesterday the team took an 8-hour bus ride (over a dirt road, I might add) south of Coihaique, and even Heath wasn't exactly sure where they ended up. He is now out of cell phone range, so he called me from a store (!?!?) to tell me that they were ok, but in the middle of nowhere. :) I have no idea what kind of basketball competition exists in the middle of Patagonia, but it appears that Heath is going to find out! I spoke with him again briefly this morning, and they are travelling again today to Cochrane, which actually IS on the map, to my relief. After a game tonight they will be heading back to Puerto Montt, where cell phone coverage will resume. :) I will post again as soon as I hear from him -- his back is still holding up well, so between now and then keep the prayers going!

Details, details!

Heath and the guys have spent all of their time in southern Chile so far (obviously, since he flew over Patagonia yesterday). :) Their first night was spent in Quellon, the second in Castro, and the third in Coahiaque -- Heath emailed me a few pictures this morning that I thought you all might be interested in seeing.


The church on the square in Castro...

The inside was panelled completely in wood! Gorgeous.



Little amigos at the basketball clinic in Castro...

Heath lends a helping hand. :)


After losing a disappointing game to the Castro team, Heath emailed me the following anecdote:


"After the game we came back and showered before we headed off to eat dinner with the other team. When we showed up it was at a house. They had a big party room out behind the house with a huge barbeque pit and the ¨grandad¨ was cooking the meat (pork and lamb). It was wonderful! The other team was a bunch of friends combined with several players for the Dimayor team here in Castro. The head guy (whose house we were at) owns the biggest shipping company down here. If anything happens in Chile and someone starts to get out of control, he is the one who puts a stop to it. His name is Ramon, and we talked for quite awhile. My Spanish is coming back to me rather quickly, and I am one of the few who is actually putting forth much effort. Therefore, I am the one most of the other players and people end up talking to. I have become the emergency translator if Mac or Curtis are not available :) Scary I know. He was super friendly, as was the rest of the team...it made it much easier to get over the loss :)"


From Castro the team took two military prop planes to Coahaique:



Notice tiny military man, center stage right. :) According to Heath the flight over Patagonia was both incredibly beautiful and incredibly turbulent, which leaves me wishing that I had been there to see the view and at the same time grateful that I was NOT. :)



The Houston Blaze plays one more game tonight near Coahiaque before heading back north towards Santiago. Keep the prayers going up for Heath's back -- so far he has felt really healthy. We are grateful for your prayers and support -- keep it coming!

Patagonia

http://video.google.es/videoplay?docid=197996572826631098&pr=goog-sl

This video was shot out of the window as we flew over part of Patagonia in a military plane. I apologize for the noise...I had to listen to it for 2 hours, so my sympathy is shallow. :)

Things are going great so far. We have had three games so far, with two wins and one loss. So far we have been playing ¨warm-up¨ games - the truly significant games start next week in our tournament. However, everytime we step on the court there are people watching and a possibility of someone seeing us that could be significant. So far I have been offered one job, but it was with a local ¨friendly¨ team - not one of the Dimayor professional teams. I will keep you updated on any significant happenings either via Erin or on here by myself. It is very beautiful, and pretty hot right now...we have yet to be anywhere that has air conditioning :)

Heath is in Chile!

I received the following text message from Heath at 6:38 this morning:

safe & sound :-)

customs took my trail mix :-(

we are about to get on a bus for 9 hours to get to our game tonight :-o

back is feeling good :-)

i love you! :-*

I'm so thankful that he and the team are safely in Chile. I received an email from him later this morning -- he and the team took a flight from Santiago to a smaller town in southern Chile, where he found an internet cafe (20 minutes of computer use for a dollar!). He didn't know where they were exactly, but said they were about to board a bus on their way to yet another city where they have a game scheduled tonight. It's basically a warmup game against one of the local lower-division teams, but it's a game nonetheless, and I'm know he'll be happy to work the kinks out after so much time on planes and buses. They should receive a more complete itinerary tomorrow, so I will keep you all posted! On another positive note, teammate relationships are developing quickly, and one of the guys in particular has already become a good friend of Heath's. I'm not sure what his name is, but I do know that he is married, is a Christian, and has already played several seasons in Venezuela. He is fluent in Spanish and knows quite a bit about the way professional basketball functions in Latin America, and he has already offered some pretty invaluable advice as far as contracts and the like are concerned; in addition, he told Heath that he would be happy to translate if and when Heath is approached by team managers. God is truly providing all of the right pieces!!!

Our biggest concern at this point is the health of Heath's back. As most of you are aware, Heath never had back problems before we chose to pursue this dream, and now it seems to flare up immediately after God makes something positive happen. Please pray for God to protect Heath from pain and discomfort while he is on this trip -- we know that if our prayers are lifted up, Satan will have no power to cause him harm! Thank you all for supporting us and encouraging us! We love you.

Away we go

After a three hour practice last night, a barbecue this evening, and hours of personal preparation we are finally on our way out of the country. Our flight leaves around 4 o'clock tomorrow, Monday, headed for Miami and then on to Santiago, Chile. After going through all of the preparations to leave it has become very obvious that the ministry has already begun. Our team is composed of players from around the country - Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, San Antonio - and each brings his own unique story of how basketball has brought him to this point; I am anxious to hear each one over the course of the next month. As for my personal story, I continue to be the only "white" player on the team...I don't know what I would do if I weren't. Amazingly similar to the Gospel though, basketball is no respecter of race. The love for the game crosses all barriers, including language and nationality. Combining the two makes me come alive with a passion that is indescribable and a desire that will hopefully never be quenched. I have no idea what God has planned for our family in the years (or even months) to come, but I know that he is leading and working far ahead of where we are now. What a peace to know that we are that important to God! How could I not devote my life to sharing such good news? I pray that as you read this in the months and years to come God will begin to pull on the strings of your heart and awaken you to a vision greater than your own personal preservation. As John Eldredge says, "Find what makes your heart come alive and go do that...for what the world really needs is men [and women] who are fully alive!" Pray for the poeople in Chile - they have no idea what is coming! ;)

The much anticipated and highly requested...

She is her mother's child.

The War for the Human Heart

Let me start by asking that you pray for us - we are in the middle of a great deal of Spiritual warfare.


It all started this summer on the "journey" to Alaska and back...and a book titled Wild at Heart. As we drove we had LOTS of time to read and talk about the greater purposes of our lives. After a lot of history and confession, we committed ourselves to living the lives and pursuing the dreams we have always dreamed about. For me, this starts with the dream I developed as a child:
As you know, I love basketball, and I always have. Obviously one of my role models growing up was Michael Jordan. He could dominate a basketball game not just with his own personal talents, but by drawing out the best of those around him. He was never in jail for drugs, beating his wife, or running an underground dogfighting business...but he also never used the platform provided to him by his phenomenal athletic gifts to do much more than sell Gatorade. Whether it was the voice of an angel, the Spirit of God, or just boyhood dreams; my dream was to be as good (or better) than Mike - and to use the platform basketball provides to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Everything appeared to be going smoothly with my dream until I reached the 10th grade. From then until now my basketball career, and my dream, have slowly dwindled. Yet, after four and a half years away from competitive basketball, my heart still comes alive at the possibility to play the game even just at the local gym. There is something in me that still holds onto that boyhood dream. (I actually believe our childhood dreams still dwell inside all of us - but they have been beaten down and suppressed by years and years of the world telling us we can't actually fulfill them.) So, with much prayer and consideration I started training and playing again. The plan was for me to go to Europe this coming summer and tryout for the professional teams in several different countries...but, when you involve God in the process your timetables "go to pot." He has been answering every prayer above and beyond what we have prayed and much faster than we have been anticipating.
This story is no different than any other you have ever heard about great adventures though - there is an evil at work, an antagonist, a dark side. I believe it was by no coincidence that my flight home from Boise (for Christmas) took me over 16 hours. Rather, it was God calling me into the wilderness (luckily it was only for 16 hours, not 40 years) to give me a new perspective on the circumstances swirling around me. It was during this wilderness escape that I was able to finish another enlightening book (by the same author), Waking the Dead. The second half of the book goes into great detail about the effects (affects?) of Spiritual warfare on our lives. After taking this idea to God and examining the validity of it against my own personal experiences, it was pretty obvious what God was trying to tell me, "You are in a great war; a war greater than you or your current situation, and your enemy is violently attacking you...don't back down or give in - I AM FIGHTING FOR YOU!" According to everything we read in Scripture and all that history tells us, it is true - we are in the middle of a war. We were born into a war that goes far beyond the reach of our lives. It is a war that started before any of us were born, and one that will carry on beyond our time here on earth...it is the War for the Human Heart. God and Satan are battling it out every second of everyday - - and we are the primary weapons, as well as the ultimate prize for the winner. Which only highlights the post below about being a warrior...funny how God will begin to send you messages before you even recognize it :).
My personal role in this story led me to a man who runs a basketball team here in Houston that focuses on getting guys professional jobs overseas. We met and talked at length about the possibility of me playing basketball professionally in Chile. He is taking a team down to Chile from January 20 through February 15 for this explicit purpose. After hours of prayer and discussion, I have committed to joining the team and the trip. That same week the bottom disk in my spine (L5 for you medical wannabees) started bulging. I could not stand up straight, could barely walk, and obviously could not play. After three weeks of constant prayer, chiropractic treatment, hours of stretching, and a heel lift in my shoe I was finally back to normal. But when I approached my principal to let him know about the time I would be absent from school, he told me I would probably be asked to resign by the superintendent. Nonetheless, I submitted a proposal for a leave of absence (including the fact that Erin would serve as my substitute while I was gone)...and it was approved! Two days later my back went out again. After more constant prayer, a few more trips to the doctor and 2 weeks of rest from the hardwood my back has started feeling better than before. It actually has been getting better everyday (without going to the doctor), and I have played several times since without any pain...just in time to come back from Christmas and hear my principal tell me that the superintendent did some reconsidering over the break and changed his mind because of the precedent it would set. If I go on the trip I will have to resign my position. (The change in font is to help you notice the pattern)
After the whirlwind of events listed above I am certain of a few things:
1. There is definitely more going on than what meets the human eye.
2. God is faithful and gracious to answer prayer.
3. Satan is actively opposed to the idea of me going to Chile.
4. God is actively and powerfully involved in taking me to Chile.

The way the setup works in Chile will go something like this:
January 20 - February 15 we play against the professional teams in the Dimayor League (if I get a contract it will be worked out before I return home)

I will be moving down to Chile in June for the season that starts in July and runs through January.

As if you have not had enough already, there's more...Erin is pregnant and is due on July 26. This obviously means she will not be traveling down with me in June, and probably not at all for the first season. We will be depending on God (and our larger family - including you) to help fill in the gaps while we are apart. Once she and the baby are ready, they will come down and join me (along with Charyse).

As you can tell, there is quite a bit going on in our world right now. We are learning what it means to truly walk by faith and not by sight. God is providing and directing the way for us - but he is not shining the light too far ahead. It actually makes things more calm living this way because there is not such a sense of responsibility or dependence on us to make things happen. God has been providing for us just as he has promised he would if we will let go and give him the chance to be in charge. If anything, we are encouraged by the amount of Spiritual warfare that is going on around us - - if Satan is so drastically opposed to us going, it must mean that God is going to do great things through this. I cannot fully explain the sense of peace or the abundance of life in my soul, but I would encourage you to seek out the dreams of your heart and trust God to lead you into the fulfillment of those dreams. Then you can experience the sensations for yourself. I don't really know what else to say and I am sure you are tired of reading, so I will end with another request that you would be praying for us and a quote from Nelson Mandela,

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to manifest the glory of God that is within us...And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others." (emphasis added)