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Special to the Daily Journal/Messenger

Members of the Southern Wesleyan University men's basketball team entertain the children of the Dominican Republic with piggyback rides during their mission visit to the area in the spring.

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Special to the Daily Journal/Messenger

Dave Tolan, missions representative from Southern Wesleyan University, points to all of the areas where his students have traveled this spring and summer. "This map is right outside of my office and each time I see it, I'm so proud. It means so much to see all of the faces and names of these students who are reaching out worldwide."

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Special to the Daily Journal/Messenger

Melissa Bolt, SWU student, traveled to Hati during her mission trip and aided in bringing supplies to area orphanages. Here, she spends time with one of the children in need.

CENTRAL — Currently, and throughout the summer, 32 countries will have encountered visitors from a quaint university in Central, S.C.

It’s no vacationing coincidence that more than 50 students have traveled overseas to vegetate in the sun. Instead, 2009 has marked the largest student body participation in Southern Wesleyan University’s (SWU) history when it comes to mission work.

Dave Tolan, mission representative from SWU, said the outpouring of interest has truly moved him.

“We encourage mission trips each year, but this volume has been unmatched,” he said. “So many organizations have welcomed these students, including the Peace Corps. One student even went out on their own to Kosovo.”

Just last week, members of the men’s basketball team traveled to the Dominican Republic where they held basketball camps, played in international games and entertained the children at schools and in orphanages.

“We visited a very poor sugarcane village on the second day of our visit,” said Head Coach Charles Wimphire. “We arrived to find there was no level ground and the playground was an unused pasture full of rocks and some splintered wood. The kids, however, adopted us as soon as we exited the bus. We played baseball, soccer and modified volleyball.”

But in impoverished areas, safety and health issues many times fall by the wayside.

“The village water source came from a very old tank and it was located near a cave,” Wimphire said. “But the team and I have been truly blessed with our visit.”

Kehl Hudson, a junior at SWU, experienced his first mission trip to Haiti this spring, and he came back with a new appreciation for the struggles of young people in the area.

“Our main mission was to bring all sorts of supplies to the orphanages,” he said. “The thing that impacted me the most was to see how these children don’t get near enough love. They would literally not leave our laps until we had to go. They just wanted to be held. They would hold onto us, they didn’t care about playing, they just wanted to be loved.”

And their mission work is reaching out across the world, as trips are being conducted to the Czech Republic, Honduras, Turkey, Germany, South Korea, China, Japan, Sudan, St. Lucia, the Bahamas, Guyana, Haiti, Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, Thailand, Egypt, Brazil, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Azerbaijan, Laos, Indonesia, Malaysia and Swaziland, the country with the highest percentage of AIDS cases.

And although many times children are involved in these mission trips, anything from establishing sport camps, teaching English, rebuilding infrastructure due to war or famine, disease research, medical assistance, establishing and improving technology and much more round out these visits.

“We have one student who is going to Thailand to help council potential sex trafficking victims, teaching them certain life skills to get a job and avoid the damaging industry,” Tolan said. “She’s only a freshman. It’s amazing.”

And some students and recent graduates are simply traveling to various areas for exploratory reasons, hoping to come home with fresh ideas of how to offer aid.

But, sometimes, not all countries welcome missionary work.

“My own son has traveled to Egypt, a country that does not welcome it,” Tolan said. “But we try to establish relationships with people and point them to Christ. That is always the driving force.”

For more information about SWU’s missionary work, visit www.swu.edu.