Men’s lacrosse takes love of sport to Kenya

Multiple players from the Liberty University Men’s Lacrosse team took their love of lacrosse across continents to teach the sport to Kenyan students and share the good news of Christ with them.

Sophomore defender Brody Ashworth, sophomore attacker Luke Branham, senior goalie Eric Warnstrom and sophomore midfielder Ben Lapole spent two weeks in July, using their lacrosse knowledge and skills to serve students by teaching the game. This trip was organized by the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA).

“We made sure to include the gospel in whatever we were doing and also present ourselves as vessels and good examples of the Christian faith,” Ashworth said. 

During their time abroad, the members of the group visited seven different schools that ranged from elementary to university, each with a group of students eager and willing to learn the basics of lacrosse. Lacrosse camps, which the FCA group put together, taught fundamentals of the game and provided an avenue to share the gospel of Jesus with the participants. 

Students at these camps were broken up into groups and moved throughout four stations, learning skills like passing, shooting, picking up ground balls and other fundamentals. At a fifth station, the students were presented with the gospel using what FCA calls “The Four.”

“The Four” are simple images of a heart, a division symbol, a cross and a question mark.

The heart symbolizes God’s love for all people. The division symbol is a representation of how our sin divides us from God. The cross is a reminder that God sent his son Jesus to take away our sins, and the question mark asks participants to consider what they will do with that knowledge.

“There were three to four of these big groups every day, so we were evangelizing to around 600 kids a day,” Ashworth said. “It was really cool.”

Ashworth and Branham said they had multiple opportunities to lead kids to a better understanding of Christianity and answer their questions about Jesus. They shared the sentiment that they were humbled by the experience and believe that it will hold an impact on them for a long time. 

While in Kenya, the FCA group had the chance to meet other believers. Ashworth and Branham shared that the faith of these believers was encouraging because of their devotion to the Lord. 

“Every single day they have to rely on the Lord to provide for them because they can’t take the next step without God laying the foundation,” Branham said. “It was humbling to see how blessed we are, how much we take for granted and how joyful they were with so much less materialistic things.”

This trip allowed the Flames to develop closer bonds as teammates and friends, as well as grow stronger in their faith. They believe sharing these experiences bonded them in ways they will never fully understand. Additionally, Ashworth said getting to train in the sport of lacrosse together was beneficial. 

“It was unlike anything we had ever seen or experienced, and we were all seeing it together for the first time,” Branham said. “Seeing how real the Lord’s presence was over there, and it being undeniable, that’s something we could all bond over pretty easily.”

In the future, the Flames hope to go back to Kenya and serve in a greater capacity, bringing more of their teammates with them. While on the trip, they recognized the lack of higher education, and they hope to be advocates and supporters of students who wish to pursue education beyond high school.

Mullet is a sports reporter.