Indiana Wesleyan University’s men’s and women’s golf teams spent 12 days in Harare, Zimbabwe over winter break on a mission trip. The team spent the week serving at an orphanage, using golf to spread the gospel by hosting clinics for nearly 150 junior golfers and playing with locals.
IWU Golf Head Coach Kyle Bloom was among the staff members on the mission trip and was proud of the team’s interactions.
“The thing that I am most proud of is just watching how our players were willing to open up and share with complete strangers,” Bloom said.
Interactions such as these required the team members to be bold individually, not just as a group.
“Every player on our team just had this undeniable boldness about them to be able to share their faith,” Bloom said.
One of these team members was Max Vischer, a junior at IWU and a member of the men’s golf team. Vischer gave his testimony to the community during the trip and learned an important lesson for himself.
“The kids in the orphanage had nothing, and they were living in shacks with chickens. They were just the happiest kids I’d ever seen; it’s like they didn’t even really want anything,” Vischer said. “My goal is find the joy that they have, especially when I have so much.”
Experiences like these are what bond a team.
“Being around each other for ten days straight does something to you, and when you’re vulnerable. When we went to the orphanage it was pretty emotional,” Vischer said.
Alongside the men’s golf team was the women’s team, where junior golfer Claire Dubois shared similar experiences.
“It’s life changing, and it changes your whole perspective on everything else. Here we are so focused on self-performance with school whether that be sports or money; being there just helped me realize how much that actually doesn’t matter, and how our only goal in life is to serve the Lord.” Dubois said.
The team had the opportunity to recap their experiences in the Globe Theater on Saturday, Jan. 25. They have some time to train now before their season begins in Noblesville at the Purgatory Intercollegiate, March 21-22.
