3 Decades of God at Work

Story #1:

As part of her role as a school counselor, Terri ran a grief group for students who had lost a loved one or relative. One of the young men who attended the group lost both his dad and his brother in a tragic accident. His grief ran deep, and he struggled with anger that often resulted in him getting into trouble at school.

Terri was persistent in inviting him to FCA, and eventually, he gave it a try. Slowly week after week, his heart softened, and he began to carry his loss differently. After coming to FCA for many weeks, something in his heart was stirred, and at one of the huddle meetings he began asking questions about Jesus and salvation. Later that evening he asked Jesus into his heart, and asked Terri to lead him in a prayer for salvation. “It was amazing to watch this young man be transformed by Jesus Christ through the influence of FCA.” This testimony aligns itself up perfectly with FCA’s Mission Statement, “...to see the world impacted for Jesus Christ through the influence of coaches and athletes.”  
 

Story #2:

A student who regularly attended FCA persistently prayed for her parents to come to know Jesus. After every FCA huddle, she would go home and share what she learned about Jesus with her parents. One night, her dad called Terri and asked questions about FCA and about Jesus. As her parents learned more about FCA, and ultimately more about Jesus, they began to open up and developed a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. FCA not only helped this young girl’s faith grow, but it had an impact on her family, as well. Her mom, dad, and younger brother all accepted Jesus into their hearts, and are still serving faithfully in their church today. 

“FCA has provided a way for me to talk about Jesus in a public school to kids who might never find themselves in a church but somehow, Jesus has found them.”

“I’ve learned to be patient and let Jesus do the work. I try to provide a faithful presence for the kids, whether that is through building their trust and being a good listener, or making it a crazy night at the huddle full of fun and games. It’s amazing what Jesus does when you just create space and make room for him in the lives of other people – particularly in the lives of kids. Kids are hungry – they are hungry for the truth, they are hungry for a safe place to ask questions, and they are hungry to hang out with other kids who are also trying to do the right thing.”

“I hope the way I live my life is to disciple others and pour into them with the hope that they will disciple others and pour into others. The ripple effect of that kind of discipleship is something we won't know its full impact this side of eternity. We’ll just never know the number of lives that have been impacted through ministries like FCA.”
 
“It's been a gift to be part of FCA. It’s provided me a place in a public school where I can safely tell kids what to have hope in. As a counselor, I can tell kids to have hope in things, but having a platform like FCA allows me to safely tell them WHO to have hope in. And that makes a big difference.”

“When I started this, I didn’t think there was a chance I’d be doing it for 30 years. I have four kids and my life was incredibly busy between work, my kids’ activities, and family commitments. There were definitely times when I thought, ‘I don’t know if I can keep doing this.’ But I never felt released from it. I never felt like Jesus was saying, ‘Yes, you can put this down.’”

“The truth is, many nights as I drove to FCA, I thought to myself, ‘What in the world am I doing? This is crazy, I just left three crying babies at home, I’m not sure I can keep doing this.’ But, faithfully, every single Monday night as I drove home, I thought, ‘Thank you Jesus that I still get to do this.’ Honestly, that has been my testimony as I talk to other people about getting involved and leading FCA – I know it feels like you can’t do it but there has not been a single night that I’ve driven home where I haven’t felt like it wasn’t a complete blessing to be a part of FCA and I’m always thankful driving home.”
 
“God makes room for things. Without a doubt, it is the most rewarding part of my career to be involved with FCA and build relationships with kids, teachers, coaches, and other adults that are based on Jesus. It’s been an absolute gift to represent Jesus in the public school.”