There are a few seminaries around this city and I was blessed with the opportunity to go and visit one today. Along with the World Racers, I was invited to go and play basketball against their college team. When we pulled up, someone was already on the microphone, announcing our entrance and all the students were there to great us. It was one of the biggest welcomes I think we’ve ever received when coming to play basketball. I know I really felt like the special guest.
While we were there to play basketball, all the students just wanted to sit with us and trade stories. The team was pretty good, but it was cool to see that basketball was secondary for today. After the first game, Keenan came and just wanted to sit with me. He put his arm over my shoulders and just wanted to hear my story and tell me his. He’s 21 years old and finishing up his five year commitment to the seminary. For his last year, he’s doing an internship where he is on full time staff with a church about two hours away. These last two weeks have been like a celebration for the seminary, so all those that are on internship have come back.
Keenan is still so young, but next year, he will be put in charge of a church. I told him that my favorite verse, and the first one I memorized was 1 Timothy 4:12, “Don’t let others look down on you because you are young, but set an example for all believers.” He just smiled so big and told me he knew he was doing what God had called him to do. Because of his education, he knew people would overlook his age, but he didn’t want his education to be the reason people listened to him. He wanted people to listen because he preached the word of God.
A few of the other World Racers came over to meet Keenan and sit with him, but he never left my side. That long arm of his stayed around my shoulders too. I’m not too sure what our being there meant to these students, but it was worth so much more than a basketball game. The competition was fun, but the between game conversations was the reason we were there.
