By Ryan Neises, Coordinator of Academic Services and Sports Ministry

Cześć from Nashville!  That means hello in Polish, but don’t ask me how to pronounce it just yet.  Preparations are coming along for our upcoming mission trip to Poland!

Myself, along with 11 Belmont student-athletes, will be traveling to Eastern Europe to work alongside Proem Ministries to bring the love of Jesus to the people of Poland.  We will be participating in Proem’s “Kontakt Festival” which is a week-long initiative to help plant a church in a Polish community.  We will teaching sports to kids, coaching teams in a basketball tournament, doing various service projects throughout the community, volunteering at a prom for people with disabilities, and creating relationships by attending a local music festival that Proem organizes.  This is an incredible opportunity for Belmont athletics to have a global impact through sports and service.

 

This will also be a great opportunity for our student-athletes to experience a different culture, be pushed outside their comfort zone, experience God in ways they maybe never have before, and create lifelong friendships.  These student-athletes are giving up 10 days of their summer to pursue a meaningful and life-changing experience in Poland.

Poland is rich with history.  It was in the middle of the holocaust during WWII and many parts of the country were destroyed or used for concentration camps.  After the war, the country fell under Russian communist rule until democracy took over in 1989.  Two-thirds of the country does not actively practice any sort of faith.  We are excited to partner with Proem to bring hope and life into this sometimes forgotten country!

If you would like to partner with us on this trip, there are two ways.  First, you can pray for us and the people we’ll be encountering.  Pray for the conversations we’ll be having, the friendships that will form, and the growth for all of us.

The second way to partner with us is to help our student-athletes get to Poland financially! You can easily donate to the Bruin Club at this link: https://form.jotform.com/70255368053152.  Make sure you designate the gift to the “Betty Wiseman Mission Fund.”

If you would like more information about this trip or future Belmont Athletics mission trips, contact Ryan Neises at ryan.neises@belmont.edu

For more information on Proem Ministries, visit their website: https://proemministries.org/