Liberty Athletics has launched a $250,000 campaign to name its football weight room the Men of Armor Football Alumni Weight Room.
Richard Osborne, a former football player and 1979 graduate of Liberty, has pledged a dollar-for-dollar match of all gifts until the campaign goal is reached. The weight room, located in the lower portion of the Football Operations Center, will be named in honor of the ministry that played a part of the whole person development of many of Liberty’s football players during their time on Liberty Mountain.
“We are grateful that Richard Osborne made a generous leadership gift in recognition of the Men of Honor ministry,” said Director of Athletics Ian McCaw. “We look forward to other leaders in the Liberty community who were impacted by the Men of Honor to join in this campaign.”
Men of Armor was the name of an evangelistic ministry of Liberty’s football and strength and conditioning programs, founded in the 1970s and continuing into the 1990s.
Men of Armor participants would travel to high schools, churches and youth events to perform feats of strength and share the Gospel.
Gifts to the campaign are potentially tax-deductible and can provide the donor with the opportunity to have something named in their honor, based upon the gift amount.
Gifts to the campaign begin at $2,000 and may be paid in full, or pledged for up to five years. Funds contributed will be directed to the Athletics Capital Fund for athletics facility improvement, maintenance or other capital purchases. Recognition opportunities begin with locker naming rights for $2,000.
Other recognition opportunities include naming rooms, offices and other spaces within the Football Operations Center, the home base of Liberty’s football program. The Men of Armor giving campaign will be managed by the Liberty University Flames Club.
Fans can support Liberty Football by joining the Flames Club, which exists to underwrite Liberty Athletics’ three-fold mission to train Champions for Christ, provide a world-class student-athlete experience and achieve victory with integrity.
Flames Club membership starts at just $60 and members can enjoy preferred parking, seating and pregame hospitality benefits, based upon membership level. For more information about the Flames Club, please call 434-582-CLUB (2582) or email [email protected].
For more information about becoming a football season ticket holder, please contact the Flames Ticket Office at (434) 582-SEAT (7328) or [email protected].
About the Men of Armor Ministry Program
The Men of Armor ministry was conceived in a dorm room on Liberty’s former Treasure Island campus in 1977, by a few members of the Liberty football team. Players met to discuss and pray about how they could use their gifts to reach teenagers with the Gospel and truly be Champions for Christ.
After much prayer, the group went to the Liberty football staff, who agreed that they should start the ministry if they were able to raise the needed funds to support it and could schedule some events.
A Thomas Road Baptist Church donor and football supporter came forward and answered the players’ prayers by purchasing a van for the ministry, and Flames defensive back Dave Anderson started planning the event schedule.
The players then gathered, to pray and selected Ephesians 6:10-17 to form the charter, and started recruiting other Liberty athletes to join the new Men of Armor ministry.
“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God;”
Teams of players began visiting high schools, performing weightlifting demonstrations and other feats of strength, such as tearing telephone books in half. They would also preach on street corners and share their faith with those with whom they came in contact.
The Men of Armor ministry would then invite young people to attend evening youth rallies at local churches, where hundreds of teenagers came to Christ.
The ministry traveled the nation and touched thousands of lives. The Men of Armor legacy continues today, as Liberty Athletics seeks to Train Champions for Christ, who will impact the world for eternity during and after their time at Liberty.
Share
Contributors
