In September 2007, I showed Marvin Andrews’ DVD, With God All Things are Possible, to my church's Youth Group. At the end of the viewing, I vowed to get Marvin to visit the Morvant Open Bible Church on the Rock and speak to the Youth Group the next time he was in the country. James 2:20 reads “But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?”. Using that as my impetus, I attempted to contact Marvin through the Raith Rovers Fan club, but I was put in touch with one of his associates. Funnily enough, the associate thought that I wanted a copy of the DVD. After correcting her assumption and making the request for Marvin's presence at the church, the waiting game began.
Fast forward to June 15, 2008 at the Marvin Lee Stadium. While making my way into the stadium to witness our first 2010 World Cup Qualifier against Bermuda, I happen to notice that Marvin along with other Soca Warriors (Brent Sancho, Cyd Gray etc.) were also attending the match. At the end of the game I went over to Marvin and reminded him of my request for him to speak at the church. He promptly confirmed that he would be there on Sunday June 22nd, 2008 at 1:00 PM.
Marvin showed up at the appointed time, and after a time of Worship, which doubled as a filler for our Youth colleagues from Claxton Bay Open Bible who had some transportation problems, Marvin shared the following scriptures and teachings:
- Obedience is important. Ephesians 6:1-3, “1Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. 2Honour thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise; 3That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.”
- Your greatest enemy could be your friend. He told us a story about a “friend” who encouraged him to skip training and lime with him. While Marvin is now based in Scotland, the friend is still at the same position.
- Always believe in yourself, God has given each of us talents. Matthew 5:15, “Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.” The parable of the talent was used to illustrate his point.
- The devil wants to destroy you. John 10:10, “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”
When the Claxton Bay youths arrived, they peppered the Soca Warrior and former Rangers star with questions like:
- How old are you? Answer: 32.
- What is your marital status? Answer: Single.
- How do you deal with the females who are attracted to athletes?
- How do keep your Christianity while on the field?
- How many Christians are there on your team? Answer: Him alone, but he believes that God has given him a great opportunity to minister to them and he believes the seed has been planted.
- What type of knee injury did you have? Answer: Ruptured ACL.
- Do you think that Christian footballers could get a team for the Pro League? Answer: Yes, it can happen but there are some issues that must be addressed before it can become a reality.
- What are your plans after football? Answer:Plans to work with youths, which may involve some aspect of football.
- How long have you been a Christian?
- Why did Don Leo not play Latas? Answer: Probably because Beenhakker believed Latapy would not contribute defensively.
- If you were the coach would you have played Latas? Answer: Yes.
After spending a little under two hours with us we prayed with him and gave him a couple tokens to remember us by.
I organized the session for my youths as I felt that they would benefit from hearing from Marvin live. I have seen the DVD, read the book and numerous articles so my role was facilitator but some of the things he shared did hit a nerve and I too was inspired by his presentation and believe that I am a better person for hearing him live.
On behalf of the Pastor, Board, and congregation of the Morvant Open Bible Church on the Rock, we thank Marvin for inspiring all of us, and wish him all the best.