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Men rally around testaments to God
By D.A.WILKINSON
YOUNGSTOWN
Former Major League Baseball player Dave Dravecky was waiting to speak Saturday at the Men’s Rally in the Valley while a technician adjusted his microphone.
As he began his talk, the microphone slid down the stand.
“Would someone please get me another arm?” he joked.
But during his talk at the Covelli Centre, he said the loss of his left arm and part of his shoulder to cancer was actually a blessing.
Dravecky said that in his early Christian walk, he wondered what his life story would be and where God would fit in.
He later realized it was a case of “Where does my life fit into God’s mission?”
He added that faith was “not just going to church but taking God into the streets.”
He recalled growing up in Boardman and waiting for his father to come home from a machine shop and play ball.
In accepting his cancer, he said he realized there were some things he would not be able to do.
“But that’s not going to keep me from trying,” he said.
Cancer has been a blessing, he said. “You don’t battle cancer alone.”
Bill Triplett grew up in Girard and played in the National Football League.
He talked of rising above the problems that are thrown into the lives of people of faith.
He said he was with his wife when she had an allergic reaction and was rushed to a hospital. The doctors said he had to leave the room since she was near death.
“The enemy was trying to take her out,” he said. “She was near going home to glory.”
He told the doctors they had their job to do, and he had his job to do, which was pray. She made a full recovery.
The third-best doctor in the nation said he could not determine what happened.
“To this day, she has never had an allergic reaction,” Triplett said.
He started giving talks in juvenile facilities. Among those helping the youths was a blind pastor.
“He was blind, but oh, he could see,” Triplett said. “God will use you where you are.”
Tom Muir, who attends Abundant Life Fellowship in New Waterford, said he was one of several men who counseled men who had fallen away from the church. Some renewed their faith.
Bob Ford was promoting a Christian Motorcycle Association in the Valley that would be named the Merciful Eagles.
Al Swegan of Youngstown, who attends Greenford Christian Church, estimated that about 3,500 men attended the rally.
A plan for a box lunch outside became a choice between braving the cool temperatures or eating inside. A plan to end the rally with a march through downtown was canceled because of the weather.
Glen Snyder of Youngstown said he had enjoyed all the speakers. “They’re all good,” he added.