INMATE FOOTBALL
There was an unusual high school football game played in
Grapevine, Texas. The game was between Grapevine Faith Academy and Gainesville
State School. Faith is a Christian School and Gainesville State School is
located within a maximum security correction facility.
Gainesville State has 14 players. They play every game on
the road. Their record was 0-8. They’ve only scored twice. Their 14 players are
teenagers who have been convicted of crimes ranging from drugs to assault and
robbery. Most had families who disowned them. They wore outdated, used shoulder
pads and helmets.
Faith Academy was 7-2. They had 70 players, 11 coaches,
and the latest equipment.
Chris Hogan, the head coach at Faith Academy knew the
team would have no fans and it would be no contest, so he thought, “What if
half of our fans and half of our cheerleaders, for one night only cheered for
the other team?” He sent out an email to the faithful asking them to do just
that. “Here’s the message I want you to send, “ Hogan wrote. “You’re just as
valuable as any other person on the planet.”
Some folks were confused and thought he was nuts. One
player said, “Coach, why are you doing this?”
Hogan said, “Imagine you do not have a home life no one
to love you, no one pulling for you. Imagine that everyone had pretty much
given up on you. Now imagine what it would feel like and mean to you for
hundreds of people to suddenly believe in you.”
The idea took root. On the night of the game, imagine the
surprise of 14 players when they took the field and there was a banner the
cheerleaders had made for them to crash through. The visitor’s stands were
full. The cheerleaders were leading cheers for them. The fans were calling them
by their names.
Isaiah, the quarterback-middle linebacker said, “I never
in my life thought I would hear parents cheering for me to tackle and hit their
kid. Most of the time when we come out, people are afraid of us. You can see it
in their eyes, but these people are yelling for us. They knew our names.”
Faith won the game, and after the game the teams gathered
at the 50- yard line to pray. That’s when Isaiah, the teenage
convict-quarterback surprised everybody and asked if he could pray. He prayed,
“Lord, I don’t know what just happened so I don’t know how or who to say thank
you to, but I never knew there were so many people in the world who cared about
us.”
On the way back to the bus, under guard, each player was
handed a burger, fries, a coke,
candy, a Bible, and an encouraging letter from the players at Faith Academy.
What an incredible act of Christian witness and kindness
and goodness that was.
Proverbs 11:17 – Your own soul is nourished when you are
kind.
Proverbs 3:27 – Do not withhold good when it is in your
power to act.
Be kind to everyone you meet and get to be with. You
might be amazed at what God will do with a simple act of kindness.
This article was sent to me via email. I thought it was very
inspiring.
Check out the video on you tube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52AOPQvCTv4