n Schochler leads team to Togo for summer outreach.

A country with pizza on every menu, motorcycles on every curb and a French diction sounds like a popular tourist destination.

Not quite, although for Scott Schochler, it's becoming his "second home."

Scott Schochler, John Brown University's head cross country coach, recently returned from his international trip to Togo.

Togo is a West African country perched on the Gulf of Guinea. Its neighbors include Benin to the East, Ghana to the West and Burkina Faso to the North.

This summer was Schochler's third trip to the country as a team leader through the organization Athletes in Action.

"Athletes in Action is a sports ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ," Schochler stated. "The purpose has been to minister to the coaches and athletes in Togo, and basically teach them technical aspects of track and field and to share the gospel with them."

Although Schochler's team was relatively small with only five other coaches, Athletes in Action is a world-wide network of coaches and athletes, which also features Olympic athletes.

The former collegiate runner and others conducted coaching clinics at a trio of universities, including a session with the athletes and coaches of the Togo national track and field team.

While the organization offers clinics in a wide range of sports led by coaches, Schochler's specialty, of course, is cross country and track and field, and he uses it as a platform for sharing Christ.

"(Street evangelism) is not a major push with Athletes in Action," Schochler said. "We do it more relationally with the individual athlete and coaches of that sport and use that as the platform to be able to speak into people."

Schochler refers to this style as "unique" to Athletes in Action.

This style is creating a movement in the hearts of athletes toward Christ.

He explained that the most rewarding part of the trip was seeing the seeds sown three years ago had grown into new believers and new churches.

Beyond coaching, the trip also included a safari ride through the President's private hunting grounds, the meeting of three juvenile elephants and a couple of flat tires.

"There are all kinds of opportunities for athletes to get involved with Athletes in Action domestically and internationally," the second-year Golden Eagle coach emphasized. "It would be great if some athletes and people from JBU wanted to be involved in that at some point."