August 21 - Manassas vs. St. George (Game Final Score 12-24): The Manassas Tigers kicked off their 2009 season Friday night in a game against St. George’s. While the Tigers came up short, 24-12, they showed a lot of heart.

After falling behind 14-0 in the first quarter, the Tigers changed up their defense and outplayed St. George’s the rest of the way.  The Tigers scored on nice runs by both Antonio and Will. Having to play from behind in the 4th quarter, the Tigers were forced into a couple of key turnovers which took away any hopes they had of coming back to pull out a victory.

It was a tough lose for the Tigers. However, they have the heart, talent, and dedication to bounce back and put together a nice season.The Tigers received great support from both their North Memphis Community and the people of Hope Church. The crowd was large and was ready to cheer the Tigers on to victory.

A huge thank you to all that came out. The next game is Friday, September 4 in Jackson, Tn against Trinity Christian. The next game in the Memphis area will be Friday, September 18 at BTW against Trezevant. Please mark your calendar and plan to join us.

Wow!!  I just recently returned from 7 days at Kids Across America Camp near Branson, MO, with 10 of our inner city kids, and I have to admit…it was truly an amazing week!!  Oh, believe me, I was filled with a lot of anxiety all summer long leading up to our July departure (Me??  Going to summer camp????), but I had a feeling that God wanted me to experience this week right alongside these kids in our ministry that I have grown so close to over the last few years.  And what an experience it was!!

KAA is a Christian camp located on a picturesque mountaintop, far from civilization–but the place itself is anything but dull and quiet.  The moment we arrived, camp counselors dressed in crazy costumes, chanting and singing, descended on our vans and literally carried our kids away on their shoulders.  Some of the older kids who had been to camp before knew this was going to happen, but the younger, first-time campers were a little wide-eyed at this point, to say the least!  And the counselors’ enthusiasm never died down all week!

This year’s camp theme was “Walk It Out,” based on Ephesians 5:8-”For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light.”-and the kids (& me!) were exposed to fun activities and new challenges throughout the week. They were placed in cabins with different campers from across the country, they triumphed over “The Blob” at the pool, they mastered “The Treetops” and zip line, and in the evenings they were challenged by awesome young speakers and their cabin leaders who spoke of God and the real day-to-day issues facing urban kids-and gave practical advice on how to “walk it out” with Jesus when they got back home to their everyday lives.  And of course, there was no shortage of camp cheers, crazy games in the dining hall, and dancing and singing to loud Christian hip-hop and rap music piped throughout the camp!

On the 6-hour ride back home to Memphis, everyone was excitedly and proudly telling each other about the many fun and challenging things they did all week, and also what they learned about how to truly live your life as a Christian.  As for me, I felt proud of myself, too…for surviving a whole week of camp!  But even more than that, I felt humbled and blessed to have been given the opportunity to go through this amazing experience with these kids-each one of them a uniquely special child of God!  Please pray that the passion for Jesus that was ignited in their hearts continues to burn strongly in the upcoming days and years of their lives.

This past weekend I had the unbelievable blessing of living the ManRise camp up close and personal. It all started a year ago after attending the opening dinner at the ManRise camp. My wife received an email looking for folks to attend the dinner. She thought it was something right up my alley. So not knowing at all what I was getting myself into, I headed off to the dinner on a Thursday night in late July, 2008. My life has been changed ever since.

You see, ManRise camp is part of our urban outreach opportunities at Hope. We host the Manassas high school football team for 4 days. That’s right, 65 young African American males and their coaching staff leave the Caldwell Community for the comforts of Hope Church. While at camp, the guys do plenty of football stuff. But the real value is the life lessons they learn while at Hope. Thru faith based teachings, they talk about how to be a better dad, son, and teammate. The learn how to treat a woman. But most importantly, they get another chance to learn about our heavenly Father.

So after meeting three of the guys at camp in July, 2008, I was hooked. The boys display such character and quality you can’t help but be impressed. And when they realize how much we care for them at Hope and are willing to show them some love and support, it immediately becomes a win-win for all of us.

We organized a small group of folks from Hope and went down to BTW stadium to attend several of their games. We showed them some support just by being there, and they showed us some love by recognizing us in the stands. But the highlight was being invited to join them on the field for their post game prayer. The boys had put together a magical season and ended the year at 9-1. So when they lost in a heart breaker in the first round of the playoffs, we all cried together.

Earlier this year, the coaches approached me about coordinating this year’s camp. Without hesitation, I jumped at the opportunity. After all, having been blessed to spend time with this group of young men, how could I say no?

What a weekend Camp turned out to be. I got to get up each day at 6:00 AM and have lights out at midnight. In between that, I got to drive a tram, set up the football fields, install temporary showers, fill water bottles, run the chain gang, sit in on chalk chalks, be a small group leader, and eat like you wouldn’t believe. And that’s just the beginning.

The weekend is about giving the boys a chance to grow closer as a team, work on their football skills, and grow as a young man. But what the weekend is really about is watching the volunteers fall in love with these guys and leave Hope so much better off for having volunteered their time.

These are quality young men working hard to be better football players. But more importantly, they are working hard to become better young men. Or as the theme of camp focused on … to become Uncommon Men.  Young men that really begin to learn how much God loves them. And why it’s so important to let God into their lives. These boys face struggles on a daily basis that most of will never really appreciate. But they face it straight on and keep moving forward. They are working hard to be better teammates, better students, better sons, better fathers, better leaders, and better role models. But what they are really working to be are better sons of our Lord and Savior.

For me personally, it was a weekend I will never forget. These boys gave me an experience of a life time. So yes, we will work hard to get the word out and get folks to come out to some games and cheer them on to victory. But win or lose on the field, these boys are well on their way to being winners in life.

So to the Manassas Tigers football team and coaching staff, I say THANKS. Thank you for making my life richer by allowing me to be a part of your life.

May God bless you and keep you safe this season. Go Tigers!!!!

Samantha recently volunteered at ManRise Football Camp.  Following is her response: ManRise was AWESOME this weekend!  I so enjoyed being around the guys and getting a little window into their world.  I have two daughters so I was really on foreign territory altogether.  I also never realized how heavy water was until I was the “water girl” at the scrimmage games!  I love football but I’d never been actually on the sidelines of a game before.  It was super exciting.  I’m so glad the guys got to experience that and even more glad that I got to.  I will now make it an absolute priority to be at as many of their games this year as I can.  Maybe I can get my arms back into shape by toting water.  J

Thanks!

Samantha