Divine Fitness held a ribbon cutting on Nov. 2 in Moody. Divine Fitness owner Willie Strickland shared with the crowd in attendance that his new fitness center is rooted his Christian beliefs.

The gym is free to attend and survives on donations to the ministry. 

“We want to be as big of a blessing around here as we can,” said Strickland. “God’s grace has been sufficient to this point and I know it will continue to be.”   

Strickland has been working toward his own fitness center since 2005. He thanked the Leeds Greenwave for giving him the start and inspiration for his journey. Darrin Carter, his first trainee, was aspiring to walk on to JSU’s football team. He approached Strickland for his training expertise. 

“He made the team and that gave me the confidence that I could train people and help them become better physically,” said Strickland.

Strickland went on to train players at Leeds High School from 2008 until 2015.

“I can’t thank then Leeds Coach Keith Etherege enough for giving me the opportunity to work with his players,” said Strickland. “I am a 1993 graduate of Leeds High School and will always been a Greenwave.”

Divine Fitness Ministries finally began taking shape in 2018 when Strickland began holding Bible studies that centered around the athletes he was training. He thanked John Dyer for teaching him how to study the word of God. Before leaving his office at Club Fitness, he had a 33 men who had been led to Christ. 

Divine Fitness is ironically in the heart of Moody at this location,” said Strickland. “We want to be the heartbeat of Moody.”

Strickland said in July his business and ministry development became a success when he came to own  the building. His dream was to have his own facility, and his second dream was to be able to present this accomplishments to his parents. However, Strickland’s father passed away last Dec. 10, 2020. He said he was proud the rest of his family is able to see him succeed. 

“I was still able to pick my mom up and bring her, my brother and my sister and we still got to celebrate,” said Strickland. 

Strickland believes the business will be able to survive on donations because every aspect of the ministry has been given out of the good-will of those in St. Clair County. 

“Everything you see in that gym is God’s grace. It was none of my doing. He had me put on Facebook what I was doing and you guys were obedient to his call. I am forever grateful,” said Strickland.

The fitness center is decorated in painted in certain colors to represent different elements of the Bible. He said he hopes the scriptures lining the walls inspiring some of the people that come into his fitness center. He also features the colors of each school in the area in the design of his logo.

“The word of God is evident on the walls as there is scripture written to spread the word of God,”