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Power Team Brings Strong Message
BENDING STEEL--Power Team Members Willie Raines (left) and Mark Sherwood (right) bend a 1 inch steel rod around the neck of Matt Dopson. Craig Lemley looks on from the back.
POWER TEAM MEMBERS were (l-r) Matt Dopson, Willie Raines, Craig Lemley and Mark Sherwood. The Power Team took Floyd and surrounding counties by storm this past week and packed out the Unity Center each night of their 5 day crusade. The Crusade opened Wednesday, August 21, to a respectful crowd of 550 in attendance. The Team, consisting of Craig Lemley, Mark Sherwood, Matt Dopson, and Willie Raines, challenged the crowd to bring more each night. The group's "evangelist", Craig Lemley, told the audience, "If you do your part, we'll do ours." By Sunday night the Unity Center was packed with an audience of 1,350 people, and true to his word the Power Team did their part. Each night brought new and more challenging feats of strength and a new message of Christ's love, deliverance, and faithfulness, from each one of the team members. Lemley, who is 6'2" and weighs 265 lbs., can bench press over 500 pounds. He has been an Oklahoma State Body Building Champion and was recruited to play Professional Arena League Football in 1995. He also holds the record for breaking ice and concrete with his head. Lemley closed every evening with a powerful message to the audience which brought over 500 to the altar in the five night period. One night, Lemley used his bare hands to drive nails into a board to illustrate his vivid story of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Using himself as an example, Lemley said at the point he asked Christ into his life he saw a vision of the face of the soldier who was driving the nails into Christ's hands. "That face was my own," said Lemley. Each team member's individual personality shown thru their personal testimonies. There was a salvation message for everyone. Six foot, 290 lb., Willie Raines bends steel bars with his bare hands and bench presses 600 pounds. Although he can smash 6 foot walls of concrete with his bare hands, he was not too tough to share his story of drug use, drug dealing, and prison. It was in prison that Willie said he knelt down on one knee and asked for forgiveness. He was rewarded with a changed heart and life and is now reaching thousands of youth in school assemblies and crusades with his message of turning from drugs and alcohol. Sunday night at the close of Lemley's message, Raines was handcuffed and broke through to symbolize breaking away from the bondage of sin. Raines also brought the crowd to their feet with cheers of encouragement when he dead lifted a log weighing over 300 pounds one night, and pressed it over his head. He returned another night and pressed the log 10 times. Mark Sherman, a 6', 245 lb., sharpshooter with the Tulsa Police Department amazed the audience by ripping up license plates and breaking through burning concrete blocks with his head. At one point a "do-rag" on his scalp caught on fire causing the audience to shout, "His head is on fire!" A quick reaction from another team member and a fire extinguisher put the fire out. Sherman, who was also a catcher with the Texas Rangers for many years, shared a testimony of Christ's "sustaining love". Twenty year old Matt Dopson was the youngest member of the team. Raised in the home of a pastor, Dopson's testimony was one of turning "back to God" when an injury forced him from the football career he had chosen. Dopson stands 6'3" and weighs 315 lbs. He can leg press 2,200 pounds. Breaking through concrete and boards, Dopson also blew up hot water bottles and curled up 1 inch steel bars. Dopson also encouraged the youth to follow his example of never having smoked or taken a drink of alcohol. Dopson preached abstinence and was greeted by cheers when he told the Unity Center crowd and school assemblies that he was a virgin. Dopson's testimony also included beautiful songs, which he sang acapella. The Power Team Crusade is rated by ESPN as the number one school production in the athletic field. They have a weekly TV program that airs in ten countries. The Power Team was founded by John Jacobs Evangelistic Association and reaches out to young audiences with their message: '"Say 'no' to drugs suicide and teen sex, and say 'yes' to academic excellence and clean living". There are 20 members on the Power Team. The Team has spoken, and performed, at 15,000 school assemblies. While in Floyd County the team of four spoke at assemblies in Floydada, Lockney, Petersburg, Hale Center, Motley County and Valley School. The four members of this team were brought to the Unity Center through the efforts, and donations, of individuals and churches in Floyd County. According to organizer Kyle Brock, the cost to bring the team to an area runs approximately $10,000. The cost covers the materials for the stage and props, etc. Churches in Floydada and Lockney joined forces with large amounts of volunteer help and other monetary backing. The First Baptist Church in Lockney and Floydada, and the First United Methodist Church in Lockney and Floydada, used their resources to help. Trinity Assembly in Floydada was also a part of the team. Months of planning and very hard work brought the Power Team to Floyd County and organizers were not disappointed. "It just goes to show what can happen when the Body of Christ comes together," said Brock. "I can't thank the people enough who gave of their time, talent, and gifts." The work behind the scenes involved at least 11 teams of various responsibilities. There was an usher team, altar workers, materials team and stage crew, hospitality team, technical team, publicity, and products. "Our materials team also followed the Power Team to their school assemblies and brought in props and cleaned up at each school," said Brock. However, Brock gives the majority of the credit for the success of the crusade to prayer. "This all started with a group of men that get together once a week to pray for their school and community," said Brock. "Our prayer was always, 'Show us what we can do'. Prayer didn't stop with the arrival of the Power Team. Every night, all through the crusade, a prayer team kept praying until it was over. That is the reason so many lives were touched."
 LOCKNEY
YOUTH CENTER DIRECTOR ELOY FELAN (left) accepts a donation
of $5,000 from Jinna Sue Turner (right). Turner presented
the check on behalf of City Bank Lockney. The money will be
used to buy equipment inside the Youth Center.
JAMES DAVIS Services for James Davis, 54, of Fort Worth were held at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at A.W. Wilson Chapel of Jamison's Funeral Home in Lubbock with the Rev. Anthony Coleman officiating and the Rev. John Williams assisting. Burial was in Forest Lawn Cemetery in Floydada under the direction of Jamison's Funeral Home of Lubbock. He died Monday, Aug. 12, 2002. He was born July 20, 1948, in Jefferson. Survivors include his wife, Carmen Johnson; his mother, Dora Davis of Floydada; four sons, Anthony Coleman of Tyler and Darrell Faucette, Kathan Johnson and Quinton Johnson, all of Fort Worth; two daughters, Latasha Johnson of Sacramento, California, and Latasha Lake of Fort Worth; two brothers, Willie A. Jr. of Matador and Thomas Jefferson Davis of Fort Worth; two sisters, Vela Mae Ware of Wichita Falls and Ellawise Davis of Floydada; and nine grandchildren. JUANITA HENRY Graveside services for Juanita Belle Shurbet Henry, 85, of Houston were at 10:00 a.m. Saturday, August 24, 2002 at Floydada Cemetery in Floydada with Reverend Ione Sedinger officiating. Arrangements were under the direction of Moore-Rose-White Funeral Home of Floydada. Mrs. Henry died Thursday, August 22, 2002 in Houston. She was born on October 21, 1916 in Floyd County to the late Jess B. and Janie Ryals Shurbet. She graduated from Floydada High School. She was married to George Lee Henry for 46 years. They married on October 3, 1937 in Amarillo. He preceded her in death on March 23, 1983. She was a homemaker and a member of the Methodist Church. Juanita lived in Houston during her later years, but most of her life was spent in Floydada and Wellington. She was preceded in death by one grandson, Greg Daves. Survivors include two sons, Ray Henry and wife, Dr. Gail Brown of Austin and Kenneth Dale Henry; one daughter, Myrna Sartain and husband, Jim of Houston; one sister, Glenna Mae Orman of Floydada; six grandchildren; nine great-grandchildren, and two great-great-grandchildren. The family suggests memorials to a worthy charity. MARIA OLGA PENA Services for Mario Olga Pena, 54, of Lubbock, were at 10:00 a.m. Friday, August 23, 2002 at the Templo Getsemani Assembly of God in Floydada with Pastor Arturo Pardo officiating. Burial was in Floydada Cemetery under the direction of Moore-Rose-White Funeral Home of Floydada. Mrs. Pena died Tuesday, August 20, 2002 at Covenant Medical Center in Lubbock. She was born October 27, 1947 in Edcouch. She married Ramon Pena on April 30, 1976 in Floydada. She moved to Lubbock in 1985. She was a homemaker and an Apostolic. She was preceded in death by her father, Higinio Villarreal. Survivors include her husband, Ramon Pena of Lubbock; her mother, Josephine Bursiaga of Floydada; seven daughters, Maria Gamez of Abilene, Lupe Cervantez of Hereford, Julia Bermudez of Mission, Virginia Granadez of Wellington, Bertha Martinez of Hereford, Rachel Rodriquez of Amarillo and Michelle Pena of Lubbock; three brothers, Eloy Villarreal of Amarillo and Billy Joe Villarreal Sr. and Fernando Arvizu both of Floydada; three sisters, Rosa Duran and Selma Mendoza both of Floydada and Lucy Villarreal of Amarillo; and 27 grandchildren. TOMMIE TINNIN Memorial services for Tommie R. Tinnin, 86, of Lubbock will be at 3:00 p.m. Thursday at Second Baptist Church, Second Center, 5300 Elgin, with Mr. Walter Goodnight officiating. Inurnment will be Saturday August 31, 2002 in Floydada Cemetery. Cremation is under the direction of Resthaven Funeral Home of Lubbock. She died on August 25, 2002 in Lubbock. She was born on May 8, 1916 in Shamrock. She graduated from Floydada High School in 1934. She married John R. Tinnin on January 1, 1934. He preceded her in death in April of 1976. She was also preceded in death by an infant daughter, Connie Sue Tinnin. She was the social director at the Plantation House. She was a member of First United Methodist Church of Floydada. She worked for Southwestern Public Service for several years and was a homemaker for the majority of her life. She is survived by a daughter Ginger Harber of Lubbock, a son Johnnie "Rusty" Tinnin of Bell Ranch, N.M.; three sisters, Margie Hicks of Hot Springs, AR., Mildred Dillard of Midwest City, OK., and Jimmie Womack of Niantic, CT.; a brother Bill Hicks of Floydada; four grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. The family suggests memorials to the charity of your choice. The family will receive friends at the church from 2:00-3:00 before the services.
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First of all I would like to make a correction from the Public Hunting story we ran in last week's paper. In the first paragraph of the story (the first time I wrote it), the story said, "you won't need to have a lot of money to hunt in Floyd County" (because of new public hunting lands). In the rewrite and the cutting and pasting, the word "won't" was cut out. The sentence then said, "you need to have a lot of money to hunt in Floyd County." Sorry. My family and I were blessed this past week by the Power Team Crusade and by Power Team Matt Dopson in particular. We were fortunate to have Matt stay at our house during the crusade. Even though the team members ran from place to place from early morning until late at night, we still managed to visit with Matt a little. He touched our hearts. When we first volunteered to have a team member stay at our house I got a little worried about what to feed them. I mean, how do you feed a 6'3", 315 pound, 20 year old man? The Power Team Crusade organization sent a long list of do's and dont's for people trying to help out. It was full of all kinds of "healthy food" tips for those who would be feeding them. (As it turned out--none of our Power Team guys knew anything about this list--and they sure didn't pay any attention to it once they heard about it.) The families putting them up really only had to come up with breakfasts and snacks. Sounds easy doesn't it? I worried about what my family was going to think when I put a 7:00 a.m. breakfast out on the table for Matt and not for them. My husband said he knew the guys could rip apart license plates, but he wondered if they could rip open a bag of Pop Tarts. Anyway, the first day Matt arrived he let me off the hook right away. He said, "I don't really eat breakfast." Hallelujah! I asked him what he liked for snacks. He said, "Cookies and Cream Ice Cream." Thursday morning he ate a muffin, courtesy of Mary Carter's Sweet Corner in Lockney. He thought they were great. Friday morning Matt got up and fixed himself a huge bowl of ice cream. I said, "What are you eating for breakfast?! I'll be glad to fix you something," (which was a lie). Matt said, "It's ice cream. It's O.K., it's like drinking milk!" When the Power Team convoy arrived at the house to pick up Matt I ran outside to see if anyone wanted any Sweet Corner muffins for the road. "No thanks," was the reply. "We had a huge breakfast already. We had eggs and sausage", etc., etc. "Matt had a big breakfast too!" I said as Matt was crawling into the car. "He had a big bowl of ice cream!" "ICE CREAM!" said the older members of the team. "What are you doing buddy?" asked Mark Sherwood of the sheepish looking Matt. "Yeah," said leader Craig Lemley, "That's not on the list!" I tried to cover. "He said it's like drinking milk!" "Yeah, yeah," teased Craig. "We can always justify things." Before I get off the subject of the Power Team I want to thank everyone who had a hand in this Crusade. It was one of the best events I have ever been to in this County. I can't compliment everyone enough. The Power Team members were also appreciative and touched--and slightly surprised. They couldn't help but wonder who was going to show up when they saw that Unity Center sitting out in that field in the middle of nowhere. Being a rural area with low population I know they thought they may not have a very big crowd. They were not only pleasantly surprised by the numbers who came to the Unity Center, but they were also blessed by the hospitality of the communities. They were also very complimentary of the kids in the area schools they attended. They said the kids here were much more attentive and polite than most of the schools they attend. For those of you who have been wondering, the attendance at the Crusade was: 550 on Wednesday; 450 on Thursday; 750 on Friday; 650 on Saturday; and 1,350 on Sunday. Five hundred and thirty-seven people walked to the altar. Isn't it wonderful what can happen in this county when the communities cross that imaginary boundary and the church bodies join forces. The whole event was a testimony to cooperation, but most importantly to prayer. Thank you for blessing me.
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By Ken Towery Just for kicks, we figure we ought to faithfully report another immortal comment from our former President. It really should not be ignored, by us, of all people. Addressing a gathering of potential Jewish donors at a Democratic fund raiser, our former President got carried away with the emotion of the moment. So dedicated to Israel was he, he said, he would "grab a rifle and get in the trench and fight and die" (for Israel). The news stories we saw of the event did not relay the net effect of Mr. Clinton's comments, whether there was laughter or applause, or how much money flowed in as a result. But his statement about getting in the trenches and dying for Israel did elicit some editorial comment in various columns, one of which was from Linda Stasi in the New York Post, who suggested that Clinton head to Afghanistan, pick up a rifle, get in the trenches "and die for the country" he didn't "pick up a rifle for during the Vietnam War." Ms. Stasi must have gotten confused. Surely Mr. Clinton wouldn't have been that duplicitous. All those stories about Clinton lying to his draft board to stay out of uniform during the Vietnam War must have been made up by Hillary's "vast right-wing conspiracy." We can't think of any other explanation. Hillary said it, so it must be true. Both she and her husband continue to rake in millions from gullible Democrats. The last we heard he (Clinton) had taken $8 million from a sympathetic book publisher for a book that hasn't even been written yet, and Hillary got about that much for a book that hasn't been written yet either. In the meantime, while we eagerly await what they, or their speech writers, have to say, both continue to gather millions for their favorite politicians by making speeches hither and yon. And speaking of campaign fund raisers and fund raising, we are indebted to Ken Herman of the Austin American-Statesman for a Monday story about fund raising in Austin. Herman reports that all the Democratic statewide hopefuls, or nearly all of them, gathered at the Dell Jewish Community Center in Austin to pledge their loyalty to Israel and Israeli interests, both domestic and foreign. John Sharp was there, of course, as was Ron Kirk (D-running for the U.S. Senate), and Tony Sanchez (D-running for Governor of Texas), and a few other hopefuls. We can understand Sharp and Kirk being there, although money doesn't seem to be a big problem for either. But Tony Sanchez? Other than the Rockefellers, there's not many people who have as much disposable income as he. Press reports say he is spending about $1 million per week of his own money in his race against Rick Perry. Any how, an appreciative audience heard Ira Foreman, the group's executive director, say that "The Democratic party remains the best home for American Jews." And another speaker, local businessman Ross Garber, reminded the audience that President Bush, when he was governor, had proclaimed a "Jesus Day" in Texas and elsewhere. "I don't remember him proclaiming a 'Moses Day,'" said Garber. Maybe Bush's constant kowtowing to Ariel Sharon is causing unease within the community's leadership. back to top
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