![\"Sports](\"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/IMG_2215-copy.jpg\")
<\/a>Among the sports camp leaders were well-known athletic icons, including Robert McCullum, head basketball coach at Florida A&M University; Kenny Berry, defensive back for the University of Miami; and Vantz Singletary, assistant head football coach at Trinity International University.<\/p>\nAlso, Julian Jackson, three-time world boxing champion from the U.S. Virgin Islands, along with his undefeated prot\u00e9g\u00e9, Deion Pruitt, were a popular draw for those participating in the athletic outreach.<\/p>\n
Jackson, with a major roadway named in his honor in St. Thomas, is a \u201cstrong, godly Christian man that God has used in many ways,\u201d Singletary said.<\/p>\n
Intermingled with athletic instruction and practice were several evangelistic messages. Many of the children and youth had never heard the gospel and listened intently as some of their athletic heroes shared about their faith in Jesus, with numerous young people making professions of faith.<\/p>\n
Men\u2019s conference<\/p>\n
Baptist leaders in St. Thomas initiated the idea of conducting a men\u2019s conference, something that had never been done on the island prior to this year\u2019s event.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to empower men to be leaders,\u201d said Andrew George, pastor of Trinity Baptist Church in St. Thomas, acknowledging that many men on the island often look at \u201cchurch\u201d as being for women and children.<\/p>\n
The Thursday and Friday evening through Saturday morning men\u2019s conference focused on topics including finances, relationships and physical and emotional health from a biblical perspective.<\/p>\n
St. Thomas church leaders planned the event, said Myles Dowdy, Florida Baptists\u2019 lead catalyst for missions and ministries.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just came beside them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Local leaders, including doctors and church and community civic leaders, as well as Florida Baptist leaders served as conference speakers.<\/p>\n
The men\u2019s conference was not without challenges. As Dowdy began to speak on Friday evening, the electricity flickered out, with lights going dark and the air conditioner\u2019s gentle whirring coming to a silent end.<\/p>\n
\u201cI couldn\u2019t see the back of the room,\u201d Dowdy laughed. But, sensing that \u201cSatan didn\u2019t want the men to hear,\u201d conference leaders persevered, and the men not only showed up but also stayed to hear the speakers throughout the dark and warm evening.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou could see God was in it,\u201d said Pastor George. \u201cEven with the interruption (the loss of electrical power), there was really no interruption at all.\u201d<\/p>\n
A highlight of the men\u2019s conference for George was \u201cseeing the men open up,\u201d even embracing each other as they shared about relationships and personal challenges.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a God thing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Pastor George\u2019s wife, Sherryl, said her \u201ctakeaway\u201d from this year\u2019s men\u2019s conference was, \u201cIt took too long to have such a conference. Men do want relationships with other men; they\u2019re just not open about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The conference, Dowdy said, \u201cwas a great tool to strengthen the lives and bring men together in the Virgin Islands.\u201d<\/p>\n
Comments from participants on a post-event survey indicate great interest for the men\u2019s conference to be held again.<\/p>\n
Invigorated by the response to this year\u2019s inaugural approach of holding a children\u2019s sports camp in conjunction with a men\u2019s conference, local St. Thomas church leaders are already looking forward to a similar event in 2023.<\/p>\n
But, first, leaders from all five Baptist churches in St. Thomas are following up with those who made professions of faith\u2014building relationships, answering questions, encouraging them in their newfound faith.<\/p>\n
And rippling the baptismal waters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Just as the turquoise waters of the U.S. Virgin Islands ripple in the Caribbean sunlight, the baptismal waters also are rippling in St. Thomas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":108,"featured_media":39439,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2621,47,17,25,746],"tags":[2516,2517,387],"class_list":["post-39438","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archive","category-region-central","category-missions","category-stories","category-region-us-virgin-islands","tag-sports-camps","tag-st-thomas","tag-trinity-baptist-church"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39438","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/108"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39438"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39438\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":67512,"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39438\/revisions\/67512"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39438"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39438"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}