When Stan Nowell was telling the story of David and Goliath to the children at Forgotten Children Ministries in Honduras, he didn’t have to look far for someone to act out the part of Goliath.
Enter Dylan Cardwell, a 6-foot-11 center on the Auburn University men’s basketball team.
“I also got Sam Cunningham, the team’s manager, to play David. The kids loved it,” said Nowell, who co-founded FCM to help street children with basic needs like food, shelter and education and in the process teach them about the love God has for them.
Eighteen other Auburn players and coaches were also on that trip in fall 2024, a trip Cardwell called “the most impactful trip of my life.”
‘I wouldn’t be where I am spiritually’
“I wouldn’t be where I am just spiritually without that trip,” he said in an interview with Sports Spectrum in March. “It was great for my family; my younger brother (Drake Cardwell, who also plays for Auburn) went there. It was great for the team. It’s just exciting to see the Lord move in so many ways.”
While there, Cardwell said he and others gave the children inexpensive toy cars and plush toys, and their faces lit up.
“What it showed me is that we just need to be content with what we have because, I mean, we live in America, we always want more, always want the next big thing,” he said. “But these people are so joyous with the minimal … and it was just insane to see how much joy they had when they had nothing. What that showed me was that when God is all you have, you realize that God is all you need.”
Nowell said Cardwell is “a tremendous believer, follower of Christ.”
Helping ‘forgotten’ children
FGM’s offices are in Birmingham, and Nowell said the Auburn team’s trip was organized as part of a men’s trip that some men from the Birmingham area take to Honduras every fall.
“That mission team every year comes and takes the girls out to a special banquet,” Nowell said. “None of those girls have a father figure in their life.”
The missions team also helps with other ongoing ministries, such as visiting a special needs children’s home and taking food to families living in the city’s garbage dump.
Several FGM board members have Auburn connections, and after hearing about many of the Auburn players being baptized while on a trip to Israel in 2022, they reached out to the team to see if they would like to participate in the trip last fall.
Nowell said they’re planning on coming back in August. He’s kept a connection with the Auburn team, attending the last home game of the season March 8 and visiting with the players.
“Hopefully we’ll be having the national champions down,” he said.
The Auburn men’s basketball team will face the University of Florida tonight (April 5) at 5:09 p.m. in a Final Four matchup. The winner will move on to the national championship game April 7.
For more information about Forgotten Children Ministries, visit fcmhonduras.org.
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