One year ago, shortly after Hurricane Florence battered our region, former Major League Baseball standout Darryl Strawberry delivered a message of hope to a packed house at Pate Stadium.
This year, C.L. “Shep” Shepherd will take the podium at the Fellowship of Christian Athletes “Fields of Faith” event.
Shepherd, a former NFL player, will be the featured speaker at the FCA’s annual event that begins at 6:45 p.m. on Tuesday night at Pate Stadium. Sheppard and others associated with the FCA will provide testimony in between worship sessions.
Shepherd has a powerful story to share.
He played for the NFL’s Detroit Lions and Tampa Bay Buccaneers after a successful collegiate career at Florida Atlantic University. But it wasn’t easy to get to that point. As one of 15 siblings, Shepherd grew up in poverty. His father was imprisoned until he was 12 years old.
Shepherd faced some difficult situations while dealing with the lack of a father figure in his life. But Shepherd eventually turned his life around and became a star football player before earning a scholarship offer from FAU, where he is now a member of the athletics Hall of Fame.
The FCA has pulled in an impressive lineup of guests at the “Fields of Faith” event over the years. Strawberry, former Clemson football coach Tommy Bowden and North Carolina football chaplain Mitch Mason have been among the guests in recent years. Paul Lemmond, the FCA’s area director for Scotland County, always does an exceptional job of giving his group the resources to make this annual event successful.
He also does a good job of bringing in speakers that young adults can relate to — speakers who have seen the best and worst of times, who have powered through adversity and dedicated themselves to helping others do the same.
Thankfully, Scotland County is in a better place than it was at this time last year, when high winds and flood waters had caused significant damage to the local communities. Even in the wake of that devastation, hundreds turned out for Strawberry’s appearance last year. Student-athletes, coaches, parents and other community members took in a powerful message that was much-needed at the time.
Hopefully there will be another big turnout for Tuesday’s festivities. The message will certainly be worthwhile to listen to, especially for Scotland’s young athletes who can learn from Shepherd’s triumphs and mistakes.
