Just as Jesus called fishermen to become “fishers of men” 2,000 years ago, a professionaly run bass tournament is helping men come to know Christ — with fishing as the hook.
While Team Jesus Ministries’ (TJM) Mobile 2000 Fishing Weekend was advertised as a weekend of fishing for pro-bass anglers, the May 20-21 event also saw 352 decisions for Christ. Terry Chupp, founder/president of TJM, based in Grayson, Ga., said 152 people received Jesus, while 176 rededicated their lives and 24 non-Christians said they wanted to know more about becoming a Christian.
The 350 boats in the tournament, each occupied by two men, made it the largest freshwater fishing tournament ever in the Mobile/Gulf Coast area, according to Chupp and bass tournament director Mike Payton of Mobile.
Twenty-five boats were launched every five minutes as dawn rose Saturday morning. As they motored away from port, most anglers would travel for miles along the Tensaw, the Alabama River or other waterways in the Mobile River delta. Some would not return until nearly 6 p.m.
When the first waves of returning boats arrived around 3 p.m. to travel to the weigh-in site, empty boat trailers became full and truck after truck lined up to make their way to Live Oak Arena — an outdoor rodeo arena about a mile-and-a-half away. Cottage Hill Baptist Church provided free hamburgers, sausage dogs, chips, dessert, soft drinks and iced tea.
TJM Mobile 2000 Fishing Weekend coordinator Jerry Story, a deacon at Woodridge Baptist, Mobile, said that of the 93 sponsors of the fishing weekend, 16 are churches and the majority of those are Baptist.
About 90 percent of the businesses are Christian-owned. Many sponsors donated money, supplies, facilities or equipment.
Six Southern Baptist associations from three states — Mobile, Baldwin, Escambia Co., Ala.; Pensacola Bay, Fla; Jackson Co., Miss.; and the combined George/Green Co. association in Mississippi — cooperated in coordinating the fishing weekend, according to Lambert Mims, men’s ministry coordinator of the Mobile Baptist Association and a TJM local committee member.
“This is a Jesus thing — not a Baptist thing, or anything else,” he said.
“When we began putting these tournaments together about three years ago, we wanted to make it a nondenominational tournament, but it just so happened that we wound up with more Baptists than anything else,” Mims said. “We went to a lot of different (denominations of) churches, but the Baptists were real receptive to what we were doing and willing to give toward it.”
Mims said five or six different denominations were involved with the tournamen, adding the impact of the tournament was vast. “We honestly believe that the majority of the people who participated in this tournament were non-Christians,” he said.
As afternoon became early evening, Chupp presented the gospel of Jesus Christ in front of a large tally board at the weigh-in station to more than 1,200 fishermen and families who had gathered earlier under huge pecan trees.
Chupp emphasized the importance of fishermen giving God, family and church top priorities in their lives.
At an invitation time, many in attendance raised their hands to indicate they had prayed to receive Jesus.
Chupp said he was called to full-time ministry 12 years ago during a bass tournament. “I met Jesus and He broke my heart for these men’s souls, and I just started sharing Jesus with my buddies.”
“God blessed us amazingly. I started preaching revivals, doing wild game suppers and ‘fishing for men weekend crusades,’ and in the last 12 years, over 5,000 have accepted Jesus through this ministry,” he said.
He said, “They don’t care how much I know, but they know how much I care, and they know that I love them with the love that Jesus has put in my heart for them,” he said.
TJM donated $5 of every $100 per boat entry fee to the Joey Summers Memorial Foundation. This totaled $1,750.
Event focuses on winning children for life’s real victory
Some 140 children were brought to the water’s edge for a chance to catch catfish during Team Jesus Ministries (TJM) Mobile 2000 Fishing Weekend May 20-21. But organizers said fishing was only a means to an end.
“I think it’s a tremendous opportunity for us to minister to children,” said Brent Rawson, minister to students at First Church, Satsuma, who served as local director of the children’s events. “Some of these kids and their families don’t go to church anywhere.”
Children were split into two groups, with one fishing while the other was entertained by the professional Christian clown troupe “A-men Alley.” Clown Tony “Junior” Jones said the group is a ministry of First Church in Social Circle, Ga., with clowns doing face painting following their performances.
“We’re trying to give kids an alternative to all that garbage that’s out there,” said Terry Chupp, longtime Bassmaster pro bass fisherman and founder/president of TJM. “If we can get kids hooked on fishing, chances are they will not get hooked on drugs, alcohol, tobacco and all the other garbage.
“Once they get hooked on fishing, that puts them in a position to meet the greatest fisherman that ever lived — the Lord Jesus Christ,” Chupp said. “That’s what we’re trying to do through this — to reach the world through pro fishing.”
The event also included a cookout, Christian music and children’s sermon by Jim Robinson, children’s minister at Cottage Hill Church, Mobile, with 13 children accepting Christ as their Savior.
Besides Chupp, on hand for TJM were Bassmaster pro anglers Shaw Grigsby, Dalton Bobo and Ricky McFarlin.
“I’m very pleased with the turnout and pleased to see all these kids involved,” said Lambert Mims, a TJM local committee member.
“It’s a joy to see them actually catch a fish and hear about the Lord as we go along — that’s what it’s all about, bringing them to know the Lord,” said Mims, who is also director of men’s ministry with the Mobile Baptist Association.
Though many children in attendance were unchurched, others are strongly involved in local churches of various denominations.
“I had fun fishing; the clowns were funny and it was a fun time,” said 10-year-old Katherine Pepper, who worships at West Mobile Christian Center.
The daughter of Harvey and Mattine Pepper of Mobile, Pepper said she hadn’t fished in a long time, but might try it more often.
The event also offered a witnessing opportunity for children living outside Mobile, like Daniel Winemiller, 11, who was in the area from Winston-Salem, N.C. The youth was in Mobile with his father, evangelist Kevin Winemiller, who was preaching at First Church, Foley.
“For him to come here and be a part of this is quite a big deal,” Kevin Winemiller said. “He was a Romanian orphan, and we adopted him in 1994 (when he was five years old).”
Anglers share secrets behind successes
A fishing seminar by professional anglers as part of the Team Jesus Ministries (TJM) Mobile 2000 Fishing Weekend May 20-21 included tips on catching the right fish but also featured special testimonies.
Anglers Shaw Grigsby, Jay Yelas, Ricky McFarlin and Dalton Bobo shared what lures to use and other fishing techniques. The four men, all Christians, also used their time to share their testimonies. Some of the pros also visited Mobile area churches Sunday morning.
“If we had a fishing seminar with these pros, normally, to hear these men do this kind of a seminar, it costs $75 to $80, but we charged only $10, because we wanted to get Mom, Dad, the kids there together,” said Terry Chupp, founder/president of TJM, based in Grayson, Ga., who preached after the pros shared their testimony.
About 500 people came to hear the professional seminar event.
Sharing how vendors usually drop sample lures into fishermen’s bags during tournaments, Chupp said he once placed a New Testament in Grigsby’s bag. On another occasion he dropped an audiotape of another bass pro who had already come to know the Lord.
Chupp said he began placing his gifts in Grigsby’s bag about 10 years ago, with Chupp eventually praying with Grigsby to receive Jesus.
Today, Grigsby stands tall as a Christian and as a professional bass angler. A superstar of pro bass fishing, he is the fourth largest money winner of all time in professional bass fishing with the Bass Anglers Sportsmen Society.
In the last three months he has won two of the top 100 events in the world in Bassmaster, the world’s largest and most prestigious fishing organization.
“People were just glued to their seats to see what these experts had to say. Most of the people attending were very serious about fishing,” said Lambert Mims, a member of the local committee working with TJM to organize the event.
Fifty-one of the 500 or so attending the Sunday afternoon event opened their hearts to Jesus, accepting Him as Savior.
Though nothing in this world can equal the insurmountable gift of God’s love through Jesus, a part of the fishing seminar included a Triton boat give-away. The winner of the 22-foot Triton bass boat with a 225-horsepower Evinrude outboard motor and OMC trolling motor was a 6-year-old boy, Colby Verdin.
As it turns out, Colby wanted to attend the kids’ fishing day in the park on Saturday, but he could not. So that he could still be a part of things, his dad told him that he would take him to the pro seminar Sunday afternoon.
Share with others: