FCA United: 2012 College Retreat

It’s really hard to put into words just how amazing it was to see God move earlier this month at the FCA College Retreat. College students from Appalachain all the way to UNC-W gathered for a weekend of fun and fellowship at good ol’ Camp Dixie in Fayetteville, NC.

It was such a growing experience for me as FCA staff to see how God was so clearly in control of everything that happen; even the things that seemed to be barriers turned into blessings. My biggest highlight of the retreat was a perfect example of this.

As the Retreat kicked off around 8 pm Friday night, I got word from one of the UNC students that their car had broken down on their way to Camp. In planning for the retreat, we had chosen Friday night’s kickoff session as the opportunity to present the gospel message, so I was really bummed to hear that a car full of students wouldn’t be there for the chance to hear it. So while I was trying to enter into prep mode for my talk, I had conflicting emotions of anticipation and disappointment in my heart. Why would God allow something like this to happen? Doesn’t he want these kids to hear the gospel? In my head I was asking, “why let a silly car get in the way when there are lives at stake, God…how does that make any sense? I battled these emotions leading up to my message, and as I delivered my talk, the group of stranded students stayed stranded, missing the entire program and not getting in until around 2 a.m. that night.

Flash forward to Saturday night. After our panel discussion, we invited any students that had never made a decision to follow Christ to come forward and pray on the steps of the stage. Students started trickling down, seven in all…and I was so excited to recognize one that had been in the broken down car! As the prayer ends and the students rose to their feet, I watched as this particular student walked over to one of the other guys who had been through the car ordeal with him, as he gave him one of the most sincere brotherly hugs I’ve ever seen.

You see, it was this guy’s car that had broken down. He had felt so bad about his car causing the delay that at one point he offered to stay behind and miss the Retreat so the others could go on without him. The other students chose to stay, and he was so moved by their patience and sacrifice, that he sought to share that moment Saturday night with those that had modeled Jesus love so well to him just hours before.

Here’s what I realized in that moment: God didn’t lose control on Friday night and somehow manage to make the best of it on Saturday; He was in complete control the entire time. I was so disappointed Friday night because I saw the car breakdown as an irredeemable situation that meant those students would “miss their shot” at hearing the Gospel. What I came to see so clearly was that God not only worked in spite of the car drama, he literally USED the ordeal to prepare the hearts of the students that went through it, giving them the opportunity to model His love to each other in a way that led to life-change.

If everything had gone according to my plans Friday night, the same result may still have occurred. But because God allowed the car to breakdown, the Gospel was put on display amidst trying circumstances, strangers became friends through that adversity, and these friends became brothers in Christ.

I think God knew what he was doing. And I for one, need to remember that next time I doubt his sovereignty in what I perceive to be even the most hopeless looking situations.

Romans 8:28 says “ALL things work for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose”. This weekend, God reminded me how much power there is in that little three-letter word.

4 of the 6 guys who made decisions to follow Christ on Saturday night, praying with their friends.

For an awesome overall snapshot of the entire retreat with a lot more pictures, check out my beautiful wife Nicole’s blog post here!

What’s my role?

On December 5, I had the blessing of attending a wonderful night of fellowship in Wendell, NC.

Allow me to set the stage:

East Wake High School Football coach, Jamie Lemmond and family: As a teacher and coach at East Wake High School, Jamie leads FCA every Friday and challenges student athletes to “dream bigger” for their lives and to know God. They have 4 children under the age of 9 and Mandy leads a girls bible study and both are leaders in the Wendell Baptist youth group. Naturally, Jamie influences dozens of young men of East Wake, but Mandy and Jamie both wanted to do something special for the girls. Jamie leveraged his influence at school and spent several weeks inviting high school girls to the Lemmond home for dinner and fellowship. Almost 30 girls showed up on that Monday night, including 6 from the Varsity Basketball team. Jamie and his two sons and played upstairs for the night, while Mandy and the two girls hosted and provided a wonderful dinner.

The evening was called a “Princess Dinner”. And if you’re wondering, YES, we shared our favorite Disney princesses and why. Try it. Newsflash: Repunsel is a princess. The aim of the evening was to encourage all of us that our significance comes from an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. Our value lies in what God says about us; not our classmates, friends, teachers, media, boyfriends, even parents and family members.

Now enter two young women in their twenties – Hanna Halteman and Amiga Bidgel to share their stories with the girls. Hanna, a recent NCSU grad, played basketball under the legendary Coach Kay Yow. She is now a personal trainer and influences many girls for Christ. Amiga works at the Alexander YMCA in Raleigh and influences many as she engages relationally and takes every opportunity to share the love of Christ. She also helps lead a girls Bible Study at Martin Middle School. Two women, who are imperfect but loved by God, took the time to come and share about Jesus. It was a beautiful evening.

Hanna and Amiga (middle and right), pictured with East Wake Student, Olivia.

Hanna encouraged the girls to wait on the Lord. She also shared her own story of hardship as she dealt with multiple injuries throughout her career at NC State – and how through hardship, the Lord taught her more about
Himself! Several of the girls could relate, as they had similar struggles. Amiga shared with the girls that no matter how difficult life gets, to put their hope in God. He loves them and He has a plan for them that’s good. [Jeremiah 29:11]. Both women – beautiful and accomplished – but the common thread was that God is their anchor and their hope! What an encouragement to us all.

Lastly, enter the East Wake High School girls, themselves. Many girls invited friends that may have never heard this message before. All of the girls took time out of their week to engage in fellowship. They came open
and ready to receive from the Lord. Many girls opened up and share their struggles and hearts and we were able to pray together. Since December 5th, I have been in contact with some of the girls who are now interested in
serving has a high school leader for the FCA Middle School Retreat in May. It’s amazing!

So – everyone had a role to play. Everyone contributed to an evening that brought the Lord glory and much blessing.

1 Corinthians 15:58 “Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.”

So what role can you and I play?

Maybe you are like Jamie and you have influence in a school or on a team or in a classroom. How can you use that influence to get people to Jesus?

Maybe you are like Mandy and the girls who opened their home and shared the love of Christ through their relationships and hospitality.

Maybe you are like Hanna and Amiga – and God has shone his love into your hearts for you to share with others.

Or maybe you are like the East Wake girls – It’s time to step out and serve!

God is moving all over the Triangle – and all over the world. He wants us all to be involved. So the encouragement to all of us is to find out where God is moving and jump in! It’s such an exciting adventure.
And therein lies true significance.

Love,

Quinn

ONE HOPE

Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. Ephesians 4:2-6

We love causes. We love being apart of something bigger than ourselves. How else can you explain the fascination, nay, obsession with college or professional sports teams?! A bunch of strangers rally together and forfeit time, dignity and money all in the name of their team.

I recently had the privilege of attending an NFL game. It was Chiefs vs Chargers and there I was simply trying to support our local NC State legend, Philip Rivers, quarterbacking for the Chargers. I literally saw the entirety of Kansas City unite for one cause – to see the Chiefs take home the win. It was amazing. The game coincidentally fell on October 31st, so not only was the large majority decked out in all kinds of chiefs paraphernalia, every 3rd person also had on some type of Halloween garb. So, literally, thousands of people uniting under the Chiefs banner and the added bond of a National Holiday made for an awesome “people watching” night.

Unity. This pic has gotta make you smile.

(photo cred bleacher report).

Unity. This is what’s so cool about the FCA College Retreat. Throughout the schoolyear, FCA Huddles are meeting around the Triangle – UNC, Duke, NCSU, Campbell, Methodist and ECU. During the year, we get the privilege of seeing these students on their own turf doing their thing. They wear different colors, have different styles, lingo and loyalties. But the commonality that we get to see? First, the love of the game. Former and current athletes unite. But beyond that, the the passion that shines brighter is their love for Jesus Christ!

So, what makes the College Retreat work? Jesus is the rallying point. There is no greater cause than the cause of entering into relationship with Jesus Christ and sharing the message of hope with the world – and God invites us to join in. There’s power in prayer and power in joining together.  God is in the business of connecting people, even complete strangers, for His cause. Something cool happens when people unite for a cause.

I remember standing in the back of the room last year at the FCA College retreat during Saturday night worship. The students had moved from their “sit with your school” territories and were worshiping together, in unity. The truth from Ephesians 4 was a reality to all, because they had experienced it, that there is “one hope, one Lord and one faith…and one God who is over all”.

Is there disunity – in our schools, huddles, workplaces, families or homes? Lord, help us remember that Christ truly is over all and through all and in all. And show us how we can keep the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace – not because we are awesome – but because You are. Not because we are peaceful but You are peace. Help us keep our eyes on You – our one point of true unity.

He will get the glory and we will experience the joy.

And if you are a college student, see you at the retreat in February! For more info, check

www.TriangleFCA.org

Love,

Quinnr

Influence

First off a little introduction is in order. Quinn and I are really excited to get this blog going for one reason: to share the stories of how God is working through sports ministry in the Triangle so that others can praise Him alongside us. I’ve been working in this ministry for almost 2 years now, and while I’m still a “rookie” in many ways, I have seen God do incredible things in and through the lives of the athletes and coaches involved in FCA ministry.

I hope these stories give you a clear picture of just how powerfully God is working through sports to draw people to himself.

——-

“You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.”
2 Timothy 2:1-2

Influence. I think the entire mission of FCA can be boiled down to this single word.

This week I had the opportunity to see a clear example of this concept in action.

For the past 10 years, Nash Corzine (husband to our amazing administrative assistant Beth Corzine and one of our “all-star” FCA volunteers) has been faithfully arranging speakers for the chapel for Leesville Road High School’s varsity football team every Friday before their games. Because the chapel is having such a positive impact on the team, word has spread, and now the JV football team and varsity basketball team both started their own FCA team chapels this year!

For the past two weeks, I’ve been trying to follow in Nash’s footsteps and help get the basketball team’s chapel started. This past Tuesday, I asked Sterling Lucas to share a message with the team. Sterling is a senior linebacker on NC State’s football team who served as a counselor at FCA camp last summer.

Walking into the chapel with Sterling, as he was decked out in his State football gear, it was so clear just how much influence athletes have in our society. Sterling had their complete attention for the entire 15 minutes he shared. He spoke about how God had used his football injury this year (he was redshirted and will play his 4^th year of eligibility in 2012) to humble him and make him see himself as a man of God first, football player second.

When he finished speaking and I opened up the floor for questions, the first player to raise his hand asked  “What’s it like to be a college athlete?”. That simple question alone is so indicative of the influence that made Sterling’s message so effective. Every player in that room’s dream was to make it to the next level of the sport they loved. What an amazing opportunity to put an athlete like Sterling in front of a group of high school players and have him use his platform as someone who had “made it” in the eyes of those young men, to share the truth of how they can truly  “make it” as men following after Jesus Christ.

Athletes like Sterling have influence.

I left Tuesday’s chapel so thankful that God has created such a clear opportunity for ministry to happen in sports through the powerful influence of coaches and athletes who follow after Him.

And the truth is, we all have platforms in our lives through which we influence others. Lasting influence is not just reserved for the high profile athletes and celebrities.

The question is, what platforms has God given you, and how can you use them to share the gospel with the “audiences” in your life?

Rob

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