Brownwood Area FCA: FCA Sports Camp 2012

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.

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"