Maybe it’s because Jonathan Evans was an NFL fullback before joining his father, Tony Evans, in ministry. Maybe it’s because the younger Evans is chaplain for the Cowboys (OK—the Mavericks too), positions the elder Evans has also held. Maybe it’s just because the family lives in Dallas.
Whatever the reason, Jonathan Evans stood on a baseball diamond in downtown Fresno and made football analogies during the Fresno-Clovis Prayer Breakfast May 11, 2022. And the crowd went wild!
With its prayers, music and preaching, the annual breakfast is a useful huddle, Evans said. “Having now huddled, can you now score?”
The co-author, with Tony Evans, of Get in the Game, told his audience its time to take the field of life. “A lot of us are waiting on God, but God is waiting on you,” he said.
If football isn’t your metaphor, think of motion lighting. “The power must experience the movement before the movement experiences the power,” he said. “God can make an impact through you. What difference does it make that you are here?”
There are several connections between Fresno Pacific University and the Fresno-Clovis Prayer Breakfast. In addition to sponsoring the event, Gwen Burks, executive assistant to President Joseph Jones, Ph.D., sits on the event board of directors, along with FPU Board Members Steven Dick, president/CEO of Inspiration Cruises & Tours, and James Parks Sr., J.D., pastor of West Fresno Christian Center. Juan Garza, staff at FPU’s Center for Community Transformation, was also one of several prayer leaders. Jones, who retires July 1, 2022, was honored at a dinner the night before for his five years of service to FPU.
In his work as a mentor, author and speaker, Jonathan Evans treasures his relationship with Christ along with the opportunity to use his life to glorify God. He seeks to impact today’s athletes, men and young adults encouraging them in their faith and developing them as the next generation of Christian leaders.
Evans has a master’s degree in Christian Leadership from Dallas Theological Seminary and speaks at churches, conferences, men’s events, banquets, youth and Fellowship of Christian Athletes events. He and his wife, Kanika, are the parents of Kelsey, Jonathan II, Kamden, Kylar and Jade Wynter.
This year’s Fresno-Clovis Prayer Breakfast again took place in Chuckchansi Park in downtown Fresno. The event was born in the 1940s when five businessmen started meeting at a Divisadero Street restaurant. During the 1970s the Fresno Community Prayer Breakfast became the Fresno Mayors’ Prayer Breakfast, receiving its present name when Clovis was asked to participate in the mid-1990s. The breakfast has become one of the Valley’s largest annual community gatherings, drawing Christians of many backgrounds from the Fresno and Clovis communities. More at Fresno Clovis Prayer Breakfast