It's been awhile since I've been able to post so let me get you back up to speed. The camp in Lörrach is going great. Each day we start with team devotions and worship at 8:45. The kids arrive at 9:30 and then we do more devotions and here a message from pastor Cristoph. After that we break into small groups and talk about the message and how it applies to our lives. It's really good for me to here what the kids have to say. Some of them do not come from a Christian background and because of that they say things that I would never think of. My small group is a younger one, so I get to have Sebastion and Nicholas translate for me. After small groups we start the basketball drills. We rotate the kids through stations until 1:15 and then break for lunch. After lunch we play 5v5 games from 2:30-4:30. Once that is done we wrap up the day with the kids by praying. This camp is really special. It's not just a basketball camp. The kids are exposed to God in so many ways and he is working here. As far as games go, we played our first one against Lörrach CVJM, which is like the American version of a YMCA team. It is comprised of local members who like to play. This game was more just of a friendly match. The second game we played was on Wednesday night against a professional team from Frieburg. They are in a lower regional league and we were able to beat then fairly easily. Our schedule of opponents will keep getting better. Towards the end of our tour we will be aging against some of the best regional and national teams in France and Germany. 

The last two days (Saturday & Sunday) have been quite the experience. Saturday we took the regional train into the town of Basel. Half of the city is in Germany and half is in Switzerland. We split into groups and went on a scavenger hunt through the city, staying in Switzerland the whole time. The hunt took us to some of the land marks of the city like the Münster church and the Rhine river. The river runs right through the middle of the city and is treated like a beach. The banks have steps every few feet so you can get in and out as you please. The weather has been unusually hot here, so we decided to float down the Rhine for awhile and it was very refreshing. Saturday night my host family had a barbecue with some friends. It was a very relaxing way to end the day. Sunday morning we attended a church that News Release is Partnered with. Bobby, who is a local and helps with the camp talked to the congregation about what we are doing and the people were very excited to have us. We sang some English songs, but other than that the entire service was in German. I really had to pay attention to what was being said because I couldn't understand when the pastor told us to rise and sing, or pray. I really loved singing in German. One of the last songs we sand was "Open the Eyes of My Heart Lord." I recognized the tune right away and it was just so cool to know that a local, Marco, who sat right next to me in the front row, was praising the same God that I was. The love of God transcends language. 

Today has been exhausting. And I should put "today" in quotations. We left Houston on our international flight at 4pm Thursday and arrived in Frankfurt at 9am Friday. The flight was incredible. We took Lufthansa airlines and it was the biggest transport I have ever seen. The plane had two stories and the biggest engines. The flight was smooth and it didn't seem to take long. I was able to sleep some but the hard part came after getting off the plane. In order to combat jet lag and obtain the correct sleep patter we were advised not to nap once we landed. That puts me at waking up at 6:15 Thursday morning and it is now 8:41 Friday night. We are staying in Lörrach for the first week. We met the camp leaders and our host families. Tomorrow we will do some sight seeing and start getting ready for our first camp. 

Today marked the last day of training camp for the teams of News Release Basketball. We spent a lot of time preparing ourselves for the camps that we will be conducting. This included going through the drills and basketball skills that we will teach the kids. And it also involved preparation for out witnessing part of the camps. We spent a few hours singing and learning the songs we will teach the kids as well as learning some skits that share the story of Christ. I really feel like this group is ready and that we will accomplish great things. Our leaders have equipped us as much as they can and now it is up to us to be a light in the world. Like I said before, this group will accomplish great things with the help of God and the Holy Spirit. If even just one child or adult finds God and develops a relationship with him then all our work and travel will have been worth it. Now it's time to get some rest. A long day of travel starts in 6 hours. 

This second has been jam packed. We were up at 9 for breakfast and had orientation for a couple hours. Then came practice from 12-2 followed by lunch and more orientation. We practiced again from 5-6:30 and wrapped up with, you guessed it, more orientation. Our practices have been focusing on the types of offensive sets we will run. The first day was a little rough but today our team looked much better. We are starting to learn how to play together. We'll only keep getting more comfortable on the floor with each other and I'm excited to see how we will do against the European teams. Orientation covers a lot of things. We go over what being a witness looks like and how we can change the lives of the people we come in contact with. But we also have to cover things like transportation and culture. From what our leaders are telling us, adjusting might be a little harder than I expected. But we'll keep pushing forward and make sure we're ready, both physically and spiritually. One last day of preparation before we head out. 

Day 1 of training camp has come to an end. Everybody's flights were in by 3, so we were able to get some practice in around 5. We will be practicing at Prestonwood Christian Academy for the next 3 days. We did some basic drills and shooting and got to scrimmage for a bit at the end. After we played we got supper and had some orientation and Bible study. We covered Romans 12 tonight. If you're familiar with this passage, you know that it's all about being servant leaders. This is something that News Release will really challenge me with. We talked about how serving others has three parts. First, how does being a servant affect my life and enhance my faith? Second, how will my serving affect my community around me? Third, how will being a servant leader affect the global community? Already on this first day I can tell that this will be a life changing experience. 

Everyone keeps asking me if I am nervous about my upcoming trip. For the most part no. I have always had a calm and easy-going personality. I have also always been an independent person. I'm not scared to be away from home or to be in a foreign country. I am in very good hands with News Release. What has really made it easy is the fact that NRB has taken care of all the detail work. They set up all the flights, camps, and games. All I have to do is show up and play. And that is the part that gets me nervous. I'm nervous because two days ago when I went to the gym I couldn't make a shot to save my life. What happens if I get to a tryout for a professional team and I go cold? Thats what really makes me nervous. But that is when I just have to trust myself because I know I've put my time in and have developed a pretty good skill set. I'm going to be in good hands during my trip and because of that I'll be able to really soak everything in.

The summer season really does go fast. Only 3 more days until I take off for my trip. A lot of work has gone into making this trip possible. Most obviously is the work that I myself have put in in the gym trying to get better and expand my skills. More importantly is all the hard work that the people around me have put in. Since the day my college career ended, Coach Douma and Coach Keizer have helped me out tremendously making contacts to get my name out there. Its really humbling to know that I will have mentors for life from them. I also cannot forget to mention my teammates. The bond that we have made over the last 4 years is unbreakable. They've shown nothing but support and encouragement for me during this process. Always willing to help me work on my game and make me better, teaching me how to compete and stay motivated. And my family. They have been at every game of my college career, 131. I think they are almost more excited about this than I am. Although that may be because I will finally be out of the house for awhile. The last few days my mom has been taking all the news articles, game programs, and pictures she has compiled over the last 4 years and putting them together. Seeing that gives me mixed emotions. My time at Dordt has been the best of my life. So many memories, fond memories, to look back on. Its sad to think that I'll never get to play with my team again, or have a packed De Wit gym cheering for me. But I am also extremely excited. Who would have ever thought that I would someday have a chance to become a professional basketball player. So a heartfelt and well deserved thank you goes to everyone that has ever helped me get to the place that I am in now.