3 Time State Champion Coach & Super Bowl Champion Dad: Sam Harrell to Speak at Upcoming Brownwood Area FCA Community Luncheon

Hometown hero, Sam Harrell, will return to Brownwood this month on Monday, April 23^rd to speak at a community luncheon hosted by the local Fellowship of Christian Athletes. The Harrell family is deeply rooted in the very heart of Texas high school football. Sam Harrell’s father was an assistant on the legendary Gordon Wood's coaching staff at Brownwood in the 1970’s. Sam played quarterback for Coach Wood and graduated from Brownwood High School in 1975. After leaving for college and getting a start in coaching at Plainview, Sam returned to Brownwood in 1982 and also became one of Wood's assistant coaches.

Now a member of the Gordon Wood Hall of Fame, Sam Harrell said: “Brownwood is home for me.” All three of his boys were born here in Brownwood. His wife, Kathy, is a school teacher. His oldest son, Zac, followed his footsteps into coaching and is currently the Offensive Coordinator at Van High School. Graham Harrell, his middle son, was the record setting quarterback at Texas Tech University and is currently the back up quarterback for the Green Bay Packers, and was a part of the 2011 Super Bowl XLV Championship team. Sam’s youngest son, Clark, just finished his college career at Abilene Christian University and now works as a financial planner. Sam and Kathy also have two grandchildren. 

Sam left Brownwood in 1990 to take on his first head coaching job at Reagan County. In 1994, Sam became the head football coach at Ennis High School, where he got to coach his three sons, and built a power-house class 4-A program that won three state championships in five years: 2000, 2001, 2004. The mastermind of one of the most prolific offensive attacks in Texas high school history, Sam Harrell was one of the first coaches to employ a no-huddle spread offense. During Sam’s sixteen years as head coach of the Ennis Lions, his teams went 153-51 with thirteen consecutive playoff appearances. He was elected to coach the Texas All-Star team in 2002, and was the president of the Texas High School Coaches Association in 2008.

However, after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2005, Sam progressively got worse and was forced to step down from coaching in 2009. Transitioning into administration next, the severity of his situation and medical needs only became greater, so he retired from Ennis ISD in 2011.

Multiple sclerosis, commonly known as MS, is a chronic, unpredictable, autoimmune disease that affects the central nervous system. The immune system eats away the myelin sheath surrounding the nerves. Symptoms vary from person to person. Mild symptoms include numbness in the limbs, weakness, fatigue and blurred vision. Severe symptoms include paralysis and loss of vision.  Harrell first noticed the vision in one eye was going blurry, a condition that would worsen with heat and exercise. Over time, he gradually lost his ability to walk. The most challenging part of MS is the fact that American neurologist have no real hope or cure for the disease, only medication that can slow it down. Sam Harrell is encouraged, however, by accounts of medical advances being achieved outside of the strict U.S. regulatory environment. He has been to Panama three times now for stem cell treatment, and is more mobile and doing better than he has been in the past three years.

Through it all, Sam has a positive attitude and said, "MS may take away the things you do, but it doesn't take away your life.” Sam and Kathy are ultimately at peace because of their faith that God is in control and said, “We don’t blame God for this small thing, after counting our many blessings in life.” Instead, Sam is using MC to honor the Lord and will be here to share his story at the FCA Community Luncheon on Monday, April 23, 2012.

From his coaching experience, Sam Harrell brings a great perspective on the influence of FCA and believes it is a great organization. Harrell said, “FCA is the avenue that helps coaches focus on the heart of athletics, which is relationships. More important than the X’s and O’s and even winning, coaching is all about molding the spiritual lives of young men and woman.”

Unlike previous FCA Community Luncheons, this is not a fundraiser. FCA simply desires to report the ministry impact from the past year to the community. In addition to Sam Harrell, Dallas Huston will emcee the event. The luncheon is from 12:00-1:00 p.m., doors will open at 11:30 a.m., at Coggin Avenue Baptist Church’s new fellowship hall. Tickets are $8 each and can be purchased at the Brownwood High School Athletic Office, or from the local FCA staff and board members. Contact Corbin Young, Brownwood Area FCA Rep., at 940-389-3210 or cyoung@fca.org. Board Members: Kevin Gabaree, Dr. Rick Evans, Kirk Wall, Darlene Wall, Stephen Haynes, Ricky Cavitt, Dr. Carol Boren, Dr. Brad Johnson, Tracey Carrier, Robert Damron, Tony Daniel.

Brownwood Area FCA

Community Luncheon

Monday, April 23, 2012

CABC New Fellowship Hall

12:00-1:00 p.m.

(Doors open at 11:30am)

Guest Speaker: Sam Harrell

Emcee: Dallas Huston

Tickets: $8 each

HPU Football Player Speaks at Local FCA Huddle



HPU student-athlete, Josh Kennedy

One campus ministry highlight from around the area which deserves notice is Howard Payne University football player, Josh Kennedy, visiting and speaking to the FCA huddle at Blanket High School earlier this month. This is a beautiful picture of the FCA impact, where a college athlete being discipled through FCA, uses their influence to pass on the truth and invest in a group of younger students at a local high school FCA huddle.
Josh is a junior Chemistry major, receiver on the football team, and active member of the college campus FCA huddle. Josh quickly volunteered when the opportunity and invitation arose to lead the morning devotional at Blanket’s weekly FCA huddle meeting.
The students welcomed Josh with open arms and soaked up every word God placed on his heart as he shared his testimony about growing up in Branson, Missouri. He explained how the absence of his divorced and drug addicted mother led to his own struggle with alcohol and drug abuse at the early age of 9 years old. After several years of wondering the streets unsupervised, CPS finally stepped in when he was 13 and placed Josh in foster care. From there, he was then adopted by his current parents, Fred and Rosalie Powers, who live in Fort Worth, Texas, where Josh finished his teenage years and graduated from Southwest Christian High School.

Josh said, “God took a bad situation and turned it into a good thing with my adoption, because my new parents took me to church for the first time and introduced me to the love of Jesus Christ who is my Lord and Savior.” Through John 3:16, Josh encouraged the students with God’s love and showed them that there is always hope and forgiveness in Christ regardless of your background. 

The message spoke volumes and is just one example of how God is using this vital ministry to impact our area for Jesus Christ through the influence of coaches and athletes on school campuses everywhere. Since then, I have recently found out that there were at least 6 foster kids there that day that I’m sure could relate to Josh’s story in more ways than one. God is good! Amen. 

Josh Kennedy praying at Blanket FCA Huddle.

About Blanket FCA:

The Blanket FCA huddle meets every Friday morning before school at 7:30 a.m. in their gymnasium. With the leadership of Blanket volunteer/Brownwood Area FCA board member, Robert Damron, the Blanket FCA huddle was newly started last school year. Due to the support and weekly attendance from him and AD/Head Football Coach, Tyler Tabor, Blanket has one of the strongest FCA ministries in our area with anywhere from 30-40 students, over half the high school enrollment, attending every Friday morning hungry for God’s Word and donuts of course.   

Corbin Young & Josh Kennedy pictured with 5 Blanket Middle School girls.

5 HPU Students go to 2012 FCA College Advance

The Brownwood Area FCA sent 5 Howard Payne University students to FCA’s annual College Advance on January 27-29, 2012 at Riverbend Retreat Center in Glen Rose, Texas.

Over 400 students from nearly 50 different schools across Texas attended the camp, including: Junior Colleges, NAIA, NCAA Division I, Division II, and Division III. Throughout the weekend they had the opportunity to compete in co-ed team events, small group times, and chapel worship services. Scott Crenshaw, Sr. Pastor of New River Fellowship Church in Weatherford, Texas was the camp chaplain and the worship music for the weekend was led by the Zeke Dorr Band. During the invitation given at the Saturday night chapel, nearly 50 student-athletes stood to receive Christ, either for their first time or re-commitment.

These 5 HPU students were able to attend because of scholarship donations made by the generous supporters of FCA in our community. Thank you for making a difference with your investments. Read the 5 students’ testimonies below to see the impact you made possible.

HPU Students at 2012 FCA College Advance
Left to Right: Michael Ballejo, Charles Hill, Jennifer Kotzur, Kevin Domingue & Taylor Casleberry

“What made the FCA extreme so incredible was the community that we got to share among other believers our age with our same passions and goals in mind. Getting to encourage and build up one another reminded me of what being a family of believers is really about. God definitely worked in my life throughout the weekend, as I know He did great things in others’ lives as well.”

- Taylor Castleberry, HPU junior FCA huddle leader.

“I was very blessed to be able to attend the FCA Extreme weekend. It was amazing to see so many individuals from so many different places with such varying talents and abilities come together and be united by not only sports, but most importantly our savior, Jesus Christ. Despite only being with our "huddle" for a short amount of time you are able to develop relationships with those guys due to the simple fact that we all have a similar goal: Colossians 3:17. I already look forward to next year’s camp and am excited for God's plan of everyday for the rest of my life.”

- Kevin Domingue, HPU freshman football player.

“It was a great experience and an opportunity to interact with athletes from all walks of life, but still call them my brothers and sisters in Christ. I was encouraged and motivated by my new amazing teammates and friends. The entire weekend was truly filled with Christ and the Holy Spirit. We all look forward to going back next year and hope more students from HPU will attend.” 

- Jennifer Kotzur, HPU grad student FCA member.

“Camp was pretty fun.  I enjoyed going to Glen Rose and getting to meet other athletes, especially Division-I athletes.  It was AWESOME getting to see D-I athletes turning to Jesus Christ and cool to see how they interacted with others, regardless of their college size.  Also, the speaker really spoke to me in a very positive way.”   

- Charles Hill, HPU freshman football player.

“College Advance was so awesome. It was really neat to watch and participate in how sports brought a group of strangers close enough to call each other brother and sister and tell them you love them. FCA impacted me so much and I will remember the group I was with forever. God is so good.”              

- Michael Ballejo, HPU freshman FCA member.

FCA History

 

FCA Camp 2012

2012 Camp Theme
“In the Zone” - Ephesians 3:20

Everyone at an athletic competition knows the moment it happens. The competitors can sense it; the coaches can only watch it and the fans are in awe of it. It’s the instant when an athlete takes his or her game to a higher level during the course of a contest. Something happens that catapults the athlete into a stage of competitive performance where every skill is performed with perfection and every move is executed flawlessly. The competitor’s confidence rises with every second that goes by…and he or she literally becomes unstoppable. The athlete is playing “In the Zone.”

God desires each one of us to live our lives “In the Zone” through an unstoppable faith. He calls us to a higher level of living that is much greater than simply living for ourselves. What would our teams or athletic programs look like if students lived their life “In the Zone” for the Lord? How would things change on our campuses if coaches and athletes lived out an unstoppable faith in Jesus Christ? Is this level of spiritual influence possible? Absolutely! It’s time to live “In the Zone” for Jesus Christ!

Sponsor a student/coach to Go to Camp
2012 Camps are right around the corner! We had a record 351 camps last year. Only a hand full of Brownwood middle school girls from our area went to camp last summer. Two area coaches and their wives, from Brady and Early, were also able to attend our FCA Coaches Retreat in Horseshoe Bay last July because of generous donations that made their scholarships possible. Please consider making a difference this year by sponsoring a student-athlete or coach to attend camp! Either way, be in prayer for our coaches and athletes who are able to go.

2012 Texas FCA Camps
Save The Dates: 

FCA Leadership Camp (HSU/Abilene)                             June 4-8

FCA Sports Camp (Texas Tech/Lubbock)                         June 18-22

FCA Sports Camp (Texas A&M/College Station)              July 2-6

Coaches Enrichment Retreat (Horseshoe Bay Resort)     July 12-15

Camp Video, Info & Online Registration

www.fcacamps.org/

The "4 C's" of FCA Ministry

Coaches Ministry
At the heart of FCA are coaches. Our role is to encourage and equip them to be role models in knowing and serving Christ. FCA ministers to coaches at every level through our Heart of a Coach program, R12 Coach discipleship training, 3D Coaching Bible study, outreach events, training and resources. Resources include coach-specific Bibles and devotionals. In addition to FCA staff discipling and mentoring coaches, we provide marriage weekends and retreats at Horseshoe Bay Resort every July.  Our outreach events include programs at national and local coaches' conventions. Locally, we attend the THSCA School every July and provide a Coaches Appreciation Luncheon in Brownwood every August. In the Brownwood Area, there are over 310 coaches in the schools FCA impacts.

 Campus Ministry
The FCA Campus Ministry is initiated and led by student-athletes and coaches on junior-high, high school and college campuses. FCA's goal is to enable student-athletes to know and grow in their faith in Christ and to encourage their peers to do the same. Our programs include Huddles (school clubs), team Bible studies, pre-game devotionals, chapel assembly programs, prayer groups, TeamFCA membership, our One Way 2 Play - Drug Free program and  Fields of Faith. Locally, there are 18 active FCA Huddles in the Brownwood Area, which consists of 7 counties, 31 school districts, and over 18,000 students.

Camp Ministry
Camps are a time of "inspiration and perspiration" for athletes and coaches to reach their potential by offering comprehensive athletic, spiritual and leadership training. Now FCA offers over 350 camps including Sports Camps, Leadership Camps, Coaches Camps, Team Camps, Partnership Camps and Youth Sports Camps called Power Camp. To learn more, please visit our FCA Camp Website: www.fcacamps.org/

Community Ministry
FCA reaches out to the community through our non-school-based FCA ministries and programs which are made possible through partnerships with parents, volunteers, local churches and businesses. The dramatic growth of club, league and church sports, presents a significant opportunity for FCA, and we have established many sport-specific FCA ministries including golf, lacrosse, baseball, health and fitness, motocross, volleyball, soccer and endurance. In the Big Country, Fields of Faith and the annual Myrle Greathouse FCA All-Star Classic football and basketball games also make a great impact locally.

What is FCA?

About FCA

Since 1954, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes has challenged athletes and coaches to impact the world for Jesus Christ. FCA is cultivating Christian principles in local communities nationwide by encouraging, equipping and empowering others to serve as examples and to make a difference. The playing field is where many cultivate their values. A staggering 41 million kids between 8 and 18 play competitive sports. That's why, as the largest interdenominational sports ministry in the world, we believe FCA is needed more than ever. FCA reaches well over two million each year for Christ on the professional, college, high school, junior high and youth levels through our "4 C's" of Ministry: Coaches, Campus, Camps and Community. With greatly valued volunteer and financial support, we are indeed putting the heart and soul in sports.

Our Vision

To see the world impacted for Jesus Christ through the influence of athletes and coaches.

Our Mission

To present to athletes and coaches and all whom they influence the challenge and adventure of receiving Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, serving Him in their relationships and in the fellowship of the church.

Our Values

Integrity | Serving | Teamwork | Excellence

The Impact of One!

            The following is a copy of a hand written letter we received from a girl in Rochelle who attended Fields of Faith. We send every student that makes a decision at Fields of Faith a follow up letter encouraging them to grow in their faith by getting involved in a local church and reaching their campus through FCA. This young lady re-committed her life to Christ this year and replied to us by saying:

            

            Today, Kayleigh is involved in her church and also a huddle leader of one of our newest and most active FCA Huddles that was planted on the campus of Rochelle High School last year. We not only were able to take her a new FCA Bible, but had the exciting privilege of providing 26 Bibles to Rochelle’s entire FCA huddle. God is at work on our campuses and impacting young lives everyday through the influence of coaches and athletes. 

Thank you for making this possible through your generosity and support of this vital ministry. Please continue to be in prayer for more and more student-athletes like Kayleigh to grow in their relationship with Christ! It is our desire to share the gospel with every kid, on every campus, in every community of our 7 county area.

Fields of Faith 2011

 

God continues to bless Fields of Faith and use this annual outreach event to draw students in our area to Him. In 2011 we saw the attendance grow to 3,000 packing out the home side of Gordon Wood Stadium.  288 of those students gave their life to Christ and received Jesus as their Lord and Savior for the first time. 236 students re-committed their life to Christ. 188 students committed to read their Bible daily and we were able to provide over 100 Bibles to students who needed a copy of God’s Word. We thank the 200 adult volunteers, 30 area schools and 96 local churches for partnering with us and we pray for these students as you follow up and provide them with essential discipleship throughout the year. Most of all, we praise Jesus and thank God for another incredible life-changing night at Fields of Faith!!! All Glory goes to our King!

            SAVE THE DATE! Go ahead and mark your calendars for this year’s Fields of Faith on OCTOBER 10, 2012. For more info please visit our national website http://www.fieldsoffaith.com/      

  

 



Sharing Christ - Ministry Highlight

Teammates,

Let me encourage you with an exciting FCA ministry highlight from around the area in fall 2011. Besides God moving in a powerful way at Fields of Faith in Brownwood this past October, there are also lives being changed daily on school campuses through weekly FCA huddle Bible studies. I want to share with you just one story in particular which reveals the impact of FCA and the influence of a coach. On September 30^th, I was invited to speak at a local middle school FCA huddle, in Brady, which meets every Friday at 3:30 p.m. after school in their cafeteria. The following is a letter I received from the Brady FCA huddle coach afterwards. 

“Corbin,

I just wanted you to know that after your visit with us here at the middle school FCA huddle last Friday there was a young man named Mark that stayed after and even helped clean up with the adults.

Mark comes from a not so great background and a very troubled home life. Mark is a great kid and seems to attract others in his grade with his room altering smile. (Really! This kid has a smile that can make even the meanest teacher loosen up).

While we were busy cleaning up, I had to go get ready for the Varsity game that Friday night and Mark asked if he could catch a ride to the game.  I said, “Sure let me get changed for the game and then we’ll go.”  But, while I was changing something told me that Mark was not just here for a ride to the ball game but was still here for another reason.  So after doing a little praying in the coaches’ office, I called Mark into the office and began to visit with him about Christ. I explained to him how prayers to God without Christ in your life have no power because Jesus is the only way, the truth and the life and no one is allowed to God but by Him. After about 10 minutes of heart to heart, we prayed a sinner’s prayer and Mark received Christ right there in the coaches’ office. And once again he lit up the room and gave me a great big Thank You!

Today Mark is active in our church and in our youth programs.

Thanks,

Coach Terry Bean

Brady FCA”

That is what FCA is all about! I am continually humbled and amazed by similar stories that take place through this vital ministry on a regular basis. God is awesome and mightily using FCA for His Glory!

Thank you for making this possible in our area. I appreciate your support, both financially and prayerfully. I hope this rekindles your flame or ignites a new one for those of you who are not yet a part of Team FCA.

We need more financial teammates who feel led to give to this non-profit sports ministry to help provide student-athletes and coaches with Bibles, ministry resources, FCA camp scholarships, and staff salary. Please prayerfully consider your contribution through a one-time gift to our local Brownwood Area FCA, or even better, by committing a regular monthly gift at any level. For more information please visit our website to donate online: http://bigcountryfca.org/donate