Micah Christenson is at the Rio Olympics as part of the U.S. volleyball team.

During the past year, he was in Italy playing professional volleyball. There he faced difficulties including trying to understand and speak a foreign language and living by himself for the first time in another country.

In the first week in Italy, he got sick.

"I'm throwing up, and I'm sitting in my apartment alone. I'm like, man, this is a lot harder than I thought. I can't talk to anybody, because there's a language barrier. I can't ask somebody where the eggs are in the grocery store," he told the Baptist Press.

Despite the odds, Christenson relied on God for support.

"It really allowed me to really just surrender to God and to give everything to him, because I really had no control over what things were happening there. I was just begging God to take everything, just trying my best to trust in everything that he had for me there," he said.

Christenson started learning Christianity at an early age in Hawaii. His middle name "Makanamaikalani" means "gift from heaven."

He went to church and Sunday school on a regular basis.

In college, he went to the Univeristy of Southern California where he became a member and eventually a student leader of Athletes in Action, a campus-based sports ministry.

He thanked the Lord for changing him.

"I'm so grateful that I chose God, because that choice has really sparked something inside of me, and I feel the Holy Spirit working inside of me all of the time," he said.

He followed the footsteps of his mom and got interested in volleyball. He started playing volleyball as a member of Asics Quicksilver in 2005, according to the Team USA website.

Christenson played volleyball and basketball at Kamehameha High School and led his teams to three state championships.

At 16, he became the youngest setter ever to play for the U.S. team in a world championship in 2009.

He was named Best Setter at the 2015 FIVB World Cup and the U.S. men's team won to qualify for the Rio Olympics.

At the 2013 NORCECA Continental Championship, Christenson became the Best Server and Best Setter.

During his time in Italy, he understood the meaning of James 1:3, which says, "Consider it pure joy when you face trials of any kind."

This is his first Olympics and he said that whatever the outcome, he has God and his faith to rely on.

"That's enough," he said.