As the Appalachian State University men's basketball team returns to class and the rigors of the upcoming season, one Mountaineer returns with reinforced faith and valuable life and basketball lessons learned during a 16-day trip to Israel.

A.J. Highsmith, a junior guard from Winston-Salem, N.C., spent much of August overseas as part of a group of collegiate American players with Athletes In Action, a Christian organization that champions itself as a leader in sport ministry. Highsmith, and the rest of the group lived in Bethlehem, located within the borders of Palestinian territory.

During the day, the travel party visited various biblical and historical sites throughout the Holy Land before competing at night. Rather than play as a team, the players split up with two players joining various local teams to play.

"Typically, Athletes In Action play as a team, against other teams." Highsmith said. "We wanted to split up and play on the teams there so we could get to know them and have a bigger impact on their lives and vice versa."

The teams played four games of round-robin play before staging a single-elimination tournament for the hometown fans.

Highsmith admits the level of competition may not have been the highest, but the basketball experience extended far beyond X's and O's.

"They play the game with a lot of passion there and you can tell they play with all their heart. The fans were crazy with drums and foghorns and all sorts of noisemakes," Highsmith said. "The people just have a ton of passion for everything that they do and in basketball they have a true team mindset. They really do not care about individual achievements or accolades, they just want the team to do well. That's something that really spoke volumes to me and I'll carry over to ASU this year."

Highsmith was also astonished by how quick his new teammates were to accept him and give him a prominent role on the team.

"I didn't think they'd be as open to accept me on their team as they were," Highsmith said. "They put me in the starting lineup and ran the offense through me. It was neat to see that. In America, if someone from another country showed up, we'd make them earn playing time and sit on the bench. It was neat to see how welcoming and open they were to us."

That openness allowed him to quickly take a leadership role on one of the youngest teams in the field as his teammates encouraged him to take a more prominent position in the squad's play on and off the floor.

"I gained a lot of confidence in my leadership skills while I was there," he said. "To go over there and meet people I've never played with and see us grow in just two short weeks was amazing. That's something that I'm really going to focus on this year at Appalachian. No matter what my role is on the team,  I want to be that kind of leader to incorporate guys and welcome the new guys in like the Palestinians did for us. I want them to know they're part of our family now."

While the basketball experience proved to be rewarding, the opportunity to experience the Bible firsthand provided the true highlight of the trip as the group ventured to approximately five different biblical sites a day across the Holy Land.

"It was a surreal experience that I'm still sort of breaking it down in my mind," he said. "The biggest thing for me was when I'd read the Bible and those places were just places. They had no significance to me. But being able to see them firsthand and understand the surroundings and culture, it makes the Bible feel like one of those pop-up books kids have. You open it and the images just pop out now. It really comes to life for me and any doubts I may have had been washed away forever."

Highsmith notes that regardless of one's faith, the sheer historical significance of many of the sites was truly palpable as they toured sites that have been inhabited since the dawn of human civilization and serve as the cornerstone of Christianity.

Traveling to a foreign country, especially one that has a history of unrest and violence like Israel, was initially an area of great concern for Highsmith. However, those fears and trepidations were assuaged within moments of arriving.

"My first thought when we touched down was 'it's hot' and my second was 'am I going to be safe?'" Highsmith said. "But it was eye-opening how safe I felt. It's completely opposite from what my stereotypes of that part of the world were. Everybody loved Americans and wanted to talk and take pictures with us and talk about America."

Decked out in an Appalachian t-shirt, Highsmith was one of the more popular members of the trip as ASU's success, especially on the gridiron he learned, had spread all the way to the Middle East.

"It was incredible that in Jerusalem, this little old lady comes up to and in broken English tells me, 'yes, your school is great, you beat Michigan in football," he said.

For the entire duration of the trip Highsmith continued to be blown away by the openess and hospitality of the people. After games he had the opportunity to visit with the families of his Palestinian teammates and learn more about their culture and way of life. Initially, he was worried about entering a stranger's house, especially in a different culture that is often unfavorably portrayed by news reports, "but the culture and atmosphere were a complete 180 from anything we expected or see of their culture in the States," Highsmith said.

Highsmith particularly enjoyed their tradition of serving hot tea to all guests that entered their home and the continual refills and heaping spoonfuls of sugar they'd ladle into the drink.

"As long as they were still putting sugar in your tea, they were enjoying your company. When the sugar stopped going in the tea, you knew you had worn out your welcome and it was time to go."

The entire group traveled with slight concerns over the possible road blocks the cultural differences would pose, especially since the majority of Palestine and their teammates follow the Muslim faith. But those concerns proved to be trivial at best.

"None of us knew what to expect, but our first impression of the people was so loving and open that we took a big sigh of relief and realized that we could get to know them for who they are as people and not just their religion," said Highsmith.

After the games each day, Highsmith would spend time talking about his faith with his teammates, often through an Arabic translator. This was one of the more enriching personal aspects of the trip as both groups asked a ton of questions about each others' faith and worked to learn and respect each other.

"That gave me a greater realization that stereotypes are just stereotypes," Highsmith said. "A lot were broken down on this trip. Anytime you meet someone from a different country or culture, I would really encourage everyone to get to know them as people and respect their culture and ethnicity."

The respect and friendships garnered during the trip were not checked at the airport departure gate. Two weeks after his trip he still talks to his teammates and other members of the trip daily via Facebook and other social networking sites on the Internet and hopes that the same lessons of acceptance, openess and teamwork that he learned in two short weeks can make his Appalachian squad even more cohesive over the course of the upcoming season.