The DBU Volleyball team served in Chile during March 2017, as part of the Dallas Baptist University Global Sports Mission Initiative program.  Below is a daily recap detailing the Lady Patriots' service in Chile.

Day 1 Update
Chris Holloway, Director of Global Missions

After many hours of traveling, the team has arrived in La Serena, Chile. The transportation has been smooth and the girls are in very good spirits. We were greeted at the airport by host families who were more than excited to meet our team. They already call us their sons and daughters. The team is getting to know their families and resting today and will meet up for church tomorrow. Here are some prayer requests as you think about this week:
 
1.) Pray for our host families. Pray that we will see opportunities to share Christ both in our schools and in our homes
 
2.) Pray for the school we will be partnering with. We pray the Lord will use our team to boldly proclaim the gospel to this community of teacher, staff, and students.
 
3.) Pray for our team. Pray that we would be a team who would trust the Lord and follow His leading. We want so much for Christ to be honored!
 
Thank you for your prayers. We look forward to updating you in the days to come.

Day 2 Update
Chris Holloway, Director of Global Missions

The DBU team started the day in church with our host families. Majority of the families went to a church called "El Puente" or "The Bridge." It is always a highlight of our international trips to worship in another language, and this was no exception. We heard a wonderful message on Psalm 46 in Spanish, and we were greeted so warmly by the congregation.

One of the big highlights of church today is that some of our host families went to church for the first time! What a blessing to be a part of such a great opportunity.
 
The rest of the day was spent loving on our host families as they introduced us to La Serena. To our surprise, many of our team members ended up at the same beach!
 
Tomorrow starts our work in the school. The girls are in good health and working through the Spanish language well. Please pray for us as we engage with the students tomorrow. We are very eager to meet them!

Day 3 Update
Chris Weatherly, Director of Athletic Operations
 
We all arrived to amazing grace courtesy of our host families. Everyone has been sharing stories from the weekend. From days on the beach, to all the different types of food that have been eaten, the girls all enjoyed their days with host families!
 
We were all given the tour of the school this morning and all the students were amazed and having a fun time observing the volleyball girls and pointing out their "sisters" and "brothers" to all of their friends. We briefly had breakfast at the school and all went to our separate classes to teach the kindergarten through 12th graders. Six of the girls could give their testimonies to the 11th and 12th graders which was well received and many students had questions about Jesus! 
 
The girls then went to el Centro of the town to hit the ball around while many spectators watched in amazement and were interviewed by the local government and filmed playing a few games against the team and with the local officials. 
 
We were then given a great tour of el Centro La Serena to see cathedrals and many other famous buildings. Around 3:00 p.m., the team headed back to the school to teach on many different subjects with the students and give testimonies. We are all slowly learning children's names and getting to know more about them so that we can begin conversing with them on a more personal level. 
 
Specifically, be praying for our host families to begin opening their eyes to Jesus and the gospel. Kaitlyn and I have been using our testimony and broken English to try and teach our host family about Jesus and his goodness.

Day 4 Update
Chris Holloway, Director of Global Missions
 
Our team is in the full swing of things here at the Amazing Grace school. We are sincerely enjoying our time here. This morning started with our whole team splitting up into different classes and facilitating the morning devotional. Following this time, we had a chapel service for the 11 and 12 graders. We did a skit about the power of the cross, sang three songs, and transfer student Riley Duzenack shared her testimony. The students and teachers enjoyed the chapel service very much.
 
After completing classes for the day, we had a time of worship with the teachers and a devotional on the conversion of Paul from the chaplain. We ended our time with the teachers today with a competition of sack races, tug-of-war, and of course, volleyball!
 
Everyone is in good health and great spirits. The volleyball team is doing a fantastic job serving, and it is a huge honor to be with La Serena. It is so refreshing to see how the host families are connecting so well with the volleyball team! Time is flying by, so please pray for continued strength to make the most of each opportunity we have with our host families, teachers, and the students!

Day 5 Update
Chris Weatherly, Director of Athletic Operations
 
Today we had a change of scenery for the girls. We met at the school this morning and all the girls led devotionals for all of the classes. After the devotionals and a quick breakfast, we were picked up to go on our tour of Valley del Elqui.
 
Our first stop was at the local papaya farm where the girls could taste and enjoy the fruit. We next stopped at the beautiful reservoir in the valley that was overwhelmingly beautiful and the girls took many pictures. We stopped at multiple other small towns and the everyone enjoyed most of the afternoon buying gifts, enjoying beautiful scenery and being together and enjoying the Chilean food.
 
Our last stop was at the observatory where the entire team experienced a very eye opening experience learning about our galaxy and truly how great and big our God truly is. But in how small we are, our God loves each and every one of us as His own. 
 
It was a beautiful day and the girls are ready for tomorrow where they will once again teach, bond and love on others before playing in their two matches in the afternoon. 
 
Continue to pray for us as we enter the tail end of our trip. God is planting seeds in families and in these kids and we pray that God continues to work through us as we serve!