When Glenn Moore and the Baylor softball team made the 6,000-mile trek to Obuasi, Ghana in Western Africa over the Christmas break, it was with one thing in mind.

They wanted to show Jesus' love in a poverty-stricken land where the average wages for a day's work is $1.

But in the end, they received as much if not more than they gave.

"We are over there to impact lives and to change lives," Moore said. "And ironically, our lives were the ones that were changed through them. In many instances, they showed us how to live and what's important in life."

Everywhere they went, they were greeted with immeasurable love, unexplainable joy and the beautiful smiles of children.

"We talk about Christ's love and how to show people what that looks like, and these people are living in its purest form. They give their love so freely and deeply that it's almost indescribable. Their love knows no boundaries and they live with such thanks. A simple smile is all they need to love on you. This world would be such a different place if we learned to love and live as these children do."

- Jordan Strickland, former softball player (from Jan. 1 blog entry)

After busing from Waco to Houston, the Baylor traveling party took a nine-hour flight to Amsterdam and then another 6 ½-hour flight to Accra, the capital city of Ghana.

"When we got off the airplane in Accra, it was as hot and humid as it could be, and you're carrying your luggage across potholes," said Katherine Johnson, the team chaplain. "That first night, we stayed at a nicer place, but you didn't know if you were going to have AC or even water in your room. I think they quickly realized that this is going to be a little different, this isn't our comfort zone of back home.

"But I think because we were doing it together, you had your teammate next to you, you had your coaches, people you were familiar with. It became, 'Hey, we're going to take what we've been given, we're going to take it in stride and we're going to serve.' That's why we're here."

They also pitched, caught, ran and coached in a three-day camp in Obuasi, Ghana, where they introduced the sport of softball to 300 children and a number of adult coaches.

"On our previous trip to Panama (in 2011), we didn't have the opportunity to utilize our skills in spreading the Gospel. And that was never the intention of the mission trip," Moore said. "But looking into future mission trips, I thought it would be advantageous to be able to use the gifts that these girls had been given to further the Kingdom of God and spread the Gospel."

The people in Ghana had never even heard of softball and really knew nothing about baseball, either. Their closest comparison was cricket, "which gave them some idea of what we were trying to teach," Moore said.

By the second day, though, the adult coaches were already playing a game before the Baylor group arrived.

"That was such a cool moment to see that we had just taught them something brand new, and they were already loving it and wanting to further it more," said sophomore infielder Caitlin Charlton from Palmetto Bay, Fla.

Sydney Christensen, a sophomore from Crawford who admitted she wasn't very good working with kids, found a buddy named Edward on the last day of the camp who limped badly because of being kicked while playing soccer. When a ball got past Christensen, Edward bounced past her and ran as fast as he could to retrieve the ball.

"Then I asked, 'Why did you run after the ball if you're hurt?' The words that came out of the little boy's mouth were incredible. He told me, 'You have done so much to bless me, I wanted to do something for you.' I had known this hurt boy for maybe twenty minutes, and he was caring for me. He wanted to make me happy. I didn't know what else to do but hug little Edward.'''

- Sydney Christensen, sophomore (from Jan. 2 blog entry)

One of the most impactful moments came on one of the last days of the trip when they went with local pastor Vincent Asamoah, a 2008 Truett Seminary graduate, to visit with Chief Nana, the leader of 87 Ghanian villages. Chief Nana had been asking for $4,000 for an acre of land that Asamoah wanted to build a new church and recreation center.

But after the visit, touched by the Baylor softball team's impact in Obausi, he ended up donating seven acres to Asamoah to develop his ministry.

"We thought we were going to stand there at the road and just look over the land," said junior infielder/outfielder Lindsey Cargill from Robinson. "And we start walking through this jungle."

"We're walking through this machete-chopped trail that they had just chopped that morning," Charlton said. "One of the boys had told us there were black mambas and all these snakes in there. But it was cool, because we got to see the wild cocoa plants."

On the day they left, the group visited the St. George's Castle in Elmina, which is one of several former slave forts along Ghana's Atlantic coast that are filled with slave dungeons and punishment cells.

"I think it was a shock, it was pretty silent on that tour as we walked around," Johnson said. "But I know these girls will never forget what they saw and the impact it made on them. And I pray that it challenges them just to have a broader mind scope of what has happened in the past so that we don't let it happen in the future."

Johnson's challenge to the 14 players on the trip was to not let their ministry end in Africa, to come back more willing than ever to serve.

"You walk by 15,000 people a day at your school," she said. "How can you be a light to someone? Don't feel guilty, but use what God has given you. You are blessed, but in turn let's bless those around us."