The Happy Hour #398: Encounter Series with Derwin Gray

We truly believe that every single person who is a follower of Christ has a powerful story of how they encountered Jesus. Through a friendship, a church, a book, or even alone in a quiet room. For this special summer series, Encounter, we share a few stories of how Jesus captured the hearts of these believers.

My guest for this Encounter episode is Dr. Derwin Gray. Dr. Derwin Gray is the pastor of the multiethnic, multigenerational church Transformation Church in South Carolina. There are so many pieces to his story and I’m beyond thankful he shared in such detail with us today. In this show, Derwin tells us about his childhood growing up around violence and trauma, and how he used football as an escape from the things around him. He went on to meet his wife, Vicki at BYU, a mormon university, and he eventually got drafted to the NFL. While playing in the professional league, a teammate of his (nicknamed “The Naked Preacher”) shared the Gospel with him in the locker room. It was at that point that the wheels began to turn in his mind and he committed his life to Christ, having no background of Christianity whatsoever. From that moment on, Derwin’s life was forever changed. He says “For the first time in my life I felt loved, and the love was not a love I earned. It was a love I was given.” Hearing these stories never gets old – our God is so good!

{You can listen to the show HERE, and make sure you never miss a Happy Hour by subscribing through your favorite podcast app (ie. iTunes, Stitcher).  And of course, I would love if you would share with your friends!}