Former Flames Baseball player and longtime global worker in Africa joins Liberty faculty

After 21 years serving as a global worker to the Makhuwa Nahara people in Mozambique, Liberty University alumnus Dr. Brian Harrell (’98, ’99) returned to Liberty Mountain in the fall to prepare the next generation of students to be Champions for Christ around the world and across cultures.

Harrell is an associate professor of global and intercultural engagement at the John W. Rawlings School of Divinity, where he is teaching from his extensive background in global engagement, part of a family legacy that spans three generations and over 80 years.

Harrell’s grandparents served in Africa for 31 years. In 1941, they were passengers on the SS Zamzam en route to Africa when the ocean liner was shelled and sunk by a German raider. They were taken aboard and later exchanged for POWs. A few years later, they returned to Africa and set up operations in Eswatini and then in South Africa. Harrell’s parents then carried on the legacy with the Cape Malays community in South Africa in 1975.

Harrell spent most of his childhood in South Africa. Growing up, he and his two brothers were taught baseball by their father as a way to stay connected with their American heritage. After the family moved to North Carolina, Harrell and his brothers were recruited by Liberty Baseball Coach Johnny Hunton and offered athletic scholarships.

Harrell spent five years with Flames Baseball as a pitcher, while also throwing javelin for Liberty Track & Field from 1996-98. Harrell received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Liberty.

“The opportunity to study at a Christian university, to represent Christ on the field at the highest level, for us that was fantastic,” he said.

Before coming to Liberty, he said he didn’t know if global work was in his future. But he remembers attending a conference as a child and surrendering his life to whatever God asked him to do. Once at Liberty, his direction in life became apparent.

“When I came to Liberty and I started listening to people talk about the need overseas, I just realized the way God had shaped me and the passion He had given me,” he said. “I felt compelled to live for Him in a global context.”

Brian met his wife, Becky (’99), at Liberty, and the couple moved to South Carolina after they married. While serving at a local church, they connected with an international organization that was highlighting the need for global workers in Mozambique. When he spoke with his 94-year-old grandmother about the opportunity, Brian was shocked to hear his grandparents had originally planned to work in Mozambique before the German attack delayed their plans.

“It was cool for us to see we were a part of that story,” he said. “That was a good thing because our first stint of three-and-a-half years in Mozambique was really hard.  We had a peace (from the Lord) that we were in the right place and that this is what God made us to do, even though that first term was so hard as we fought through isolation and discouragement while God was doing painful but necessary work in our hearts.”

Over the following years, the Harrells immersed themselves in the culture and language of the people, providing education and leadership development opportunities, and working alongside clean water and disaster response efforts in a country hard hit by cyclones. They were later promoted to strategy leaders and eventually regional leaders, where they oversaw their organization’s work in several African countries.

In 2023, Brian Harrell was contacted about the open faculty position. After an extensive time of prayer, the Harrells understood that God was calling them to leave their work in Mozambique and pursue His next chapter for their lives.

“In that culture and in our community, it is so important to say ‘goodbye’ well and not just leave people,” Brian Harrell said. “You’ve been living a very challenging life together and you lean on each other. That solidarity was hard for us to walk away from, with our brothers and sisters in Africa as well as our colleagues.”

Teaching classes through the Global and Intercultural Engagement Department, Harrell now seeks to train the next generation of Christian leaders to follow in his family’s footsteps and to live as Champions for Christ across cultures both domestically and abroad. Harrell teaches undergraduate and graduate classes residentially and online and will also serve as the director for the new Ph.D. in Global and Intercultural Engagement that will launch in Fall 2026.

“What a privilege it is to walk alongside students who are serious about their faith,” he said. “Many of them are intent about going overseas or living for Christ where they are. That has been fantastic.”

Brian Harrell joked that teaching college students in a classroom and virtually differs greatly from teaching under the shade of a cashew tree in Africa. Despite the learning curves, he has quickly adjusted to his life as a Liberty professor and finds joy in building relationships with his students that will last long after they graduate.

“If a teacher is going to have an impact, I believe you need two things beyond mastering the content: students need to know that you care about them and students need to know that you are passionate about what you are teaching. That’s what makes an impact in students’ lives,” he said.

The Harrells have the added benefit of being at Liberty at the same time as two of their children. They are already the proud parents of a Liberty graduate. Their fourth child is in high school. Becky Harrell, who earned her nursing degree at Liberty, has entered the healthcare field in Lynchburg.

As they reflected on their time as global workers, the Harrells are profoundly grateful and emphasized the faithfulness and goodness of God in their lives.

“The Lord has been so kind,” Brian Harrell said. “We went to engage in global work, and we had no idea what God would allow us to witness, how He would use the experience to draw us nearer to Him and the blessing that it would be for our kids as well. God provided a team of Mozambicans, who are very dear to our heart, as well as colleagues from various organizations who continue to do incredible work.”

“It has been such an honor and a privilege to see God work,” Becky Harrell added. “It hasn’t been us but God. We have seen amazing things. We’ve seen miracles, we’ve seen people’s lives completely transformed. It’s Him. We’ve just tried to be faithful.”