Reaping the Harvest: Liberty football player puts on charity event 

Hundreds of children visited the Mountain on Saturday for Austin Henderson’s Reap the Harvest Foundation inaugural free community event. The event featured a football camp for students from third to eighth grade, bouncy houses, a foam launcher, multiple food trucks, worship and a special guest speaker.  

Before the football drills began, everyone got to hear from David Tyree, a former Super Bowl champion and wide receiver for the New York Giants. Tyree spoke about his testimony and how God changed his entire life.  

“It was a completely radical transformation,” Tyree said. “I was a functional alcoholic. I did not grow up going to church. I was just the average guy thinking he was doing the right things every single day. Christ met me and literally set me free.”  

Tyree, a changed man who has been “radically loving God and serving him for the last 20 years,” was excited to get the chance to work with Henderson and his foundation.  

After a word from Tyree and Henderson, the fun started with Henderson and some of his Liberty University teammates putting the kids through various warm-ups, including stretches, position-specific drills and even a 40-yard dash. Afterward, the kids split up into teams for a relay race. Once all of the football activities were finished, members of the Liberty Worship Collective led the crowd in a time of worship to end the afternoon.  

Henderson, a junior on Liberty’s football team, created his Reap the Harvest Foundation in February but takes none of the credit.  

“God opened the door for this foundation in late January/early February, and he has just continued to pour out his blessings on this,” Henderson said. “We have just continued to put our hands on the plow and be the workers.”  

Henderson based the foundation on Matthew 9:37, which says, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.”  

When Jesus spoke of a metaphorical harvest, He was referring to people who were lost and looking for purpose and direction. Collegiate sports today look vastly different than they did five years ago, and due to various issues, Henderson sees some of his fellow NCAA athletes as a part of that harvest. 

  “I have seen the space of NIL take the game and pollute it, causing players to ask teams, ‘What can you give me?’” Henderson said. “At Reap the Harvest, we want to create a platform where we can change that mentality into ‘What can we do for you?’”  

Henderson’s mission through the foundation is not to gain, but to give. Giving back to the community, pouring into people and leading people to Jesus Christ are Henderson’s top priorities.  

This event was the Reap the Harvest Foundation’s first event. Henderson said the next project God has laid on his heart is to go into local schools and renovate rooms. Henderson also announced that the Reap the Harvest Foundation will soon be launching its “Narrow Way” podcast, which will have many people from the community share their testimonies. The “Narrow Way” name is drawn from Matthew 7:13-14, which reads, “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” To learn more about the Reap the Harvest Foundation or give to the foundation, visit www.reaptheharvestfoundation.com.  

Caleb Weissinger is a sports reporter.