Corban pitcher Rachel Hiatt concentrates on her aim during the 2005 season.

Coach Tarrah Brown took a dozen softball players to central Mexico the first week in January to build homes for three families, to reach out in the community, and to visit an orphanage and rehabilitation center.

They are working with Helping Hands International, of Medford, Ore.

“We wanted to give this team that functions so well together on the field, an opportunity to function together off the field,” Brown said, “to live out our truth, to serve others, and to be in another culture – bringing awareness to us of all we have, and how fortunate we are to live in America.”

The 12 softball players, three coaches and two parents are in Vincente Guerrero, Mexico, the week of January 3 to 9, working together with a team of about 20 people from Helping Hands International. The impoverished community is about 180 miles south of San Diego.

“A lot of these people are brought into this area from southern Mexico with the idea of getting jobs and making a living, and when they come up, they’re trapped,” said Kevin Lamsom, who works with Helping Hands International. He’s also the father of Megan Lamsom, Corban softball player and second-year elementary education major.

“They can’t get back, so they basically start these communities,” Kevin Lamson said. “They will work 10-hour days for only $4 or $5 for the day’s work, so they’re never able to get their families up to a decent standard of living.”

The Mexican government gives land away, with the proviso that homes are constructed within a set time period. With no requirements as to construction material, oftentimes in that temperate climate walls are made of cardboard and floors, lumber pallets – if they’re not dirt.

Brown, in her second year as Corban softball coach, previously served on mission teams in Alabama, Mississippi and Mexico. She wanted her team to experience the blessing and wake-up call she had, she said, so rather than the team’s usual January retreat, she led them to choose the mission trip experience.

“A lot of the girls haven’t been on any mission trip before,” the coach said. “I’m really excited for the girls to get the chance to serve in this way.”

Cement slabs awaited the construction missions team upon its arrival. The softball players put up exterior and interior walls, roof and ceilings, and painted the homes. When complete, the homes will have “a real window,” rather than the more common piece of cloth over a hole in a wall; an outside door that locks, rather than the more usual piece of cloth or cardboard, and a composition roof that will not leak when it rains, according to information supplied by Helping Hands.

“Any time you take a trip like this, it has untold ramifications, maturing them and giving them a perspective on life far broader than the athletic arena,” said Tim Seiber, assistant director of athletics. “This is an exciting way for sports teams to come together, bond, become friends and serve together. It will get them out of their comfort zone and … in the short term, that’s going to pay off on the field.”

The long-term effects of the mission trip will be more subtle, Seiber said.

“Yeah, we want to go on the field and win, to compete and compete well, but that’s a small part of what we want to train our student athletes,” the assistant director of athletics said. “I think this is becoming a new way for athletes to get a handle on the bigger picture beyond the athletic field, to come together as a team and serve the community.”

The women’s soccer team last summer went on a mission trip to Jamaica, where they played three exhibition games, hosted several sports clinics, showed the Jesus film, and visited orphanages.

This week, when the softball team members are not using hammers and saws, they’re playing with the children who are congregating at the building sites – passing out candy and balloons, painting faces, polishing fingernails and more – while injecting loving words about Jesus into their conversations.

They’ll be doing more of the same gentle evangelism during visits to an orphanage and Christian drug rehabilitation center. They’ll also join in worship during midweek, and in a barbecue for community residents including skits and games for entertainment.

“The big part of the trip is building the houses,” Brown said. “We will also be able to meet as a team and spend time together. Ultimately we’re striving to bring our Heavenly Father honor.”

By Karen L. Willoughby