What a great turn out for our District 2 Tournament Meeting. The food was not the only thing that was great. One of our very own fisherman and division chaplain, Gary Burns NE, offered his personal testimony and reminded us of the greatness of God! Gary wanted to tell everyone how God is always in motion and his timing is always perfect, even though we might not see it. Gary shared with us just what Fisher’s Of Men Tournament Trail is and does for others. Gary’s story starts 9 years ago from today. WOW. Gary and his partner had fished a FOM tournament and returned home to attend a memorial service at their church. When he came home, he wanted to take some time to be alone so he went for a ride on his motorcycle. As he topped a hill, a truck struck him. He was rushed to UAB where his family was told he would not live. However, within 3 days Gay woke up from a coma. He said he had an overwhelming feeling of joy even though he didn’t know where he was or what had happened. Gary was told he would spend a extended period of time in the hospital but after 13 days, he was released to go home. Gary knew God had a purpose for him. Fishers of Men were more than he expected. It was not just a tournament trail. It was people trying to reach and help people. After coming home from the hospital, complications caused the loss of one of Gary’s legs but him and his partner continued to fish. During one of their fishing trips he was trying to multi-task fishing and answering his phone and fell off his seat. After being helped up, he realized that he now required a lot of assistance getting in and out of the boat, moving around in the boat and just in general. He contacted his partner and told him it would be fine for him to find someone else to fish with him because he knew how different things were going to be with his injury. His partner told him they would figure it out together and if Gary didn’t fish, he wasn’t fishing. A group of friends quickly started brainstorming modifications for the boat to make it easier for Gary. They were not going to let him give up. Gary expressed to us how much Fishers of Men influences him. During the time of the accident, he had all of our 26 states/divisions praying for him and his family along with the support of his local division. This is what fishers of men is about. Helping, fellowshipping, praying and loving one another.
Gary also shared a story of a team in their division. One of those teams with a partner who has a relationship with Christ and one not so much. He shared evolution of one of the team member’s salvation. One of the fishermen was called into work over the period of several tournaments so his partner would have to attend the meetings alone, which he was not excited about. The partner would say it was an alright meeting, they just preach to us. But after several meetings, he began to talk about how he liked it and that the messages were making since to him. One day while fishing, the partner was asked if he was saved and after much though, he said no. Immediately the other fisherman prayed with him and he accepted Christ as his savior. Throught this thime, the partner had been in the hospital with pneumonia but had been released because he was better. He gave his life to the Lord on a Thursday while pre-fishing, fished Saturday, got sick again that weekend and passed away Tuesday.
Both of these stories are heart wrenching but look how all of the relationships, influences and prayers stemming from fishers of men events impacted both these men.
Look how God had perfect timing for Gary to share his story with us on the anniversary of his life changing event.
Gary expressed if you took nothing else away from his message, know this:
God is Great! He loves you no matter what you do and more than you will ever know. God has a purpose for you in everything you do and in every relationship you build.
We were challenged to make sure we know ourselves that we are saved and all is well with our souls as well as our brothers and sister and the lost. To always strive to bring God’s word and love the lost. To pray for and love one another.
Day 1 of the District 2 championship at Live Oak Landing.
It was HOT but we were blessed with something we haven’t had in a while…..RAIN!
The thunderstorm rolled in right around weigh in and showed out with a few good gusts of wind, knocking over a lot of our signs and equipment. However, this did not stop us or our fishermen from weighing in. It was a tough day but most of the field weighed in at least one fish. With another day of fishing to go, we could not get any information on the baits used to land our biggest bag of the day at 10.33 and biggest fish at 3.23.
Top 3 from Day 1:
Lavon White and Zach White at 10.33 pounds
Mark Syck and Tommy Mills at 10.08
Richard Hardy and Nathan White at 8 pounds
Mark Syck and Tommy Mills had Big Fish at 3.23 pounds
District 2 Championship on the Tensaw Delta-Day 1 - 10/04/19| View Multiday Day Results | Day 1 | Day 2 |
Place | Team | Members | # Fish | Big Fish | Gross | Penalty | Net Wt | Points | |
1 | 23963 |
Curtis White Zachery White | 5 | 0 | 10.33 | 0 | 10.33 | 0 | |
2 | 24890 |
Mark Syck Tommy Mills | 5 | 3.23 | 10.08 | 0 | 10.08 | 0 | |
3 | 23968 |
Richard (Danny) Hardy Nathan White | 5 | 2.02 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 0 | |
4 | 23999 |
Charles Brown Jonathan Mason | 5 | 0 | 7.48 | 0 | 7.48 | 0 | |
5 | 23966 |
Elmer Cobb James Bell | 5 | 0 | 6.84 | 0 | 6.84 | 0 | |
6 | 1853 |
Steven Stewart Johnny Creel | 3 | 0 | 5.67 | 0 | 5.67 | 0 | |
7 | 23856 |
Kyle Colley Marty Colley | 5 | 0 | 5.53 | 0 | 5.53 | 0 | |
8 | 23723 |
Christopher Weaver Kenneth Godwin | 5 | 0 | 5.31 | 0 | 5.31 | 0 | |
9 | 22543 |
Sam Fish Donald Fish Jr | 5 | 0 | 5.08 | 0 | 5.08 | 0 | |
10 | 18730 |
Kevin Diamond Josh Diamond | 4 | 1.33 | 4.68 | 0 | 4.68 | 0 | |
11 | 21103 |
John Odom Joe Turner | 4 | 0 | 4.63 | 0 | 4.63 | 0 | |
12 | 22781 |
Tony Lister James Richerson, Jr. | 4 | 0 | 4.48 | 0 | 4.48 | 0 | |
13 | 19133 |
Anthony Boyett Brian Metcalf | 4 | 0 | 3.92 | 0 | 3.92 | 0 | |
14 | 10395 |
Brian Moye Kimberly Moye | 3 | 0 | 3.4 | 0 | 3.4 | 0 | |
15 | 14592 |
Christopher Newell Roger Motes | 3 | 0 | 3.35 | 0 | 3.35 | 0 | |
16 | 16275 |
Robert McEarchern Richard McEarchern | 2 | 0 | 1.85 | 0 | 1.85 | 0 | |
17 | 22477 |
Michael Stewart Thomas Pugh | 2 | 0 | 1.79 | 0 | 1.79 | 0 | |
18 | 23970 |
Matthew Nesmith Tara Nesmith | 1 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 0 | 1.3 | 0 | |
19 | 14590 |
Gary Livingston David Whitten | 1 | 1.26 | 1.26 | 0 | 1.26 | 0 | |
20 | 24080 |
Heath Rolling Rick Jacobs | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
21 | 10608 |
Garry Burns Kevin Stephens | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
22 | 21115 |
Roger Caldwell Matt Caldwell | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
23 | 23860 |
Scotty Ramsey Rodney Isbell | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
24 | 23967 |
Daniel Kelley Cody Roberson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
25 | 23965 |
James Taylor clayton stewart | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Day 1 leaders Lavon & Zac White |