The Bethel University volleyball team is traveling together in Nicaragua from May 21-28. While there, the team will be playing the national team three times and serving the community in three different cities. In addition, they'll enjoy several group activities that showcase the beauty and culture of Nicaragua. Each day the group plans to compose a blog post from different members of the team, answering the questions "What was good?", "What'd we learn?", and "What's next?". To see more photos follow the team on Facebook or @BethelRoyals on Instagram. 

May 21 | 10:48 p.m. | Coach Hunt

We have finally arrived in Managua, and made our way safely across the street from the airport to our hotel, with our wonderful host, Brooke, from Bring It USA! Our hotel, a Best Western, is charming, with tile floors, a beautiful pool, and air conditioning.  At the end of each of the next 7 days, a member of our team will be blogging about our experience, and today I get the first opportunity. We are going to answer each of the following questions as a basic outline, 1) "What was good?" 2) "What did we learn?", and 3) "What's next?"  These questions frame a lot of our discussions in the Bethel University Athletic Department, and we want to use them to help frame this experience.

Today was basically a full day of travel, but surprisingly, these three questions still provide a great framework for our day…

What was good?

I have to admit, I would not consider myself a prayer warrior. But for the last several days, whenever I have woken up in the middle of the night, or early in the morning, I have found myself praying in earnest for short lines at TSA at the MSP Airport on May 21! The national story has been of people waiting in lines for hours, only to miss flights anyway. I think our group of 17 people was completely through security at MSP in less than 20 minutes. I believe prayers get answered in lots of different ways – yes, no, and sometimes "wait" – but to get a "yes" today, on this special trip, was such a gift for me personally. I know we have moms and dads and grandmas and grandpas and Bethel staff and all kinds of friends covering this trip in prayer, so we want to make sure to not treat as ordinary any of the special moments on our trip, no matter how small. Thanks to everyone who covered our travel today with your prayer!

What did we learn?

I learned, or was reminded, that if you wear Bethel t-shirts in a big group around the airport, you will meet someone who knows someone connected to Bethel! Today, for me, the connection couldn't have been a more perfect reminder of a dearly loved Bethel colleague. Today I met someone who was Dottie Haugen's (retired Bethel faculty member and department chair) physical education student at what was formerly Golden Valley Lutheran College.  He couldn't believe that I used to be office neighbors with Dottie. We actually also had some other connections, but it was his memories of Dottie that were a perfect reminder as we begin our trip. All of those who know and love Dottie know that it is her energy and her preparation which set her apart. She never approached any class session unprepared or with a bad attitude or low energy. Students at Bethel fed off Dottie's energy, they met her high expectations, and she was beloved for those things. As we head into a whole bunch of new experiences over the next few days, it can be easy to approach things cautiously, or without your whole heart. But thinking about Dottie today reminded me that "when you throw yourself into the work of the Master… nothing you do for him is a waste of time or effort." (I Cor 15:58)

What's next?

Tomorrow morning, bright and early, we head off into Managua to meet the Nicaraguan National Team for a joint practice, and then our first match! Some of us are worried about handling the heat, so we will need to be cautious with playing time and with making sure we are drinking plenty of water. We have not had our whole team with us for our Foreign Tour practices as Carlee Hoppe and Emily Kukacka just returned from studying abroad in Guatemala and Jillian Krier has been winning conference championships with her 4x100 relay on the track team. So it will be fun to have almost everyone together again. We will definitely be posting pictures from the match on our social media accounts – so keep your eye out for those!