Union University women’s soccer team held a ‘parent’s night out fundraiser’ on Friday, April 17 to help fund a mission trip to Costa Rica in July 2015.
Parents dropped their children off at the soccer field where the team and head coach, Isaac Brooks watched them.
Older children participated in soccer drills and other activities, while younger children played games with the players.
The night was free, but the team asked for donations towards their trip. The night was an overall success with happy families and another step towards the team’s goal.
The team has passed the halfway mark of acquiring the necessary funds for plane tickets and meals while they are in Costa Rica.
The trip is planned to take place at the end of July, and they will be gone for nine days. Currently, there are 20 attending the trip, including head coach Isaac Brooks and assistant coach Julie Stauffer.
The NCAA allows athletic teams to take an international tour every four years to play games, so this trip will give the players the opportunity to play about three games while abroad.
“It is going to be fun to actually play, but the games are just going to be a bridge to what we do afterwards,” Brooks said. “Our main objective is just to share Christ.”
Although there will be some soccer involved, this trip is intended to be more about the mission. After games, a player will have the opportunity to give her testimony and share the gospel. The players will participate in street evangelism as well as volunteering at orphanages and filling needs in the community.
“The whole reason we do mission trips,” Brooks said, “the whole reason we do Bible studies, the whole reason we play after games and after practice is to strengthen the girls’ spiritual lives, but then also, God put us here for a reason. He gave us special talents and it is our job to use those talents to share the gospel.”
To donate towards the team’s mission trip, visit the online donation site here. For inquires on other ways to help, e-mail Isaac Brooks at ibrooks@uu.edu
“I have a strong belief that God wants us to go,” Brooks said. “So now we just have to wait for him to provide.”
