A Virginia police officer’s soulful rendition of gospel singer Marvin Sapp’s “The Best in Me” has taken the internet by storm.
After coming off of a shift, officer Mervin Mayo stopped by his church to minister to himself through music. He decided to video the experience in hopes that he could minister to someone else too.
According to CBN News, the video was uploaded on both Mayo’s personal Facebook page and on the Richmond Police Department’s Facebook page.
In the video’s description, Mayo noted that he was inspired by the song and couldn’t get it out of his head, so he decided to sing it.
“I had just gotten off work and stopped by the church, where I am a minister of music, on the way home to do Praise and Worship for myself,” he said, according to CBN News.
“I have to minister to myself before I can minister to someone else,” he added.
The original video was posted by Mayo on March 4 with the caption, “When everyone else around could only see my failures, God saw the best in Me … it doesn’t matter what I did, because God sees me for who I am … He knows MY heart.”
At the time of this writing Mayo’s cover of “The Best in Me” has 1.1 million views across both postings and 40,000 shares on Mayo’s Facebook page, where he sings in full uniform while playing the keyboard.
“I sing in or out of uniform at the drop of a dime,” he said.
“Know that, no matter what you are going through, there is a higher power that looks beyond your faults and sees your needs,” Mayo added.
In the Facebook post, the department notes that Mayo has been serving with the Richmond Police Department since 2005. He also serves at The Richmond Alternative School as a school resource officer in his Community, Youth and Intervention Services (CYIS) Unit.
Additionally, Mayo functions as a referee and mentor of the Police Athletic League (PAL) program.
The post adds that Mayo is “an active singer at RPD and PAL events.”
On Mayo’s personal Facebook page, his bio states that he has been a minister of music at Truth Ministries since 2017.
Photo courtesy: Fred Mouniguet/Unsplash
Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer. Visit his blog Blessed Are The Forgiven.