Deion Sanders (left) with Pastor Forbes of Columbus Christian Church

The first time we heard about it was when the chairman of the TEAM JAM board, called us from Columbus.   Deion Sanders, the great defensive back of the Dallas Cowboys, was coming to Columbus.  It sounded ridiculous.  It was in April of 1999.   Why in the world would Deion be coming to a relatively little known church in Columbus, Ohio?

However, it wasn't as ridiculous as we first thought.  Pastor Forbes (who is pictured above with Deion), the pastor of Columbus Christian Church, has had an ongoing relationship with Deion. He was encouraged to meet him while he was playing with the Cincinnati Reds and while Deion was searching for peace in his life.  Soon thereafter, once Deion came to know Christ as his Savior, Pastor Forbes became quite involved in his spiritual growth. Pastor Forbes has been flying down to Dallas as often as once a week to be part of Bible Studies with Deion and fellow teammates, and to play an integral part of his "Prime Time with Deion" sessions at area high schools.  At these high school sessions, in the school at lunch time, they provide question and answer times about how God can meet the needs of each young person.

Which brings us back to how we ended up in Columbus.   There was going to be a city wide youth rally on Saturday night where Mr. Sanders was going to share his testimony.  Then Deion was going to preach his first sermon ever, the following Sunday morning.  In the afternoon, there was going to be a question and answer time for area athletes.  Ohio State football players were invited to come as well as area high school athletes.        

 
(From L to R)  Joshua Bostick, Dante Booker, Deion Sanders, Donteil Lewis,
and John Saucier.  Johnathan Saucier is in the front.

However, when we called to make arrangements, we soon found out that both the youth rally and the morning service would be "packed out".  There didn't seem to be much hope of bringing a group down and getting them in the doors, let alone meeting him.  We really wanted to make sure that the young people we brought would have the maximum impact on their lives as possible.  Having more access to Deion than peeking at him from the back of an auditorium was extremely important to us.

So we chose to drive down Sunday morning to Columbus and arrive there for the afternoon session with the athletes. As we expected when we arrived, the church was filled and overflowing.  We could barely get close enough at the end of the morning service to even look through the windows in the hallway.  It was obvious it had been a great weekend already. Everyone was worshiping God, Pastor Forbes and Mr. Sanders were still challenging people to make a move for God, and no one was leaving !!


TEAM JAM Athletes with some Ohio State U. stars, two of which are Quarterback Stanley Jackson and running back Michael Wiley.   Dante Booker, Jr. and Johnathan Saucier are pictured in the front row.

So we waited for the church service to end, the congregation to disperse, and we made our way into the auditorium.  Approximately an hour after the morning service ended, the special question and answer session for the athletes, was about to start.  

But when we looked around from our seats, we couldn't believe our eyes.  Our group of ten made up almost half of the 25 or so that were going to be there for this afternoon session.   What a privilege!  Not only were we really going to have personal time with Deion Sanders, but how OBVIOUS it was that God was looking to have a powerful impact on our young people.  For some reason that only God's love can explain, He had chosen the vehicle of this man's life to speak on His behalf, about the needs in our lives!

Two hours later, an invitation to commit their lives to God that impacted two of our young people, and some personal counseling with Deion, later . . . we headed back home to Akron.   Here is a sample of how it impacted the individual lives of our youth.

Dante Booker -  Dante was one of the young men that responded with recommitting his life to Christ.   Dante brought his son with him that day.  His son saw his Dad go forward in church.   Dante's life over the following year has been filled with personal spiritual growth that included becoming more responsible, overcoming tremendous adversity and success in the classroom and on the football field. The change in Dante's life from this day on has been dramatic.  He's been a much different person.

                Will Scott (Akron Buchtel) with Deion, answering personal questions.

Donteil Lewis - Donteil went to this event, openly admitting that he was not ready to allow Jesus Christ to be his Savior yet.  Donteil had been to a number of TEAM JAM events, including a week long FCA camp.  But even after talking to Deion personally afterwards, he still wasn't ready.  

However, he liked what he heard.  He heard a man who had everything that a man on earth can have or own, including all the sin that one could chase, explain how there still was only one answer to a human being's true needs in life.   And that answer is Jesus Christ.   Donteil went home talking about what a powerful day it was and how much he enjoyed it.

Four months later, he finally asked Christ to be his Savior.

Joshua Bostick (left) and Will Scott  with Mr. Sanders

Joshua Bostick - We had never met Josh before this trip.  We really were trying to get his roommate Juron Kelly, also a Kent State football player, to go instead.  Jurron asked if Josh could go, and then Jurron backed out at the last second.  So here was Josh going with complete strangers!!!, two hours away in Columbus!!!!     Josh was kind of hesitant, but Deion is Josh's favorite NFL football player and he just had to take the chance.

This event provided us with a great opportunity to get to know Josh, who was already a Christian.  Not only have we been able to have several Bible studies in Josh's dorm room, but we have met a number of his friends as well.  Josh has been a help to us in a number of different events and ultimately, with Josh's help, we are able to lead his roommate, Juron Kelly to the Lord as well.  Though Juron still has a lot of questions about  God and understanding everything, we have been able to invest a lot more time with him compared to before.  Most of this is because of the tremendous experience Josh had this weekend, and how he talked about it when he went back to school.

Will Scott - At the time of the trip, Will did not know where he was going to go to school to play football.  As it turns out, Will is going to be playing for the Kent State football team in the fall of 2000.  Coincidence?   Hardly.  We asked a variety of young people to go with us that weekend.  God specifically arranged for a particular group of young men to go.  This group of young men will continue to have something in common and keep running into each other for years to come.

The best part is how God plants seeds for the future.  Little Dante Booker, Jr. (3 yrs. old), and Johnathan Saucier (4 yrs. old at the time), also were there.  For them, it was just an opportunity to spend time with their Dads and with another child their age.  

But ten or fifteen years from now, when they look back at the pictures and listen to the stories and perhaps even meet some of these men again . . . what do you think they will think then?

   
On the trip home !   Joshua Bostick (left) of
 the Kent State U. football team, has had a
 big day.  Little Johnathan keeps an eye on him.

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