From Seed to Harvest

“Participating in the SEED program is an incredible opportunity where you can serve others, see God’s work in the global church, learn about a different culture, and find brothers and sisters in Christ at home and abroad.”

They couldn’t always engage in conversation, but through the universal languages of sport and selfless service they had no trouble communicating.

Hope student-athletes have a unique opportunity to share their talents as well as their faith and passion for helping others through SEED (Sport Evangelism to Equip Disciples). The new international mission- and service-focused program recognizes that sport provides a significant platform from which athletes can influence others.

In SEED’s debut this past summer, three mixed-sport teams of about a dozen student-athletes apiece accompanied by Hope athletic staff visited Costa Rica, India and Zambia for two weeks each. Partnered with non-profits and serving alongside local churches, they conducted sport clinics for enthusiastic youngsters; helped meet critical health needs by distributing and demonstrating water filters donated by Sawyer Products, which has also generously provided support that makes the trips possible; and developed friendships with the people they met that provided a chance to convey the message of Christ’s love.

The program, which will continue this coming summer in Costa Rica, Ghana, Uganda and Zambia, is rooted in the lessons taught through the Parable of the Sower: “But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what is sown” (Matthew 13:23).

Although the students sought to make a difference to others, the experience made a difference to them, too. Please visit the college online for more about the program as well as several blogs written by the students about their time abroad.