Volleyball Team Serves Athletes and Children in Panama
Before it began the 2014 campaign for a
third G-MACChampionship title, the Lady
Yellow Jackets volleyball team was on a
different kind of mission.
Nine players and two coaches hosted
clinics, competed in matches, and
interacted with the people of Panama from
August 6–13. They went in cooperation
with SCORE International, an organization
that specializes in sending athletic teams on
missions trips. The team was also able to
work with SCORE missionaries David and
Marianella Bueno.
The team visited two villages frequented
by the Buenos. “We playedmud soccer with
the children and encouraged the families
living in the villages,” said Assistant Coach
Torey DeLozier. “The second village showed
us many of their cultural traditions. Before
leaving the villages, one of our girls shared
her testimony.”
The Yellow Jackets played five matches
against three different teams. “After each
match, we shared our testimonies with
the players and talked to them more
personally,” DeLozier said. “We exchanged
emails so these conversations
could continue. It was great
to see relationships built so
quickly that may lead to other
opportunities to share more
about the Gospel.”
One match led to an
informal get together and
mini-clinic at a school. “The
other team’s coach invited
us to his school after we
played,” DeLozier explained.
“Most of the children were
gathered in the courtyard
area to interact with us. We
ran a few volleyball drills,
but ended up just interacting
with them and enjoying their energy and
enthusiasm. Hopefully, that door will stay
open for the missionaries so that they can
take future groups there to continue the
ministry in that school.”
DeLozier added, “Before we left on the
trip, we discussed how love and laughter
were able to communicate with others
despite the barrier of different languages.
That was huge for us, especially when
we worked with the children and played
against the teams who did
not know much English.”
Middle hitter Tori
Thompson ’16 said she
was nervous about sharing
her testimony. “Everything
that we did and said
represented God,” she said.
“We were able to share our
testimonies after we played
and bonded with the other
teams through a translator
and email. That was a
blessing for me because
I did not think it was
possible to have that good of a relationship
and be that kind of a testimony to people
that didn’t speak the same language.”
Rightside hitter Hannah Wagner ’15
was struck by the diverse opportunities
to share about Christ. “There are so many
different places that need God,” she said.
“We shared His love on the volleyball court,
at a school of Chinese students, with very
native tribes who washed their clothes in
the rivers and lived in huts, and on the plane
trip home. I just saw a great need, and I
was able to fill that need and get the ball
rolling for other people and groups that go
to Panama to minister.”
The Lord opened a great witnessing
opportunity for Head Coach Doug
Walters on the flight back. “It was a deep,
hourlong conversation with one of the flight
attendants,” he said. “I hope it has heavenly
results down the road.”
God spoke to setter Maddie Ledbetter
’15 through the simplicity of Panamanian
life. “There were people who didn’t have
cell phones or TVs, who just lived very
simple lives and yet were so content,” she
observed. “That was a testament to how all
we really need is Christ in life.”
The Yellow Jackets volleyball team competed against the Technological University
of Panama (pictured here with the Cedarville team), the Panama national team,
and the University of Panama.
Yellow Jacket volleyballers (L-R) Rachel Krikke ‘17, Hannah Wagner ‘15, and Abby
Shelton ‘17 made new friends on the Panama trip.
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Cedarville Magazine
