Football icon Jim Kelly shares stories of faith with 2,000 at Vero Beach Prayer Breakfast
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VERO BEACH — Some 2,000 people gathered at Riverside Park early Thursday morning to worship the Lord, rejoice in song and give thanks for life's tribulations that have brought them closer to God. It all made for a successful Vero Beach Prayer Breakfast, the 20th anniversary of the annual event.
Keynote speakers ― football legend Jim Kelly and his wife Jill — were a massive hit with their extremely vulnerable speech, covering Jim Kelly's college and NFL careers, the struggles in their marriage, the death of their 8-year-old son and Kelly's four battles with cancer.
The Rev. Jonathan Falwell, chancellor of Liberty University and senior pastor of Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Virginia, also spoke.
'We all have struggles in life'
"We all have struggles in life, and a lot of us hit that point where the only one to turn to is God, and I think when (the Rev. Jonathan Falwell) gave the message about Job, and Jim and Jill losing their son and his four battles with cancer, that they turned to God and God gave him that peace that passes understanding," said John Bona, who founded the prayer breakfast in 2004.
As the couple took the stage, Jill Kelly acknowledged how moved she was by the breakfast and thankful for being there. Jim Kelly's vulnerability struck the audience, as he discussed missing their son's death by five minutes because he'd gone to the wrong hospital. On their way home from the hospital, he said, he knew their marriage was over because their son Hunter had been the glue. Despite going to counseling, they were not getting along, and Jim Kelly teetered on the edge of infidelity. But in order to see his son in heaven again, he knew he had to change.
"I wanted to see my son again. If I kept living the life that I was living, I would never ever see him again. No. 2, I wanted to walk through my front door and have my two daughters look at their daddy with respect. And No. 3, I wanted my wife, my love of my life, to be treated like a wife and mother is supposed to be," said Jim Kelly.
Doing good with two foundations
Jim Kelly, who turned 64 on Wednesday, played football at the University of Miami and spent his whole NFL career as a Buffalo Bill, taking the team to Super Bowl consecutive four times. However, his speech was not only about his football career but the hard times that followed, which led him to God. He and his wife have two foundations —Hunter's Hope and Kelly for Kids. Hunter's Hope was started in 1997 after they lost their son to Krabbe Leukodystrophy. Hunter was born on Jim's birthday, and would have turned 27 on Wednesday.
Falwell — son of the Rev. Jerry Falwell, founder of Thomas Road Baptist Church, who died in 2007 — was the other featured speaker along with Earl Whaley, who touched the crowd recounting a near-death experience that turned his life around and down a Christian path.
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The Vero Beach Prayer Breakfast was founded by Bona and his wife Carol following hurricanes Frances and Jeanne, which hit the area only three weeks apart in 2004, to comfort and bring the community together spiritually. John and Carol Bona began the breakfast after attending the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C.
"It really says a lot about our community, that many people would come out and take time out of their day, because people have jobs and responsibilities they have to get to, and they still come out," said John Bona. "It really does say a lot about our community."
Eve Pierpont is a freelance writer who reports on Treasure Coast news. You can reach her at evepierpont@outlook.com
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Football icon Jim Kelly shares stories of faith with 2,000 at Vero Beach Prayer Breakfast
