Every FCA staff member has a unique story of being called to staff with The Fellowship of Christian Athletes, but God uses the process to draw each one to Himself in preparation for a lifetime of ministry.
Adrienne Haugen is a prospective area representative who hails from a small town near Atlanta, Georgia, and now lives in Cannon Falls, Minnesota, with her husband and three young children. She loves sports and wants to point coaches and athletes to Jesus.
Adrienne applied to join staff over one year ago after coming across a job opening on the FCA website. She didn’t know any FCA staff members in the area, but she had gone online to see if there were any FCA groups in the area for her children to attend. She noticed the employment link, checked out the open positions, and shared the idea of joining staff with her husband and her parents. They all encouraged her to pray about it but felt she should pursue the opportunity because it fit her heart for reaching coaches and athletes.
So she filled out the application.
Confirmation
A few days later, James Bolin, Southeast MN FCA Area Director, called her to set up a meeting. It was at this meeting that God confirmed in her the desire to pursue staff. She said, “I had this prayer that if God wanted us to stay in Minnesota, He would give me something to fulfill me and fill me up. Ministry and sports have always been my go-to where I get filled.” She decided to take the next steps.
The onboarding process for FCA is extensive. First, Adrienne went through a 15-hour online course called Tryout Training where she learned more about the mission and vision of FCA, the hiring process, and what to expect next. After that, she attended a two-day Fundraising Boot Camp where she learned best practices around support raising, developed her presentation and letter to potential donors, and completed a list of people she would ask to support her.
Support Raising – Growth through Challenge
Since then, she has been raising support, and the road has been challenging. Adrienne says, “It’s frustrating when you don’t know why people aren’t responding or why the answer is no. Sometimes people don’t even remember having an initial conversation with me. Support raising is the hardest thing that I’ve ever had to do. My core group is from Georgia, and I don’t know a lot of people up here. Covid has also played a hard role in this. I’m leaving it in God’s hands. I will send all the emails, text messages, phone calls that I can.” Then she will trust God to stir hearts to give.
Even though support raising has been hard, there have been great moments. Many people have pledged support of her, and she’s grown as a person throughout the process. She said, “Support raising has allowed me to dig deeper into the Bible and learn things about myself, and I’ve learned more studying the Bible than ever before in my life. It’s also taught me way more about my prayer life than I ever understood at all.”
Today, Adrienne has raised 70% of her salary which is a great accomplishment, but she needs to raise her remaining support very soon.
A Passion for the Gospel
Adrienne’s passion is to see coaches and athletes come into a transforming life with Christ. “I was blessed at my high school that the majority of the coaches were Christians. I want to be able to see every high school have every coach know Christ and every athlete learn to be a leader for Christ and for it trickle down to every student,” she said.
She shared a particularly impactful story of one of her high school coaches who was not a Christian when she was in high school. “For over 30 years, my brother, an FCA staff member, and I poured into him. Five years ago, we watched him become a Christian. We never gave up believing in him and sharing Christ with him.” That drives Adrienne’s heart to be a part of staff today – to be part of having a spiritual impact on the lives of coaches and athletes whose eternal futures can be changed – that’s why she continues pressing on and working toward reaching 100% of her funding.
Support raising is hard. It can be discouraging. Adrienne is working hard to reach that goal and recognizes she has only a few more weeks left. If she doesn’t raise the full amount, her pursuit of coming on staff with The Fellowship of Christian Athletes will end. The area will not be covered by an FCA staff member. Thirteen high schools will not have the support of a staff member supporting coaches and athletes.
Will you help?
Pray
Join Adrienne’s Team
Tell Someone
Who do you know that may have a heart to reach coaches and athletes in one of the areas where Adrienne will serve: Cannon Falls, Dover-Eyota, Goodhue, Kasson Mantorville, Kenyon Wanamingo, Lake City, Northfield, Pine Island, Plainview-Elgin-Millville, Randolph, Red Wing, Triton, or Zumbrota-Mazeppa?
Would you send them this story and ask them to pray about joining her team?
Raising support is no easy task, but God uses this time to prepare the hearts of prospective staff to face the challenges of daily ministry. We are grateful for those who answer the call.
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