After viewing With God Nothing is Impossible: The Marvin Andrews Story, Warrior Nation member Joann Charles decided to share it with the youth congregation of her church. Joann was so moved by the film that she felt that it could be used as a motivational and inspirational tool. The screening was held at the Morvant Open Bible Church on the Rock, Lady Young Road on Sunday, September 9th 2007. Here is her recap of the proceedings.


Why did you decide to show the film?
Our community of Morvant is known for its athletes, and because of this, sport evangelism is one of the tools that we use to motivate our residents. In addition, we have forged a partnership with Malick Secondary Comprehensive where our co-Pastor Kate Agard was a teacher for many years.

What did you hope to achieve?
This was an occasion to motivate the youths of the community by showing them that a world of opportunities is available to them. They would be able to witness one of their own go from humble beginnings in San Juan to the world stage. In addition, it would let them know that God places individuals in your life to help you accomplish your goals. An example of that is Mr. Tim Nafziger who purchased the ticket for Marvin to originally go to Scotland. Despite all of the fame that Marvin has acquired, he has not turned his back on God and he puts him first in all of his decisions.

Who was in the audience?
Most of the audience was comprised of members of the church's Youth Department, but there were some adults present due to the fact that an open invitation was extended to the entire community.

What was the general reaction to the film?
The comments were extremely positive and it was felt that the film should be shown to the general public. It was actually shown on NCC Channel 4's Morning Programme on a public holiday back in May, but I suspect that the viewership was very small, so I doubt many people are aware of its existence.

What kind of comments was made?
Here are some of the noteworthy comments that were made:

1. "His grandmother planted the seed for his spirituality, which reminds me of Proverbs 22:6 which states Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it".
2. "It is important to keep your promises to God. The Rangers players promised to go to church if they won the league, but never did".
3. "It shows the importance of knowing God’s voice and being obedient to that voice. The decisions not to go to Dundee when they wanted him and to return to Raith Rovers after playing for Rangers appear to be made by a madman, but Marvin was just following God".
4. "Regardless of where you are, you can always talk to others about the teachings of Jesus Christ".
5. Don Leo said "I operate in a secular environment so I cannot glorify God", but even he felt the power of Marvin’s prayers.

Would you think about inviting Marvin to speak at your church?
Yes, Yes, Yes.

Comments from Joann:
For me it was truly inspirational knowing that Marvin and I grew up in the same community. I never knew him personally, but the fact that someone from Irving Street, Petit Bourg, San Juan has accomplished so much is amazing. In addition, his unwavering faith in Jesus Christ and his openness in admitting his devotion is an inspiration to me and it is an example that I can follow.

I smiled when I heard the comment from his former coach at Livingston "He will never be a great passer of the ball.", because there have been a number of times that I have cringed while watching Marvin make bad passes.

He really needs to market this DVD locally, especially to churches and football teams. The response from my congregation has been amazing and I have no doubt that other people will have similar reactions. It would be great to have him share his testimony in our church, and I hope that it will be possible in the near future.

Dog on the Rock

Written by Joann Charles

Saturday, 05 July 2008

var sburl1027 = window.location.href; var sbtitle1027 = document.title; var sbtitle1027=encodeURIComponent("Dog on the Rock"); var sburl1027=decodeURI("http://www.thewarriornation.com/content/view/171/"); sburl1027=sburl1027.replace(/amp;/g, "");sburl1027=encodeURIComponent(sburl1027); digg_url = 'http://www.thewarriornation.com/content/view/171/'; In September 2007, I showed Marvin Andrews’ DVD, With God All Things are Possible, to my church's Youth Group. At the end of the viewing, I vowed to get Marvin to visit the Morvant Open Bible Church on the Rock and speak to the Youth Group the next time he was in the country. James 2:20 reads “But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?”. Using that as my impetus, I attempted to contact Marvin through the Raith Rovers Fan club, but I was put in touch with one of his associates. Funnily enough, the associate thought that I wanted a copy of the DVD. After correcting her assumption and making the request for Marvin's presence at the church, the waiting game began. Fast forward to June 15, 2008 at the Marvin Lee Stadium. While making my way into the stadium to witness our first 2010 World Cup Qualifier against Bermuda, I happen to notice that Marvin along with other Soca Warriors (Brent Sancho, Cyd Gray etc.) were also attending the match. At the end of the game I went over to Marvin and reminded him of my request for him to speak at the church. He promptly confirmed that he would be there on Sunday June 22nd, 2008 at 1:00 PM. Marvin showed up at the appointed time, and after a time of Worship, which doubled as a filler for our Youth colleagues from Claxton Bay Open Bible who had some transportation problems, Marvin shared the following scriptures and teachings: 1. Obedience is important. Ephesians 6:1-3, “1Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. 2Honour thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise; 3That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.” 2. Your greatest enemy could be your friend. He told us a story about a “friend” who encouraged him to skip training and lime with him. While Marvin is now based in Scotland, the friend is still at the same position. 3. Always believe in yourself, God has given each of us talents. Matthew 5:15, “Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.” The parable of the talent was used to illustrate his point. 4. The devil wants to destroy you. John 10:10, “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” When the Claxton Bay youths arrived, they peppered the Soca Warrior and former Rangers star with questions like: 1. How old are you? Answer: 32. 2. What is your marital status? Answer: Single. 3. How do you deal with the females who are attracted to athletes? 4. How do keep your Christianity while on the field? 5. How many Christians are there on your team? Answer: Him alone, but he believes that God has given him a great opportunity to minister to them and he believes the seed has been planted. 6. What type of knee injury did you have? Answer: Ruptured ACL. 7. Do you think that Christian footballers could get a team for the Pro League? Answer: Yes, it can happen but there are some issues that must be addressed before it can become a reality. 8. What are your plans after football? Answer:Plans to work with youths, which may involve some aspect of football. 9. How long have you been a Christian? 10. Why did Don Leo not play Latas? Answer: Probably because Beenhakker believed Latapy would not contribute defensively. 11. If you were the coach would you have played Latas? Answer: Yes. I know my fellow Warrior Nation members, especially Big Magician, would be interested in Marvin’s response to question 11. He said yes, he would have played Latas, a little bit behind Stern. He also compared Latas to Messi in that they both do not have a defensive game, but when the football is at their feet, watch out! After spending a little under two hours with us we prayed with him and gave him a couple tokens to remember us by. I organized the session for my youths as I felt that they would benefit from hearing from Marvin live. I have seen the DVD, read the book and numerous articles so my role was facilitator but some of the things he shared did hit a nerve and I too was inspired by his presentation and believe that I am a better person for hearing him live. On behalf of the Pastor, Board, and congregation of the Morvant Open Bible Church on the Rock, we thank Marvin for inspiring all of us, and wish him all the best.