Power Team draws audiences to Ripplemead: "If you can get their attention, God can get their heart," one team member says.

Publication: Roanoke Times (Roanoke, VA)

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COPYRIGHT 2006 The Roanoke Times

Byline: Jared Turner

Sep. 30--Breaking baseballs bats and bending steel bars for Jesus?

The Dallas-based team of athletes dubbed the "Power Team" says you bet.

And they'll demonstrate their feats of strength and showcase their massive size for the fourth time in as many days at 7 tonight and 6 p.m. Sunday at Riverview Baptist Church in Ripplemead.

On Wednesday, the first performance of the five-night crusade, some 450 people filled the church's multipurpose facility.

"A lot of people coming are not our church people," the Rev. Shahn Wilburn said.

Not surprising because attracting those who don't regularly attend church is a staple of the Power Team's mission.

"If someone is going to church, they've always got their guard up," said Carey Leighow, a team member for more than 13 years. "But when they come to our things, they're not thinking church service so their guard is a little down before they even...

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