Skeeter Powell has always had a desire to help others.

Editor’s Note: Robert “Skeeter” Powell of Greenville, South Carolina, is an unusual individual who defines the word love. Once you read his story and learn about his calling, you’ll understand why he’s the role model for many. He’s not the most important person in his world and actually considers himself the least important. Part 4 of a 5 part series. 

David’s Table has a simple mission. “We work with others to love children with disabilities for Christ’s sake,” Skeeter says. “The United States Tennis Association (USTA) is one of the organizations we have an active relationship with. Not only does the USTA supply tennis equipment for disabled high school students, but the organization also sets up competitions, provides a USTA instructor and provides a small grant to pay the instructor to teach our students how to play tennis. In October 2012, Young Life provided us with a van with a lift on it to allow us to transport students back and forth to a wheelchair tennis tournament that the USTA had arranged for all across the country. We had about 50 competitors with one coming all the way from India! Also present at the tournament were several people who played wheelchair tennis in the Paralympic Games this year.

“We try to build friendships and relationships with our special needs children and their families,” Skeeter explains. “Here’s what I mean. If you ask a special needs child to draw a cartoon of what adults are like, that cartoon character probably will have a huge mouth and little bitty ears. I hope if that same student is asked to draw cartoon of a Young Life leader, that the cartoon character will have great big ears and a normal-sized mouth.”

Skeeter has a master’s degree in theology from Fuller Theological Seminary, in Pasadena, California, and he explains, “When I was going through the Young Life program, this school was the only one with an affiliation with Young Life. But today several schools are affiliated with Young Life.” For years, Skeeter worked in the construction industry. Upon retiring, he went full time with David’s Table, following his passion for working with youngsters with disabilities. Now, instead of only working 8 hours a day, he’s free to work 8 – 14 hours a day, following his love for youngsters. And Skeeter says, “I love it.”

 Next: The Future of David’s Table

About the Author: For the last 12 years, John E. Phillips of Vestavia, Alabama, has been a professional blogger for major companies, corporations and tourism associations throughout the nation. During his 24 years as Outdoor Editor for “The Birmingham Post-Herald” newspaper, he published more than 7,000 newspaper columns and sold more than 100,000 of his photos to newspapers, magazines and internet sites. He also hosted a radio show that was syndicated at 27 radio stations; created, wrote and sold a syndicated newspaper column that ran in 38 newspapers for more than a decade; and wrote and sold more than 30 books. Learn more at http://www.nighthawkpublications.com

Skeeter Powell has always had a desire to help others.

Editor’s Note: Robert “Skeeter” Powell of Greenville, South Carolina, is an unusual individual who defines the word love. Once you read his story and learn about his calling, you’ll understand why he’s the role model for many. He’s not the most important person in his world and actually considers himself the least important. Part 3 of a 5 part series. 

When you ask Robert “Skeeter” Powell what has caused him to have such a passion for young people with disabilities, his simple answer is “God. When Ben Brewer came to that Young Life meeting many years ago, and I learned of the problems he encountered just being able to come to the meeting, I knew this was an area of service in which I needed to be involved. Ben originally went to Young Life because his mom was looking for some organization where he could be included. She hadn’t found that type of organization at church, at school or in any of the helping agencies. Finding a good fit for Ben had been nearly impossible for his mom, and she hoped that Young Life might meet her son’s needs..”

Robert “Skeeter” Powell feels that he’s been ordained by God to solve problems. Skeeter recognizes that, “Someone needs to love these children and their families.” Not only did Skeeter see the need, but he also felt calledto start off by loving these people and then doing everything he could to solve their problems. How much better the world would be, if there were more people like Skeeter.

Skeeter took his calling for helping special needs families and their families one step further by creating a nonprofit organization called David’s Table, based on the Bible story found in 2 Samuel 9, where as told in Skeeter’s own words, “David just had become king of Israel. In those days a king oftentimes would try to kill anyone he thought might take away his kingdom. But David was looking out for his friend Jonathan’s family, although Jonathan’s father, King Saul, had been cruel to David. Mephibosheth, Jonathan’s son who was crippled in both feet, was the only one left in Jonathan’s family. David sent for Mephibosheth to be brought to him and said, ‘Don’t be afraid, for I will surely show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan. I will restore to you all the land that belonged to your grandfather, Saul, and you will always eat at my table.’

So, we invite young people to come to the King’s table. We want to try and provide for them, as David did for Mephibosheth, for Christ’s sake. That’s why the name of our organization is David’s Table. Members of David’s Table include Young Life, my church and several-other churches in our area. We have other people helping us, like the United States Tennis Association (USTA), which has been a tremendous support for supplying equipment and instruction to enable our young people to learn the game of tennis and to compete on different levels, like other athletes in high school do.”

When asked why he continued to stay involved and tried to grow the reach of his ministry to these special students, he gave us two answers. “This is a God thing, and these young people need someone to love them.” Also, as Skeeter says with a smile, “I’m getting older now.I can keep up with youngsters in wheelchairs much better than I can able bodied youngsters.” Skeeter is the executive director of David’s Table and works with four other people who have the same love for young people with disabilities that he has and also want to support them.

Learn more about Robert “Skeeter” Powell and the David’s Table ministry

Next: The Mission of David’s Table