Students from the Brownwood Area FCA (Brown, Coleman, Comanche, Mills, McCullough) will join thousands of other youth on athletic fields across the nation on Wednesday, October 12, 2016, to share their Christian faith with fellow students during the13th annual national Fellowship of Christian Athletes’ (FCA, www.fca.org) Fields of Faith event. This rapidly growing, interdenominational outreach event will be held at more than 500 locations throughout the nation.
While many Christian rallies are anchored to an entertainer or professional speaker, FCA’s Fields of Faith is structured as a student-to-student ministry. Peers invite their own classmates and teammates to meet on their school’s athletic field to hear fellow students share their testimonies, challenge them to read the Bible and to come to faith in Jesus Christ.
“It is always wonderful to see so many students coming together from across the Brownwood Area FCA’s counties to worship, honor and share about Jesus Christ,” said Tony Daniel the Area Director for the Brownwood Area. Daniel continued, “It is simply amazing at what God does in so many lives when hearts are surrendered and turned to God’s Word and His Son, Jesus Christ.”This will be the 9th Fields of Faith event for the Brownwood Area FCA. Last year, approximately 3000 students and supporters attended at Gordon Wood Stadium in Brownwood, Texas. There were 380 students that made decisions/commitments made to accept Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord and over 150 decisions to rededicate their lives to following Jesus Christ.
The national growth of Fields of Faith has been remarkable. Since the beginning of Fields of Faith in 2004, more than a million people have joined the movement. In 2015 alone, more than 189,000 students gathered on 526 fields to participate in the event.
It’s not just those numbers that have FCA organizers excited about Fields of Faith. It’s the real-life impact that these gatherings have on young people. Last year’s series of events saw nearly 6,000 students make first-time faith commitments to follow Jesus Christ; 6,647 recommitted their life to Christ and 7,376 committed to reading the Bible daily.
Fields of Faith began with an idea from Jeff Martin, FCA’s Executive Vice President of Ministry Programs and Resources, who conceived the concept from an Old Testament reference in 2 Chronicles 34, after searching how to help today’s generation of students face spiritual battles and temptations. In the scripture, King Josiah, an influential teenager very similar to Fields of Faith attendees today, gathered his people and challenged them to read the Bible. As a result, they changed their culture.
“Every year we are amazed at what God does in stadiums across the country,” Martin said. “Entire communities unite, and lives are changed for eternity right there on the athletic fields. We are excited to see how God will move again through His Word and His people this October. Fields of Faith challenges this generation to be committed to reading the Bible and living a transformed life for Jesus Christ,” said Martin. “It’s students challenging students, peers challenging peers and that’s the heart and soul of Fields of Faith.”
In 2004, the Josiah-influenced dream came true when 6,000 students gathered on school athletic fields throughout three states for the first Fields of Faith event. That was the beginning of what has become one of the most significant faith-related gathering of students in a single day.
While Fields of Faith has its roots with FCA leadership, the event is designed to include multiple national Christian organizations, local churches and ministries. A local leadership team will determine the program of each Fields of Faith event.
More information about Fields of Faith is available at FieldsofFaith.com. To learn more about the event in Brownwood, contact Brownwood Area FCA Director Tony Daniel at tdaniel@fca.org.
