Giving season continues for Lions

College baseball teams are not unfamiliar with the occasional road trip. But Vanguard University, a private Christian school in Costa Mesa, is taking the concept to a bit of an extreme.

A party of 10 Lions players, two alumni, Coach Scott Mallernee and assistant Randy Wishmyer, as well as an American-born Vanguard student who attended high school in Indonesia, boarded a 22-hour flight Saturday to begin a two-week missionary visit to Indonesia.

The group flew out of LAX bound for a quick stopover in Taipai, Taiwan, before reaching the city of Jakarta.

They will spend the initial part of the trip providing earthquake relief, which should but may not be limited to, rebuilding and/or fortifying existing structures damaged by a string of natural disasters that included the 2004 Asian tsunami.

“We’re going to be God’s hands and feet, and do what’s needed,” said Mallernee, who said the trip, which he hopes becomes an annual event, will fulfill a desire to serve others, as well as help the team bond for the upcoming season.

“I really believe there is a calling on our lives to fill a purpose,” said Mallernee, whose fourth season at the helm begins Feb. 2 with a nonconference doubleheader at Cal State San Marcos.

Mallernee said the trip also includes helping locals hone their English skills. Beyond that, they plan to pitch in wherever and however they are needed.

Josh Bixler, a Vanguard student who lived with his missionary parents in Indonesia, and former Vanguard baseball player Daniel Brown helped generate the idea of making the trip.

Vanguard junior second baseman Ethan Gentry and junior pitcher Chris Carls, who had taken missionary trips on their own last summer, became team leaders for the trip. Eight other players were selected from a group that wanted to go and former Lions pitcher Clay Brown was also added to the traveling party, which raised all of the estimated $33,000 cost of the trip (approximately $2,500 each) through donations and other fundraisers.

The additional players are sophomore shortstop Zach Leighton, junior pitcher Richard Jessup, senior outfielder Luke Iverson, sophomore outfielder Dan Black, freshman pitcher Jordan Wishmyer (the assistant coach’s son), freshman outfielder Riley Munoz, freshman pitcher Bryce Reed and freshman utility man and Costa Mesa High product John Rybarczyk.

“I went on a missions trip to Africa this past summer,” Gentry said. I went to Mozambique and spent time with kids at an orphanage. I felt like those kids blessed my life. I still keep in contact with a couple of them.”

Gentry advised his travel mates to keep an open mind and embrace the cultural differences. Among those differences is faith.

“We can’t go over there and pray openly, because it’s about 96% Muslim,” Gentry said. “Mainly, we want to just do right. We’re not going over to evangelize. But with our interactions and our conversations, we want to let them see Christ through our actions.”

Bixler also passed along other cultural do’s and don’ts, as part of weekly preparation meetings that trip participants have attended since school began in September.

“There are some little things, like not handing anything to anyone with your left hand, which is viewed as unsanitary, and not putting your feet up when you sit down, which is viewed as disrespectful,” Mallernee said.

Mallernee said language should not be a big problem, as there are expected to be interpreters available to interact with those who do not speak English.

Josh Bixler’s parents, who still live in Indonesia, will also be on hand to help make sure things go smoothly.

Mallernee said the Vanguard group will be broken up into groups of four, which will stay at residences of those in Indonesia.

The two-week venture is expected to leave little or no time for baseball activities, but Gentry said there is a three-day rest period scheduled before the group is set to return and players will bring their gloves.

The group is scheduled to return Jan. 13, one day before classes resume at Vanguard.

“I wouldn’t say the timing of the trip is completely ideal,” Mallernee said. “But I believe it’s part of God’s plan.”

BARRY FAULKNER may be reached at (714) 966-4615 or at [email protected].