Sports Crusaders visits Russellville

Halftime gives the Crusaders time to teach kids God's message that goes along with the activity the campers are participating.
Halftime gives the Crusaders time to teach kids God's message that goes along with the activity the campers are participating.

RUSSELLVILLE -

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Kathryn Buril, Belinda Armstrong Thomas and Lois McDoniel

Sports Crusaders spend 10 weeks during the summer teaching kids the skills in a particular sport, while tying in God's message. This week, the Crusaders provided a softball/baseball, basketball and cheer leading camp in Russellville at the high school.

"These college students go all summer and travel in Missouri, Arkansas, Texas and they just teach sports camps," Russellville's Sports Crusaders director, Denita Jenkins said. "They teach skills of the sport, but they'll use the sport as the common ground to minister to these kids and share God's work and life beyond the ball fields."

In its 10th year at Russellville, Russellville Baptist and Corticelli Church hosted eight crusaders last week and 65 campers. The children chose two of the three activities, then spent the morning doing one sport and doing the other in the afternoon. The second and third graders that chose baseball/softball and basketball spent the mornings playing baseball, then basketball in the afternoon. The fourth through sixth graders did the opposite.

Halfway through the sport, the Crusaders brought the kids into the locker rooms for halftime.

"They look forward to this camp all school year long because it's different," Jenkins said. "The sport is the easy part to get them excited about, but once they get here, the halftime portion of it is really where our focus is. They listen intently because it's somebody for them to look up to."

The Crusaders are colleges students from around the country, and each week they travel to a different community to put on these camps on. They stay with members of the host churches where they'll provide food for the Crusaders.

"I think it makes their faith strong," Jenkins said. "When you're teaching God's love for 10 weeks out of the summer, and relying on God to take care of you all summer long, traveling to different places, it keeps the word with them."

This year's theme is "we are not ashamed" and the Crusaders tied that idea into the sports they were teaching. Teamwork and never giving up were the main messages, Jenkins said, and the word "can't" was not allowed to be used. After the Crusaders deliver their message at halftime, they'll look for the characteristics they talked about when they take the campers back to their activities.

"They want all children to hear the gospel, and the best way to get them in is through a sport," said Jenkins. "Their job for them is to come in and just love on them, to show God's love and light and to show a college student living the way God wants them to live."