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By Craig Franklin
JENA, – For Louisiana College Head Men’s Basketball Coach Reni Mason, basketball is nothing more than a platform to build the kingdom of God.
Mason and his assistant coach, Jonathan Brooks, and two other student-athletes — Raheem Regis and Travis Schutlz — represented Louisiana College and Jesus Christ August 11 and 12 when they conducted a free basketball clinic at First Baptist Church Jena for aspiring players from kindergarten through 12th grade.
“We teach the fundamentals of basketball, but the most important reason we conduct these camps is to share the Gospel,” Mason said. “We start each day with a devotion, get into our drills, and end with a devotion. Everything we do starts and ends with God.”
“I’d like to thank Pastor Dominick DiCarlo and the Jena First Baptist Church family for allowing us to come and conduct this clinic,” Mason said.
Louisiana College sponsors basketball camps for three weeks each summer, but this year expanded with free clinics to areas outside of the campus after.
“This year we conducted two of these clinics, the first was at Alpine Baptist Church in Tioga and the second was here at First Baptist in Jena,” Mason said. “We’ve averaged about 65 youths between the two camps, and hopefully this is the start of something even bigger next year.”
Mason said he is blessed to be in a position that affords him the opportunity to reach so many youths with the message of Jesus through the sport of basketball.
“It’s important that we use the platform afforded to us — not for publicity purposes — but to further the kingdom of God,” he said. “Basketball is just another tool that is used to reach youth with the Gospel.”
With a mission is to reach as many young people as possible with the life-changing message of Jesus, Mason said that message changed his life many years ago.
“I signed up 20 years ago to be a basketball coach not knowing that God had a plan to use me for his kingdom this way,” he said. “I’m just so humbled, thinking about how much He loved me even when I didn’t even acknowledge Him.”
But the coach is acknowledging God now, giving God credit for everything in his life and living his life determined to reach as many young people as possible.
“Our only hope, our young people’s only hope, is found in Jesus,” he said. “Our mission field is to help young people find that hope and help deliver them from all the different types of bondage they are in.”
Recently appointed as associate athletic director, Mason is in his second year as head coach at LC and is praying for more opportunities to conduct free basketball clinics throughout the state.
“We are always looking for opportunities to come and share Jesus and basketball,” Mason said. “We are available and willing to come.”
Contact LC’s basketball office at 318.487.7503 for more information or go to www.lcwildacts.net.
Craig Franklin is a full time evangelist and is the former associate editor of the Jena Times.
