Club Sports sends first multi-sport outreach team overseas to work with ministry partners in Vietnam
7/3/2025 5:27:00 PM | Rowing, Women's D1 Hockey, Ski & Snowboard, Men's D3 Hockey
Nine student-athletes and four Club Sports staff served alongside Vietnamese college students and youth at three sports camps.
A team of 13 Liberty University Club Sports student-athletes and staff embarked on a sports ministry trip with missionary partners in Vietnam from June 11-22. The purpose of the trip was to support, strengthen, and pray for the growing sports ministry in Da Nang, Vietnam, and to provide Liberty students firsthand international experience to see the impact sports ministry can have and know if they want to do mission work full time.
"It was amazing," said Reese Braband, Club Sports' athletic director for holistic development. "A key highlight of the trip was a two-day sports camp held at a church in a remote mountain village. The camp drew over 100 youth participants and served as a powerful platform for both athletic and spiritual impact. As a result, approximately 20 children made decisions to follow Christ, and 20 new youth attended church the following Sunday. This response reflected strong local interest and engagement."
The team collaborated closely with three full-time staff and several dedicated local volunteers, including two Vietnamese citizens, one of whom traveled from the United States to join the team. Street evangelism is illegal in Vietnam, and ministry outreaches or camps must be run by government-approved churches.
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"Together, we engaged in sports outreach initiatives, including the introduction of pickleball and ultimate Frisbee, two sports that are gaining traction in Vietnam as tools for community engagement and ministry,"Â Braband said. "The local missionaries over there in Vietnam did a great job hosting us. They have worked with some of the universities to hold a weekly sports club and English club with a time of devotion at the end, and small-group breakout sessions with messages and testimonies, creating opportunities for relationships to be built between believers and to share the Gospel as an outreach to non-believers."
Evangelicals make up a small percentage of the population in Vietnam, with Buddhism and Hinduism being the two primary religions.
"So, it was cool to be able to go over there and encourage the believers that are there in what they're doing in the colleges and churches," Braband said.
He said the mission trip not only energized the ministry efforts in Da Nang but also deeply impacted the participating student-athletes.
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"This was our first-ever multisport trip, and it broadened their vision for using sports as a vehicle for ministry and cross-cultural connection," he said. "Lord-willing, every three to four years, we'll offer more opportunities like this, partnering with local missionaries in Malaysia and continuing this partnership in Vietnam. In the future, we hope to send our men's and women's ultimate teams and a potential pickleball team to further support their ministry."
Originally planned as a trip for a team of Disciple Makers from multiple Club Sports, only three of the nine student-athletes were spiritual leaders for their respective teams this past year, though others may now serve in that role this coming school year.
"It was really fun to see all nine athletes come together,"Â Braband said, noting many didn't know each other before the trip. "At the church camp, they all led the huddle time, which was fun to see them step up and work through interpreters, and to share their testimonies at the church. There was a lot of stretching them in their faith and challenging them to step up and lead in ways they haven't before."
One of the spiritual leaders on the team was ski & snowboard graduate Lauren Harder, whose life was transformed at Liberty.
"She came here as an unbeliever, and as freshman got saved and as a sophomore was baptized,"Â Braband said.
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Two members of the team — graduate rower Ariana Davis and rising junior women's hockey forward Sienna McClinchey — followed Harder's example and obeyed Christ's command to be baptized on the last day of the trip.
"They felt the call to publicly proclaim their faith and were baptized in the hotel pool the last night before we left," said Braband, who performed the baptisms with assistance from teammates. "The whole trip was inspirational and spiritually challenging, with some of the team members sharing their testimony for the first time in a large group, taking a step of faith to allow God to work through them."
Other team members included rising sophomore forwards Brooke Olson and Brooklyn Voortman and rising junior forward Tristan Craig from the DI women's hockey team, graduate Kate Horgan from the rowing team, and graduate forward Michael Williams and rising sophomore forward Ben Powell from the DIII men's hockey team.
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"The four women's DI women's hockey girls are all underclassmen, rising sophomores or juniors who in two years are going to go to Finland in January 2027, and will kind of be the leaders on that trip after this international experience," Braband said.
He was joined by DIII men's hockey Head Coach Josh Wagner, Club Sports Athletic Trainer Sam Nigra, and former DII women's hockey player Sarah LaPorte who helped lead devotion times with the student-athletes.
"This trip wouldn't have been possible without the support from LU Send and LU Serve, and we are thankful for the collaboration across departments,"Â Braband said.
By Ted Allen/Staff Writer; Video narrated by Sarah LaPorte, edited by Carl Ilan/Liberty Marketing Social Media Strategist
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Players Mentioned
