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| Area Rep, Corbin Young's football huddle. |
During the first week of July, FCA Sports Camp 2012 was held at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas. With over 1,000 people in attendance, this was the largest FCA camp in the country this year. Athletes competed and trained in their selected sports of football, volleyball, basketball, baseball, softball, and cross-country and were instructed by some of the best high school coaches across the state. However, this was much more than just a sports camp. Athletes grew stronger in their sport and even more importantly in their faith and relationship with our Father in heaven. Hundreds of students were introduced to the love of Jesus and received Christ for the first time, while others repented and re-committed their lives to God. Taylor Castleberry, one of our HPU students, served as a small group huddle leader and had the opportunity to invest in these lives for eternity. Below is a letter which explains his experience.
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| HPU student, Taylor Castleberry's football huddle. |
"Dear
FCA Supporters,
I want to start by saying that I feel no
other organization or ministry is more effective or relevant than FCA. I feel
that we have the largest mission field of any ministry, and God has given us
the ability to meet young athletes where they are. Over the years I have gotten
to see firsthand how God has done MIGHTY things through FCA, and been lucky to
be a part of it. This year at FCA Sports Camp in College Station, TX, lives
were changed forever. You go into a week like that hoping and praying that God
would do great things, and maybe even use you in the process. From my
perspective, He did above and beyond that. From the day Corbin and I arrived at
A&M and met all of the other college students and athletes that were going
to help lead out that week, I felt such a powerful connection. We were all
there for one purpose, to make Christ known to those kids that week. And there
is nothing more powerful than the unity of believers coming together for a
common goal. I was blown away, and the kids hadn't even arrived yet.
I had the PRIVILEGE of being assigned the
largest small group in the entire camp, 14 high school boys. While it would
have been logical to view that as a challenge and maybe a burden, I knew that
God had designed for every one of those kids to be in my group before time even
began, that's powerful. While practices and training were a success, God used
our time on the field, and free time together to open the door for me to share
the love of Christ with them all week. These kids came from every walk of life
you could imagine, but for that one week out of their lives, we were all
brothers. Some thought FCA Sports Camp was just a football camp, but by the end
of the week, God had begun to soften their hearts and I was able to just share
the truth of God with them. While several of my kids got re-connected and
re-dedicated to Christ, I was unable to see any of the boys accept Christ for
the first time. While that was my prayer the whole week, God undoubtedly used
me to speak words, and Scripture in to their lives, and I cling to the promise
that God's Word will NEVER return void. Whether they were ready to make that
decision to give their life to Christ or not, God will use those words and Scriptures
down the road to meet them when it is their time.
My experience with these guys was better
than I could have imagined. Me getting to serve them strengthened my faith and
love for Christ. I went to bless those kids, but was blessed tenfold in return.
I thank God for that week and for the POWER of FCA.
In
Christ,
Taylor
Castleberry"
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Above: Taylor Castleberry leading worship
during Huddle Leader Training weekend. |
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Above: Shelby Shipley's basketball huddle,
ACU student & Brownwood Coach Bob Shipley's daughter.
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