| |
| |
Stories of Changed Lives |
|
| |
 Shelton Quarles
Growing up, I learned how to take care of myself, but it wasn't until I met Jesus that I realized how lonely that kind of life is.
My mother was young when she had me and my only memory of my father was when he passed away. We lived with my grandmother and uncle and because they all had two or three jobs, I learned how to take care of the house and prepare dinner before they got home.
Fortunately, I had a very wise mother who instilled in me a strong appreciation for education. When I was in second grade, I acted up a lot, but they ended up passing me anyway. When my mom asked the teacher why, she said that she just liked me and my big, brown eyes. That wasn't good enough for my mother. From that point on, I always did my homework before going out to play.
When I got into high school, there were two people who deeply affected my future. One was a football coach, who persuaded me to join the team. The other was a teacher who pushed me to take harder courses in order to challenge myself and prepare me for college. Both of these influences led me to Vanderbilt University.
Sometime during my college football career, I began to realize that there was a real chance that I could play professionally. Scouts were calling and the draft was being talked about. When draft day came, though, I was passed over.
So I decided to enter as a free agent. The only problem was that I was working and playing so hard that it took a toll on my body. This led to me being released, which was the hardest period of my life. I went from being the big man on campus who was always accepted to being rejected.
I just couldn't bring myself to return to Nashville, so I went to live with an uncle in Atlanta. While I was there, my agent called and said that a Canadian team wanted me to come play for them.
The team that I ended up playing for had a Bible study after each game. One of the guys would always ask me to come, but I would usually just make up some excuse. After a year of this, he came up to me on the day of our first game of the second season and asked again. I told him I couldn't come, but he interrupted me and said, "Listen, I know you aren't actually doing anything. Just come once and give it a chance." So I did. And I never missed one after that. What I learned from God's Word brought me closer and closer to him.
Later that year, I was sponsored to go to an Athletes in Action conference. It was here that I gave up trying to do everything for myself-that I gave up having to have everything be in my time. I was empty and lonely and when I decided to follow Jesus, I knew peace and I knew friendship.
The next day, my agent called and said that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers wanted me. This was perfect timing, because it brought Tony Dungy into my life. From him, I learned how to follow Jesus, and how to be a man, a husband, and a father. I believe that this is why the Lord brought me here.
One of the things I've learned is that God has his own timing that doesn't always match my own.
One of our linebackers was consistently going to the Pro Bowl year after year and even though he invited me to go along, I didn't want to go until I had made it on my own merits. Finally, after being passed over several times, I concluded that I just wasn't going to get invited, so I took him up on his offer and take my family along for the ride.
I was eating at one of the restaurants there when my agent called. I hadn't done anything to get fined for and my contract wasn't changing, so I had no clue why he was calling. "They want you to play in the Pro Bowl, but the only thing is that you have to be on a flight that leaves in an hour and a half. Can you do it?"
"I'm already in Hawaii," I told him. I couldn't believe it. One of my dreams was coming true and God just worked out the details before I even knew what he was doing.
As a Pro Scout for the Buccaneers now, I continue to learn that the Lord's timing is always perfect. He has a plan for his entire creation, all the way down to you and me. We can trust him with our plans and we can trust him with our lives.
Return to Top
.......................................................................................................
 Jose D. Barreda
I grew up in a home that valued and respected traditional religious values. Since most of my life I was raised by a single parent, my mother made sure that I was raised to have reverence to God and to follow our religious beliefs. At the age of ten, I played on a little league baseball team where I met a friend, Dan Reaves, who was a positive influence in my life and who a few years later was the person that brought me to know Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior.
It was in ninth grade at the age of thirteen, that Dan became the influence that changed my life. We both played basketball on the school team. During this year I faced some hard trials in my life; my parents had divorced and split our family and my mother had a major operation. Dan, his brother Tom, and his parents reached out to me during this season of my life. They would see me waiting alone after practice or before a game and would show their concern by inviting me over to their house to eat before a game. This act of kindness opened my eyes to experience a Christian home. One day after practice, Dan invited me to a Youth for Christ Rally in Orlando. It was at this rally that I heard the testimony of a professional basketball player about how he had experienced the love and acceptance of Jesus Christ. After the message, Dan invited me to give my life to Jesus as my Savior and Lord. I willingly gave my life to the Lord that night.
After this personal encounter I became passionate about sharing what happened in my life. There was a sense of urgency in my heart to bring others to this new way of life. I am grateful that my Sunday school teacher's method of teaching God's Word gave me a deep hunger to know more about the Lord and I began reading his Word daily. Fortunately there were great leaders in our church that influenced me to search the Scriptures in order to make them relevant to many areas of my life. In this church, our pastor would always preach on the importance of having both a city and a world view, by emphasizing praying for our city and reaching our city for the Lord. This became part of my lifestyle as I attended high school.
Upon graduation, I chose to attend a Christian college in order to know more about the Bible and how to effectively tell others the good news about how Jesus Christ defeated sin and death. It was at this college that I met my wife, Marla, and we began developing a desire to reach schools for the Lord. We began going into the local high schools after school with outreach events and established Bible study groups.
During our last two years in college and upon graduating, we worked in churches with this same vision. For over twenty-five years we have worked with local churches to help bring in youth and their families through the schools. Since 1995, my wife and I felt the call to give our lives to this generation by serving and ministering to those God has called into the educational profession through the Ministry of Christ's Ambassadors to Youth International (CA2Y). Through CA2Y we have served with Educator's Prayer Network, (EPN) and a discipleship training called LINK, (Living In a New Kingdom) allowing us to see the Lord raise up leaders in the schools with the same passion. It is a privilege that God has allowed us to know him through his Spirit and his Word, and by his grace we have the benefit to continue in this life ministry today.
Return to Top
.......................................................................................................
 Tracy Anderson
I had always wanted a family, but I was sure it wasn't going to happen for me. It wasn't because there weren't any prospects. I just didn't believe in myself. More importantly, I didn't believe that God was bigger than my insecurities.
Having been raised in a Christian home, my family was in church as often as the doors were open. When I was nine my brother and my father sat me down and explained to me in more detail who Jesus was and what he wanted from me. That's when I came to believe that Jesus was King and Savior.
Because I loved my father so much, one of my dreams was to see one of his grandchildren take his name. I figured that it would have to be one of my brothers' children since I didn't have much confidence in a future family of my own.
That's why I became depressed when my brother and sister-in-law decided to stop after only one child-a daughter, though she was special.
This announcement came after several years of wandering away from God's true desire for my life and trying to find acceptance in so-called friends. I was ignoring God's desire for what my life should be. When I thought I knew that there would be no namesake for my father, my reaction was to numb the pain through alcohol. I was so depressed over this that one night I went biking at 11:30 and got mugged. That's when God got a hold of me and brought me back down the right path through his mercy and love.
Two years later, I started attending another church and there I met my future wife, Candice Mary Collins. When we started dating, I actually began to let myself hope for that family that I'd always wanted. Today, I have a daughter and four sons, the oldest of which is named after my father, James Terrel Anderson.
Sometimes, I wish my story ended there, but in 2008 my beautiful Candy died and went on to dwell with her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Needless to say, this past year has been hard and there's no way I would ever be making it through if it wasn't for God's peace, the peace of God that surpasses all understanding (see the Letter to the Philippians), and my church family.
God has taken me from an insecure, single guy to a man who knows that the Lord's will is good and worthy to be trusted. And my church family has come alongside me and my children, providing us with meals, helping us with schooling, and tending to our hearts.
Despite all these circumstances, I remember some of my wife's favorite words from the Bible: I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth (From John's Third Letter). Our prayer is that they be drawn closer to God each and every day.
Return to Top
.......................................................................................................
 Dexter Bryant
I grew up in a poor community in Apopka, Florida, where I started picking oranges as soon as I was old enough to work. On Sundays, we had many people over to our house, but it wasn't for the Christian fellowship. It was for my father's moonshine.
Because alcohol was such an important part of our house, I began drinking when I was eight or nine years old. I had no ambitions, no dreams, so I didn't have much of a direction in life. I only found a purpose after I went to prison for stealing from my employer. I was twenty-two when I opened the Bible and read, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life" (from the Gospel of John).
Those words changed my world. I realized that, no matter what I'd done, God still wanted me. "I am the LORD, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?" (from the Book of Jeremiah in the Old Testament). Having first encountered this question in prison, I have found the answer to be my constant hope: absolutely nothing is too hard for God.
As I got closer to getting out of prison, I started wondering what I was going to do. I knew that God would never leave me, so as I went into the work release center, I carried this comfort with me. That's when I found out about Abe Brown Ministries. They picked me up and gave me a place to stay even though I was a criminal.
After serving my time, I got a permanent job with the City of Tampa, Solid Waste Department. In fact, it's been so permanent that I've been blessed to have this job for twenty-one years.
These days, I'm trying to give to the community what God has given to me: hope. I have the privilege of teaching kids life skills, coaching basketball for Brooks DeBartolo Collegiate High School, and partnering with Abe Brown Ministries to go into prisons and speak to the men there.
It has also been my privilege to raise children who want to bring hope to their worlds, too. My son is studying Child Psychology at Florida State University so he can give back to his community.
Because God rescued me from a hopeless situation, it is my calling to bring hope to those in prison, and to the rest of the world. "And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us" (from the Letter to the Romans).
Return to Top
|
|
|
![Our City, God's Word - The New Testament [Home]](images/tampa-bay_01.gif)
