College basketball season is winding down but not the focus on faith for many coaches. Pastor Tony Evans and broadcaster Clark Kellogg were the featured speakers at the first-ever National Day of Prayer for College Coaches recently.
Evans gave a sermon at the virtual event, where he talked about Jeremiah 29:11, how there is hope and a plan for Christians even amid the country falling away from God. Calling Jeremiah 29 a “dark chapter,” he talked about how it was a dark time for Israel as they fell away from God and began to follow idols instead. In this dark time, God promised that those who stay true to him had a future and a hope and that God had a plan for them.
The event was started by Murray Garvin, the head coach of South Carolina State’s men’s basketball team, to help bring Christians together through a unified day of prayer amid the pandemic. “I knew that if I was struggling that other coaches are struggling,” he told Sports Spectrum. “I just wanted to do something to reach the masses.”
This collective struggle because of the pandemic is what led him to organize the National Day of Prayer for College Coaches.
“It was just a tough year,” Garvin said. “And so when Go ]said, ‘Do something bigger than your friends,’ I texted about five people. I said, ‘We’ve got to pray. God laid it on my heart that we need to pray for all coaches.’”
According to the event’s website, “Clark Kellogg and Dr. Tony Evans led the first National Day of Prayer for College Coaches. Join us virtually as we set aside 30 minutes to come together as a college basketball community. This moment of prayer is for every coach from every background in every division on every team and for every person who has the heart to lift up college coaches. Let’s join together in faith — for strength, hope, healing, families and the courage to lead.”
–Alan Goforth | Metro Voice
