First Priority held its 18th Annual SCORE (Students Count On Real Examples) Dinner on Thursday, April 26, 2012, at Grace Life Baptist Church. We would like to thank all those who attended and helped support this special event financially. The ministry of First Priority has been able to touch the lives of hundreds of thousands of students over the past 21 years because of faithful people like you.

The evening began with dinner and an award presentation. First Priority recognized Board Member and Bethel Baptist Church Pleasant Grove Youth Pastor Scott Douglas. Scott was presented First Priority’s Volunteer Excellence Service Award for Christian leadership, love for students, commitment to the Lord, and years of involvement and leadership with First Priority Greater Birmingham. Scott is an active First Priority board member and has been strongly involved with First Priority for more than 15 years. Scott presently works closely with Pleasant Grove Middle and High School First Priority clubs. He has been the youth pastor at Bethel Baptist Church Pleasant Grove since 1995. He is a First Priority campus coach, is active in the community, supports First Priority and has attended several First Priority winter conferences and other ministry events. We are very grateful for Scott and his tremendous commitment and dedication to helping students and seeing them come to know Christ.

First Priority Greater Birmingham Executive Director Matt Wilson continued the evening with a ministry update and school highlight video. “One Hope… that is Jesus Christ,” said Matt. “We’ve got to go to these students; that’s what First Priority is all about.” Debi DeBoer, First Priority area director for Shelby County and Hoover, shared about some incredible things God is doing in her area. On April 25, nearly 800 Hoover High School students attended Undivided/First Priority and 106 of those students made a decision for Christ. “Even if it was just one, just one student, that would be enough for me,” said Debi. Then Debi shared about leaders stepping up at Berry Middle School. “Every Testimony Week students are lined up to share about what God is doing in their lives,” said Debi. “Students stayed after school for several hours on a Friday afternoon to learn how to share their faith with other students.” Debi said Pelham High School students sing Exodus 14:14 ~ “The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” Great things are happening on our campuses all over the Greater-Birmingham area. Students are sharing their faith with their peers and more and more students are coming to know Christ.

First Priority Greater Birmingham President Greg Davis then introduced specials guests John Erwin, Eleanor Brown and Ben Davies, who were all a part of the new Sherwood Film, “Courageous.” John directed the second unit of the movie. Eleanor played the role of Kayla Hayes, wife of Cop Nathan Hayes in the film; and Ben played the role of Rookie Cop David Thompson. Each shared about how much they appreciate First Priority and how important the ministry is especially to those students who don’t have a Godly outlet. We would like to thank each of them for joining and sharing in our special event.

We then heard from our special guest speaker Robert Amaya, who played the role of Javier in the movie Courageous. Robert is a bilingual professional actor/singer in Miami with a background in theater. He felt humbled and honored playing his character in the movie Courageous because it reminded him of his own father’s struggles to survive in a new country with a family. Between projects, Robert travels across the nation singing and speaking at both English and Spanish churches, schools, and organizations about a variety of topics including fatherhood, honor and Christianity.

Robert began by sharing that he prayed that God would show him what to speak about during the dinner. He said he planned to speak about being real because, “Students Count On Real Examples.” Robert read from Acts 5:1-11. He proposed the question, “Do you put up a front, a false impression of what people actually think about you, a lie?” The story of Ananias is about a hidden sin being exposed. “We have grown complacent in our hypocrisy,” said Robert. “It’s possible to work for God and never know Him and feel like a Christian and never be one.” Robert referenced Matthew 7:22-23 ~ 22 “Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ Robert said the gospel exposes sin. When we lose sight of the gospel, we open up ourselves to evil. “Don’t live a lie,” said Robert. “God has given us the keys to new life; we’re to go when He calls on us. Don’t be self-righteous like Ananias. You might think you’re just lying to your church, but you’re not; you’re lying to God.” Robert encouraged everyone to put down their false pretenses and find rest in the Lord. “God forgives us, thieves, liars and hypocrites, He forgives us all. Turn from your sins and put your faith and trust in Him and you will find rest. Students are counting on real examples. Show them that the gospel saves all of us, who are pretenders.”

Matt concluded our program by sharing that we need to examine ourselves and realize why we’re here. Our purpose is to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. “Students count on us and need real examples in their lives; let’s lead by example.”

We would like to thank our special guest speaker Robert Amaya for taking part in our event and sharing such a powerful message that we can all take to heart. Thank you to Grace Life Baptist Church for its hospitality in hosting this special event. We would once again like to thank everyone who attended our 18th Annual SCORE Dinner. Your time, finances and influence helped make this event a huge success. Many lives will be changed by the momentum that was gained from your efforts.

Click here to view pictures from our Dinner or tag yourself here

Click below to view First Priority’s 2011-2012 School Highlight Video

First Priority 2012 SCORE Dinner School Highlight Video