JAPAN --- It's one thing for an NCAA program to go on a preseason foreign tour to get an early jump on the season and get some training in. But it's another thing altogether to do what Biola Men's Soccer did and spend two weeks across the world connecting with people through the game of soccer and sharing about their Christian faith. 

Head Coach Todd Elkins' team just returned from a trip that took them through Iwaka, Osaka and Iwakuma, where local Japanese churches and Christian media outlets were excited to welcome them. Although no one on the team expected any notoriety, representatives from the local media followed the Eagles as they traveled in Osaka during the early days of the trip before a radio station in Iwakuma interviewed senior Leo Thompson and alumni Kousei Mattox about the work they were doing in the area.

"We had a Christian media outlet follow us the first few days of our trip and that's never happened before in the five or six times I've been on this trip," said Coach Elkins. "It was cool to think that other people who we weren't running into were hearing about us. Because we were a soccer team, I think we were perceived as non-threatening so people were more curious about us than they might be with a church group or other religious group. And as a team of 23 American student-athletes plus staff, we definitely stood out."
 

Biola used a mix of friendlies with Japanese universities and youth clinics to get their soccer fix over the fortnight. The Eagles played four friendlies on the trip against various teams, including scrimmages against universities' "B" teams since many large schools in Japan field three to four soccer teams. They also engaged the children who came to the camps with songs, skits and "english times" that allowed the attendees to practice the language. 

And at almost every gathering along the way, several student-athletes volunteered to share their testimonies with Mattox translating. 

"From a soccer side, the trip got the initial stuff out of the way, of the new guys and returners getting a chance to play a few times together," said Elkins. "We didn't really get to train together, so it just getting to know each other's names and going to play Japanese universities. 

"But no matter what venue we were at, we tried to interact with people and be available for opportunities we thought might be well received. For the most part, the group we visited wanted to know who we were and why we were there. The testimony or the skit we did could tell them that, 'we're from Biola University, we're a Christian school and this faith piece is really important to us and this is why.' And then we would try to spend enough time with them to learn who they are."
 

Wherever Biola seemed to go, the Eagles' energy and friendliness seemed to draw the people they talked to our of their reserved dispositions and drew them from as far as an hour away to attend Biola's soccer clinics. The pastors who hosted the Eagles at their stops during the tour reported that several people expressed interested in attending their church. It seems like BUMS hit a great balance of fun activities with songs like "Bo-te-le-li" and genuine preparation for connecting with the people the team would meet in Japan. 

"Part of our pre-tour training was doing a workshop where we wrote down our stories to share on the trip," said Elkins. "Not everyone got a chance to share, but everybody got the opportunity to work on that. And that, even before we shared with anybody, was really good for the team, I thought.

"And then on the trip, seeing our guys volunteer to share their testimony was also really cool, even young guys like freshman Alex Lujo say ,"yeah I'll do it." I don't know if I would have been willing to do that in a foreign country at his age."

The hope is that the churches in Japan the Eagles' partnered with will be able to build upon the interpersonal connections that were started while BUMS was creating a fun and friendly atmosphere. Gil Mellis, the Missionary Athletes International representative who accompanies outreach teams to Japan, noted on his day-by-day blog of the trip that future groups may soon be able to share the gospel at some schools and other locations that the Eagles visited.
 

Biola's women's soccer team is slated to visit Japan with the Seahorses next August.