Ben Mauch vaults into spirituality (MinnSt)
Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 2:33 am
http://www.mankatofreepress.com/sports/ ... d=topstory
Mauch vaults into spirituality
By Jim Rueda
Free Press Sports Editor
MANKATO —
Mankato native Ben Mauch’s college experience began in the fall of 2001 at Minnesota State University. Today, as he finishes up his graduate studies and enjoys his final semester of eligibility as a pole vaulter, he can finally see the end.
What has transpired in between has been life-changing for the Mankato East graduate. Over the past eight years he’s lived in Denver, Minneapolis, Argentina and Asia. He’s also built a house, gotten married and is an expectant father.
All those things pale in comparison to what Mauch describes as the biggest change in his life. Sometime near the end of his first semester, he became a devout Christian.
“My life is so different now,” Mauch said Saturday, just before warming up for the pole vault at the Lee Krough Invitational at Gustavus Adolphus College. “Before I lived a life of waste, now I have a purpose.”
Mauch admits he first decided to attend MSU upon graduation from high school for two reasons: One was to pole vault. The other was to party.
“I was like a lot of kids at that point, I wanted to have a good time. And there have been a lot of successful pole vaulters at MSU so I thought it was a great fit.”
Mauch was having an uneventful first year when, one night, he had an epiphany. He came back to his dorm room and found his roommate passed out under his desk with 24 empty cans around him.
“I looked at that and I thought, wow, it only takes me about nine beers to get that way. And then I thought, is their really such a difference between us? Am I headed in the same direction?”
Mauch eventually got a new roommate, but he turned out to be a porn dealer. At that point, Ben realized something wasn’t right. He was missing something.
The conversion
It was about that time the pastor from his parents church gave Ben a Bible. The only other one he had ever received was in third grade. He never read it. This time, he sat down and read the book of Romans. He felt a deep connection.
“I realized two things: One, that I was wasting my life and would end up being punished for it. Two, that Jesus died for me so my sins would be forgiven.”
Mauch began reading a lot more on religion, including the Quran, the Book of Mormon, and the Pearl of Great Price. He quickly dropped out of college, moved to Denver and became the chief of a Mexican carpentry crew. His carpentry skills were honed as a teenager as his dad was a construction manager.
He then moved back to Minneapolis to join Kramer and Sons Construction — an outfit that builds multi-million dollar homes.
At some point he attended a Campus Crusade for Christ meeting where the notion that he was simply spinning his wheels was reinforced. Eventually, Mauch returned to MSU to get his degree in exercise science while competing for the track and field team. He performed well enough for the Mavericks to post the third-highest pole vault in team history (16-feet-7).
While doing his undergraduate work, Ben and his father purchased some land in St. Peter. Over a two-year period, Ben built a house. The summer before graduation, he went to Argentina to do some mission work.
“It was supposed to be about evangelism and church building,” Mauch said. “But the thing I remember most is that we painted a lot of walls.”
He came back to MSU for his final year and got his degree in the spring of 2006. Almost immediately, he joined a Christian organization and was off to Asia for two years to help spread the word of Christ. He won’t be more specific because Christianity isn’t welcome in many Asian countries. He fears for the safety of the friends he’s made over there.
If Ben gets caught, it’s not that big a deal, he simply gets thrown out of the country. For the residents, it can be a lot tougher. They can be sent to labor camps or even worse.
According to Mauch, Asia is the largest growing area for new Christians on the planet. Depending on what statistics you believe, anywhere from 10,000 to 60,000 a day are converting.
Ben originally met his future wife, Priscilla, in Colorado during an orientation meeting for the trip overseas. There was no instant connection for her but there was for him. They were separated until they randomly bumped into each other again in Asia.
Mauch was determined not to let this second opportunity slip away. “I had to work on her a little bit but, four months after we met again we were engaged and, six months after that, we were married (in her home state of Indiana).”
Back to Mankato
He returned to MSU last fall to work on his masters and continue pole vaulting. It took a while to knock off nearly three years of rust but Mauch said he started feeling comfortable again near the end of the indoor season. He’s already reached a height of 4.96 meters which should qualify him for outdoor nationals.
“Ben is one of those guys who thinks about the pole vault a lot; he thinks about what he needs to do to improve.” MSU assistant coach Matt Kolb said. “I think he finally has his edge back. It doesn’t surprise me because he has such passion and such drive.”
Mauch recently found out he and Priscilla are expecting a baby in October. There’s a good chance the baby will be born overseas as the husband and wife team intend to go back to continue their evangelism as soon as the school year is over.
“Things have changed a lot since high school; I’m looking forward to the next step,” Mauch said. “I didn’t want to be an 80-year-old man and look back and say I wasted my life.”
Mauch vaults into spirituality
By Jim Rueda
Free Press Sports Editor
MANKATO —
Mankato native Ben Mauch’s college experience began in the fall of 2001 at Minnesota State University. Today, as he finishes up his graduate studies and enjoys his final semester of eligibility as a pole vaulter, he can finally see the end.
What has transpired in between has been life-changing for the Mankato East graduate. Over the past eight years he’s lived in Denver, Minneapolis, Argentina and Asia. He’s also built a house, gotten married and is an expectant father.
All those things pale in comparison to what Mauch describes as the biggest change in his life. Sometime near the end of his first semester, he became a devout Christian.
“My life is so different now,” Mauch said Saturday, just before warming up for the pole vault at the Lee Krough Invitational at Gustavus Adolphus College. “Before I lived a life of waste, now I have a purpose.”
Mauch admits he first decided to attend MSU upon graduation from high school for two reasons: One was to pole vault. The other was to party.
“I was like a lot of kids at that point, I wanted to have a good time. And there have been a lot of successful pole vaulters at MSU so I thought it was a great fit.”
Mauch was having an uneventful first year when, one night, he had an epiphany. He came back to his dorm room and found his roommate passed out under his desk with 24 empty cans around him.
“I looked at that and I thought, wow, it only takes me about nine beers to get that way. And then I thought, is their really such a difference between us? Am I headed in the same direction?”
Mauch eventually got a new roommate, but he turned out to be a porn dealer. At that point, Ben realized something wasn’t right. He was missing something.
The conversion
It was about that time the pastor from his parents church gave Ben a Bible. The only other one he had ever received was in third grade. He never read it. This time, he sat down and read the book of Romans. He felt a deep connection.
“I realized two things: One, that I was wasting my life and would end up being punished for it. Two, that Jesus died for me so my sins would be forgiven.”
Mauch began reading a lot more on religion, including the Quran, the Book of Mormon, and the Pearl of Great Price. He quickly dropped out of college, moved to Denver and became the chief of a Mexican carpentry crew. His carpentry skills were honed as a teenager as his dad was a construction manager.
He then moved back to Minneapolis to join Kramer and Sons Construction — an outfit that builds multi-million dollar homes.
At some point he attended a Campus Crusade for Christ meeting where the notion that he was simply spinning his wheels was reinforced. Eventually, Mauch returned to MSU to get his degree in exercise science while competing for the track and field team. He performed well enough for the Mavericks to post the third-highest pole vault in team history (16-feet-7).
While doing his undergraduate work, Ben and his father purchased some land in St. Peter. Over a two-year period, Ben built a house. The summer before graduation, he went to Argentina to do some mission work.
“It was supposed to be about evangelism and church building,” Mauch said. “But the thing I remember most is that we painted a lot of walls.”
He came back to MSU for his final year and got his degree in the spring of 2006. Almost immediately, he joined a Christian organization and was off to Asia for two years to help spread the word of Christ. He won’t be more specific because Christianity isn’t welcome in many Asian countries. He fears for the safety of the friends he’s made over there.
If Ben gets caught, it’s not that big a deal, he simply gets thrown out of the country. For the residents, it can be a lot tougher. They can be sent to labor camps or even worse.
According to Mauch, Asia is the largest growing area for new Christians on the planet. Depending on what statistics you believe, anywhere from 10,000 to 60,000 a day are converting.
Ben originally met his future wife, Priscilla, in Colorado during an orientation meeting for the trip overseas. There was no instant connection for her but there was for him. They were separated until they randomly bumped into each other again in Asia.
Mauch was determined not to let this second opportunity slip away. “I had to work on her a little bit but, four months after we met again we were engaged and, six months after that, we were married (in her home state of Indiana).”
Back to Mankato
He returned to MSU last fall to work on his masters and continue pole vaulting. It took a while to knock off nearly three years of rust but Mauch said he started feeling comfortable again near the end of the indoor season. He’s already reached a height of 4.96 meters which should qualify him for outdoor nationals.
“Ben is one of those guys who thinks about the pole vault a lot; he thinks about what he needs to do to improve.” MSU assistant coach Matt Kolb said. “I think he finally has his edge back. It doesn’t surprise me because he has such passion and such drive.”
Mauch recently found out he and Priscilla are expecting a baby in October. There’s a good chance the baby will be born overseas as the husband and wife team intend to go back to continue their evangelism as soon as the school year is over.
“Things have changed a lot since high school; I’m looking forward to the next step,” Mauch said. “I didn’t want to be an 80-year-old man and look back and say I wasted my life.”