John Harris was one of the original YOKE Folk. The kids that he and his team first served at Christenberry Junior High in 1977 came up with that name and it has stuck ever since. Today, John, a banker for more than 43 years, is still closely involved in the ministry of YOKE. As an MVP – a Monthly Vital Partner – his financial support helps sustain the ministry that he helped to launch all those years ago.
John, a graduate of Central High School, and his wife, Resha, attended North Knoxville Baptist Church and got involved in the youth program that YOKE’s founders, John and Helen Coatney, held on Saturday nights. John recalls that they would play games with the kids for an hour or so before heading upstairs for Bible study. That’s how they became so close with the Coatneys and others from that original YOKE team, including Gina and Jane Gorman.
As a college student at UT, John was a Vols cheerleader. In addition to serving at Christenberry, he also led teams at Northwest Middle and later at Whittle Springs Middle. As the ministry grew and his career advanced, John volunteered to serve as one of the early members of YOKE’s board of directors. John worked in corporate banking with both SunTrust and BB&T and is now the Chief Lending Officer at CBBC Bank in Maryville.
Having been involved with YOKE since the beginning, John has a lot of memories, but one stands out. One summer, when the water level at Norris Lake was particularly low, he and John Coatney took kids up to search for arrowheads. As they stopped for lunch, one troublemaker decided to fill John’s ear with peanut butter scraped from his sandwich. John sat calmly and continued to finish his lunch while John Coatney looked on. “The look on his face was priceless,” recalled Harris. “John (Coatney) knew the kid would pay dearly.”
When John finished his lunch, he filled his hand with peanut butter from the jar and waited for the kid to be distracted. John smeared the peanut butter on the kid, patted him on the back, and said “no hard feelings.” John thought it was funny but was still relieved to never hear from the kid’s mom about the mess.
John credits YOKE, and John Coatney in particular, with his own spiritual development. It was during his time with YOKE that he began rising early to spend an hour with God before beginning his day. “I always thank John Coatney for pushing me to do that,” Harris explained. “It is a very special time of day and helps remind me that God is there through all the ups and downs of life.”
John said he and Resha made the commitment to support YOKE as monthly donors because they know the difference YOKE makes in the lives of middle school students. “Kids today have even more difficulty with things like social media,” he explained. “Nobody but YOKE is really ministering to middle school kids, but they are often facing situations I didn’t face until I was in college.”
John and Resha have a son, Jonathan, and a daughter, Kristen. Jonathan, who also served as a YOKE Folk in college, now works for the Knoxville Police Department, while Kristen serves as a teacher at Grace Christian Academy.
YOKE’s $30,000 matching fund means that all gifts through the end of the year will be DOUBLED. Mail your check to YOKE today at PO Box 3492, Knoxville, 37927 or make a secure gift online anytime at yokeyouth.com/give. Better yet, sign up to be an MVP like John and Resha and help YOKE impact kids throughout the year.