By Mallory Mattingly
NFL stars Patrick Hill and Chandler Brayboy put their medical training to use in a partnership with Mercy Ships and Glorify to discuss the importance of caregiving and faith.
“We live in a time where everything’s money, money, money,” Hill, a former Tennessee Titans fullback who now works as an inpatient psychiatric nurse and orthopedic nurse practitioner, told The Christian Post. “To see these people that have such profound careers, profound backgrounds, to put that aside to volunteer for a greater cause, Mercy Ships was very appealing in that aspect.”
Hill and Brayboy, a current Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver and trained EMT and nurse, lent their voices to a 10-day devotional on the Glorify app called “Strength in Service” which launched on May 4 in honor of National Nurses Week. According to CP, the project follows the stories of various pro athletes, healthcare workers and Mercy Ships volunteers and patients.
“Mercy Ships being faith-based, Glorify being faith-based, and Mercy Ships being able to bridge my profession, nursing, and still put my faith in the forefront…the project’s amazing,” Hill said.
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Mercy Ships is an organization that “uses hospital ships to transform lives and serve nations.” They aim to “love God, love and serve others, demonstrate integrity and strive for excellence in all we do.”
During his time in the NFL, Hill often visited hospitals, discovering his passion of serving others.
“For me, it was seeking a greater purpose, kind of trusting God to move in a way that I didn’t understand He was moving,” he explained. “Realizing that my strength goes far beyond the physical and even the mental strength that I’m used to. There can be a very powerful movement and message in serving others. Just listening, smiling or just being there for someone showed me a way that I can have strength.”
“It’s just a blessing to see how people see a passion or have a call to serve others,” Brayboy added of Mercy Ships. “Just seeing how far these volunteers step out on faith to go serve others and get away from their own life, that was very heartwarming.”
The 23-year-old athlete found his passion for nursing after his grandfather was diagnosed with Parkinson’s.
“I found my strength when I could help others who were older than me,” Brayboy said. “I felt that was a great calling for me. On the field, you’re trying to dominate your strength or impose your strength on somebody. You actually can turn it and use your strength in taking care of somebody. So that was a great transition for me.”
The wide receiver revealed why the “Strength in Service” devotional was something he wanted to be a part of.
“For me personally, it felt like I was stuck even when I was doing the job I’d always dreamed of, being a professional athlete. Once I got here, I couldn’t find a purpose. I was still questioning what my purpose was,” Brayboy told Rolling Out. “I prayed about it and talked with God about it. Glorify lets people know that even those living their dream are still questioning, still having issues and stresses in life. Glorify can give some confirmation to that in certain people’s lives, helping them understand that everybody’s going through something.”
It’s wonderful to see athletes use their skills off the football field to make people’s lives better.
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