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My Summer with Athletes in Action
written by Justin Brown, MVNU junior baseball player
The past two months have been an amazing
journey that has been such a powerful
experience for me in my life. Just one week
after our season ended at MVNU in pool play
at the NCCAA national tournament, I set out
on May 28th from my home in Westerville,
Ohio for a six-hour car drive to upstate New
York to a small town called Alfred. Feelings
of apprehension and nerves were hitting me
hard with each mile. This was going to be
the longest I had been away from home by
myself in my entire life. I was going to be
staying with a host family that I had never
met, and I was going to be playing in a
highly competitive collegiate league with
players from all over the United States. I
was excited for the challenge athletically
and spiritually. The prospect of playing
with a Christian organization called
Athletes in Action was very attractive for
me, but I did not know how great the summer
would actually turn out to be.
 As I
stand on the other side of the journey, I
look back and can honestly say this was one
of the best summers of my life. All my
feelings of apprehension were washed away
day by day. My host family turned out to be
the perfect fit. I could not have asked for
a better situation, I had four host siblings
who were all a blast to be with and my
roommate was an outfielder from Chicago with
a great sense of humor that matched mine
perfectly. My host mom took great care of me
and my roommate, packing us lunches to take
with us on trips, and my host dad was so
supportive at all of our games. The Ryan
family is an amazing group of people that I
feel blessed to have been able to stay with.
Playing with Athletes in Action was
the best decision I could have made for the
summer. I gained 23 great friends from all
over the country. We participated in daily
group Bible Studies hearing from three
separate chaplains from Athletes in Action
staff on the campuses of Colorado State,
UCLA, and Ball State. Over the course of the
summer, we participated in numerous
community service projects as well as
visiting a homeless shelter in Rochester to
serve food. We participated in prison
ministry playing softball against the
inmates at a local prison. We visited a
nursing home and shared a meal with people
who normally do not receive visits from even
their families. The highlight of our
ministry by far, though, was the opportunity
to share the Gospel with the opposing teams
in the league. We shared the AIA principles
that were life changing for me as an athlete
Our team name was the Alfred Thunder and
we were in the New York Collegiate Baseball
League (NYCBL). The NYCBL is one of eight
leagues that make up the National Alliance
of College Summer Baseball. It is partially
funded by Major League Baseball and is a
tool for development and scouting for
amateur baseball players. Within the NYCBL,
there are two divisions - East and West. The
Alfred Thunder participated in the West
Division. The schedule consisted of 44 games
within a two-month span. Every day, we would
play at 7 p.m. We would be picked up
sometime in the early afternoon and we would
head to our home church to have discipleship
together.
On the mound, I had a very
successful summer. On the first day of
training camp, the pitchers were standing in
one spot and you could say that I was the
"Roy Oswalt"of the staff. I was the smallest
pitcher of the staff standing at 6-1. The
rest of the pitchers were in the range of
6-3 to 6-6. Despite my disadvantage in
physique I tied for the team lead in
appearances with 13, complete games with 2,
led the team in strikeouts with 30 in 34
innings pitched, and I was selected to the
NYCBL West Division All-Star Team.
Playing in the NYCBL was a great experience
for me and without a doubt helped me grow as
a pitcher. I am so thankful for the success
I had this summer, but more importantly I
grew immensely in my spiritual walk with the
Lord. The discipleships with the team were
by far the best part of the experience for
me. One thing that I gained from this
experience was the realization that God is
the only thing that will satisfy the desires
of my heart. I had always agreed with that
statement intellectually, but I think this
summer was the first time that all my inmost
being realized the truth in that. God is
enough, God is enough to satisfy the desires
of my heart, and nothing else will ever come
close. The game of baseball may fail me, my
abilities on the field may fail me, but He
will never fail me. He is the solid rock on
which I stand. I am excited to head back to
Mount Vernon to start another championship
run with the Cougars in a new conference.
We'll all be back on campus in no time!
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