Fellowship of Christian Athletes to host ‘Fields of Faith’ event Nov. 1

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Students from St. Johns County middle and high schools will join thousands of other youth across the nation to share their Christian faith Nov. 1 as part of the 13th annual Fellowship of Christian Athletes’ (FCA, www.fca.org) Fields of Faith event.

To be held at more than 500 locations across the country during October and November, the interdenominational outreach event will follow a student-to-student ministry format, as peers invite their classmates and teammates to meet on their school’s athletic field to hear students share their testimonies, challenge them to read the Bible and come to faith in Jesus Christ.

In St. Johns County, students will gather Nov. 1 at 7 p.m. at Nease High School’s Panther Stadium for the county’s inaugural Fields of Faith event.

“I’ve been with FCA for 16 years, and Fields of Faith is one of the best communityoutreach events I have been a part of,” said Scott Adams, metro director of Jacksonville’s FCA. “This event truly brings people together.”

Since its inception in 2004, Fields of Faith has reached more than a million people, organizers said, with more than 189,000 students participating on 526 fields in 2015 alone. Nearly 6,000 of those students made first-time faith commitments to follow Jesus Christ; nearly 6,700 students recommitted their lives to Christ while more than 7,300 committed to reading the Bible daily.

The idea for Fields of Faith, organizers said, came from Jeff Martin, FCA’s executive vice president of ministry programs and resources. Martin said he conceived of the concept after searching for a way to help students face spiritual battles and temptations. His search led him to 2 Chronicles 34, which recounts how King Josiah, a teen himself, gathered his people and challenged them to read the Bible. As a result, they changed their culture.

In 2004, Martin’s scripture-inspired dream came true, when 6,000 students gathered on school athletic fields across three states for the first Fields of Faith event.

“Fields of Faith challenges this generation to be committed to reading the Bible and living a transformed life for Jesus Christ,” Martin said. “It’s students challenging students, peers challenging peers and that’s the heart and soul of Fields of Faith.”

While Fields of Faith has its roots with FCA leadership, the event is designed to include multiple national Christian organizations, local churches and ministries. A local leadership team will determine the program of each Fields of Faith event.

For more information about the local Fields of Faith event, contact Matthew Roop at mroop@fca.org.