Varsity USA 2002
| Varsity USA is an annual event for
high school students in Awana Varsity clubs throughout America. It
is divided into three parts: the National Olympic competition, the
National Bible Quiz competition, and the Fine Arts competition with
several categories. Our trip was from Tuesday, April 16 to Sunday,
April 21. I was part of the Lone Star Regional team which was making
its first ever trip to Varsity USA.
The team met at Austin Bergstrom International Airport on Tuesday
afternoon. After an uneventful flight we checked into the Sheraton
Arlington Hotel (the event hotel where most of the teams stayed and where
the Bible Quizzing and Fine Arts competition took place), ate dinner at
Burger King, and began a weeklong policy of never going to bed before
midnight. My room had three guys (Jonathan, Chris and me) plus our
Awana missionary, John Byerly. Before going to bed we guys convinced
him that if we would get him up at 6:00 AM—not an easy proposition—
we could go swimming in the morning. So promptly at 5:45 we dragged
him out of bed to swim for an hour while everyone in the other rooms was
still asleep.
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The opening ceremonies on
Wednesday were at
10:00 AM at Harvest Bible Chapel. It was a great time of praise and
worship with an excellent speaker, along with an introduction of the
teams. In the afternoon I was introduced to human bungee
foosball. The players put on harnesses attached to bungee cords
which are connected to the ceiling. The game is then played like
soccer but each person is restricted to a certain area by his cord.
Also at the same location there was a revolving climbing wall which kept
moving as you climbed. For a good mental picture, try imagining
climbing on the outside of a hamster’s exercise wheel. At least
that’s what it felt like! We ate lunch at a park before returning
to our hotel for the Fine Arts competition. I played an arrangement
of "Fairest Lord Jesus" for the piano category while Stacey
delivered her council time in the public speaking category. For
dinner the team went to eat at Gino’s Pizza and then went up to the
observation deck of the 100 story tall John Hancock Center for a great
look at downtown Chicago at night from the "Best view in
Chicago."
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"The opening ceremonies were...a great time of
praise and worship."
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| Thursday morning we went to Awana
headquarters for the Citation Award Ceremony. Six of us—Whitney,
Britney, Katie, Crystal, Erin and I—received our Citation Award which
represents having completed the ten years of work in Awana from third
through twelfth grade and the completion of at least fourteen handbooks
and manuals. While we were there, we also took a tour of
headquarters. In the afternoon at the Awana Olympics, we played one
full round and three play-off rounds. This took almost six hours and
left everyone absolutely exhausted but pleased knowing that we played our
hardest. In the end we finished with third place in the Midwest
regional team division, just short of advancing to the final rounds on
Saturday which admitted only the top two teams from each region. On Friday there was Bible quizzing. We had a good team
comprised of Whitney, Britney, Katie, Crystal, Stacey and Chris, and they advanced
to the bronze medal round. After quizzing we went to watch a Chicago
White Sox game at Comiskey Park. It was very cold and windy and
started raining in the eighth inning but we stuck it out to the very end
in one of those truly "memorable experiences." Saturday we
watched the finals of the Olympics and Bible Quizzing, and in the evening
we went to the closing ceremony. Like the opening ceremony, the
closing ceremony was a time of praise and worship and listening to another
excellent speaker. We also listened to performances by the Fine Arts
winners in some of the musical categories. Though I didn’t win the
piano competition I did receive a gold medal. Sunday we had a team
worship service before going to the airport for the flight home.
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"Six of us — Whitney, Britney,
Katie, Crystal, Erin and I — received our Citation Award."
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The experience of Varsity USA was
truly exceptional. From the opening to the closing it was filled
with events, excitement, and many memorable moments. Any one of
these events alone—whether receiving a gold medal in Fine Arts or being
presented my Citation Award at Awana headquarters by Jack Eggar, the
president of Awana, and Art Rorheim, Awana’s founder, or competing in
the Olympics—would have made the trip special. But the combination
of these was extraordinary. Yet the truly special thing about this
trip, as is the case in most of life, was the people. Being on a
team with 14 teenagers with a desire to please God, having four team
leaders who gladly gave up a week to give us the time of our lives, and
being with over a thousand of the finest teenagers in America; that is
what was priceless. Sadly it is not often one gets the opportunity
to be around and interact with people of this quality, particularly
teenagers. I thank God He chose me to be a part of this
experience. I am also grateful to my team leaders, John and Jamie
Byerly and James and Sylvia Smith, who gave up a week of their lives
because they cared about us. I am sure their example will be
remembered by each team member as we become adults.
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"The experience of Varsity USA
was truly exceptional. From the opening to the closing it was filled with
events, excitement, and many memorable moments."
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At the opening ceremonies the speaker gave a challenge to the audience,
particularly to the Citation recipients. It was to not let achieving
the Citation be a pinnacle of success or a place to look back at the
things we have accomplished. Instead he challenged us to make it
only the very beginning, the beginning of a lifetime of serving and
pleasing God. Every day this is my prayer, that I have only just
begun.
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"The speaker... challenged us to make it only
the very beginning, the beginning of a lifetime of serving and pleasing
God."
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Last Updated: May 5, 2002
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