I was never an athlete, never wanted to even take P.E. With not an ounce of competitive spirit, I was never on any sports team, thus I had never even heard of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA). This week, I spoke with Jenny McCullough, area representative for FCA.
From the FCA web page: Founded in 1954, “The FCA vision is to see the world transformed by Jesus Christ through the influence of coaches and athletes.”
The FCA mission: “To lead every coach and athlete into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ and His church.”
Jenny stresses: “FCA is a nondenominational sports ministry. We want to be the bridge between the schools and the church.”
Billy Graham once said, “Coaches influence more kids in a year than most people do in a lifetime!”
Our schools have lots of clubs we all know about, including 4-H, and FFA. A teacher sponsors the group but kids set their goals and agenda.
FCA has a representative that visits the school, talks to all of the coaches, shows them the resources available. The coaches must demonstrate a Christian life to be chosen to start a huddle of kids.
Last Wednesday night, I attended a huddle led by FCA representative Jenny at First Baptist Church in Sumner. Jenny is responsible for Bolivar and Sunflower counties and Pillow Academy.
Now, let me just tell you right off the bat, my jaw dropped. Y’all, this is my church. These are my kids I know and love. I love their mamas and their daddies and grandparents. I’ve taught them stuff myself. I promise I did my best but failed miserably. Under my watch, they looked all sweet, but don’t let that fool you. As soon as mama drove off, they were running around, jumping, hiding under the tables, playing the piano.
Not Wednesday. You see, Jenny is a coach. The children are athletes. They are a team. They are student leaders. Some have tiny voices you can barely hear, but when it comes their time to stand out front and recite a lesson, Jenny will encourage a stronger voice as time goes on and confidence builds.
The meeting was opened with praises and then for folks needing prayer, everyone shared and a student leader led us in prayer.
I was given a rubber bracelet called “the four.” It has four symbols on it that leads to the plan of salvation. A heart = Jesus loves you. A division sign = Sin separates us from Jesus. A cross = Jesus saved us. And a question mark = Do you trust Jesus.
Another resource is the core, a laminated set of cards explaining Bible verses. There is a Bible for athletes.
Jenny states, “We study a different topic each week. The kids look up the verses associated with that topic in their Bibles and then share with the group. All these neat tools fit nicely in a FCA backpack, which they had to earn by coming to Wednesday night class four times. We usually average 12-15 students.”
I witnessed the young leaders take drawings from the board, stand in front of the group and describe what they had drawn that represented kindness.
Their next weekly task is to write down good things they see happening, because all good things come from our Lord and Savior.
Tasked with finding a community project, one student suggested having a box to drop off supplies needed for Red Cross emergencies. The discussion resulted in finding exactly which items are most needed and making a list. The huddle would gather supplies as well as collect from the congregation and a parent would deliver to the local Red Cross.
Jenny is funded through church and private sponsorships. There are 60 coaches in 12 schools serving 15 counties in her service area.
