Here we were just four days before the beginning of the Athletes in Action Women’s Basketball Fall Tour and we only had four players. I’m no basketball genius but I do know that you need at least one more body to make up the starting five. At this point, I began to wonder if maybe some of us in supporting roles—coaches, sports information, chaplains—would have to suit up. 
Admittedly, knowing we didn’t have a complete team when training camp started, I selfishly thought a tour cancellation wouldn’t be all bad. After all, I’d just moved into a new place a month before and had recently decided to travel with AIA on a mission trip to North Africa in December. Time was not something I had much of, so rest greatly appealed to me.
However, God’s purposes won out, since just four days before departure to Canada, our team was completed. Four players became ten. We were off, heading north to the border.
My attitude was less than ideal when we left. But within a few days, God began to stir my heart as only He can do.
Acting as the sport information director (SID) for this tour is one of my favorite ministry assignments with AIA. As the SID (media relations contact), I work with the media and put stories together about our players and teams in the news.
In my usual role as a writer in AIA’s communications department, I’m the face behind the Get in the Game newsletter every month. My world is one of words, deadlines, writing, re-writes and edits. I couldn’t count the number of e-mails I exchange on a weekly basis to help put Get in the Game together. A handful of staff members work laboriously with me to assemble content and gather information and photos, but ultimately, I have to be the decision-maker.
I love my job, but traveling with AIA Women’s Fall Tour allows me to engage in the lives of others in a way that makes my heart come alive—encouraging others and engaging in meaningful conversation.
 And, again, God reminded me that He has more for me to do in ministry than simply house the ability to compose a story. If I’m available, He will use me in someone’s life in unexpected ways.
While the team warmed up before games, I decided to take time to write a personal note of encouragement to each player, simply to let each of them know what I appreciated about them and what they brought to the team outside of basketball. I also included a passage of Scripture that reflected who they are.
The day before our tour ended, we had a strenuous, nine-hour drive from Virginia to Ohio. As I drove the blue mini-van along windy mountain roads and busy interstates, I had great conversation with two players.
One asked me what kind of faith it took to raise financial support to work in ministry. The other asked for wisdom regarding a current dating relationship. By the time we approached the exit leading to AIA’s World Training and Resource Center in Xenia, I knew why the Lord had placed me with this team “for such a time as this.”
I am amazed at how God takes the seemingly little things we do or say and makes them significant or life-changing in others’ lives.
 AIA Women’s Fall Tour began in 1990 when Bowling Green University graduate student Marcia Burton finished her thesis on the feasibility of beginning an AIA women’s team similar to the men’s team that had been started 23 years earlier. She then became a staff member with AIA and formed the first-ever AIA-USA women’s team.
Seventeen years later, our group of seven staff members and coaches and ten post-collegiate players was together for three weeks. We spent the first week in training camp in Xenia and the last two traveling to Canada and the East Coast, playing 10 games in just 14 days.
Those 21 days we did everything together— ate in many restaurants or locker rooms, slept in various hotels or with host families, played on the court, did two outreaches, studied God’s Word, traveled in four mini-vans, laughed, prayed, cried and talked. We won four games and lost six, our favorite on-court highlight being our overtime victory against the University of Massachusetts, 94-83.
Each van logged over 3,000 miles as we started in Windsor, Ontario and visited Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York and Virginia along the way. Our team was culturally diverse, made up of Americans, a Colombian and two Canadians, creating an environment where English, Spanish and French were spoken freely.
And we were busy, always on the go with little rest. Exhaustion was common, physically, spiritually and emotionally. However, in the midst of pure exhaustion and busyness, God moved, stirring within each of us new revelations of who He is and who we are as His beloved children. 
Former Purdue University standout Erika Valek saw God do a great transformation in her life. Although she’s had a personal relationship with Jesus for a while, it became apparent after tour that she’d found her value in her performance on the court in those 10 games.
“I knew who I was in Christ—that I’m His child—but still part of me found value and worth in how I played the game,” says Erika. “I didn’t understand this during the tour, but now that it’s over, I know He is changing me as a basketball player and preparing me for whatever He has next in store [for my life].”
No AIA Fall Tour looks like the one before it. Details and destinations changes, as do those who travel with us. But one thing remains the same—God works in the lives of those who are willing to be used and changed.
This year was no different.
Tricia A. has served with Athletes in Action since August 2003. Originally from Vincennes, Indiana, she serves as editor of Get in the Game.
Full names of Athletes in Action staff members have been withheld to protect those serving in religious-sensitive countries.
Photos:
Top: 2007 AIA Women's Fall Tour team--players, coaches and staff
Middle right: On the court against nearby Cedarville University, the night before our two-week departure.
Middle left: We stopped at the University of Connecticut to interact with student-athletes and speak at the weekly AIA meeting on campus.
Bottom: Praying mid-court with the University of Windsor team after our game.
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