The AIA team arrived in Poland after flight delays in Chicago and Frankfurt. The team was tired but after our first Polish meal had a practice last night. According to coach, Chris Sparks(valparaisoUniversity) the team was "rusty". We are staying at a sports university in Katowice. It was good to be greeted at the airport by Piotr Paprocki, our AIA staff in Poland and also by Kazimierz Mikolajec, who is with the Polish Federation and a professor at the sports university in Katowice where we are staying.
All our luggage, except for Leonard Houston(Drake University) arrived. his hopefully will arrive today.
after breakfast in our own breakfast "dining room" I talked to the team about the importance of the Bible. I purchased a Bible for each of the players and two of the players actually weighed the Bible at the airport because it was so heavy(4.5 lbs). I told them it was heavy because it speaks with authority. Each of of the players shared about their family and faith last night. it is amazing how different we are in our backgrounds, yet one person can tie everyone together, and that is Jesus.
the players are getting to know each other and friendships are forming. today we go to Auschwicz concentration camp. some of the players have never heard of it! Americans have a tendency to be self absorbed and not know what is happening in the world, that is why this trip is so important! Basketball can become secondary.
Mike S., AIA Basketball