Fellowship of Christian Athletes Seeks to Expand Their Athletic Outreach

Ever since Fitzgerald Buhoo was only five or six, he wanted to be a pastor; now as an upperclassman at Hollywood Hills High School, he has been given the opportunity to be a light to the people around him through Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Though he isn’t a player on the team, he collaborated with the head football coach, Coach Lang, and FCA to counsel the football team. He’s able to talk to them about having good attitudes, how to be a problem solver not a problem maker and what it means to follow Christ. “It has allowed me to be able to minister more and not be ashamed. The world needs a leader; you’re never too young to lead people the right way,” he said. So far he has seen about seven or eight football players come to know Christ. “FCA changed and blessed them and made them look at life in a different way,” Buhoo said.

 

FCA

The Fellowship of Christian Athletes touches millions of lives… one heart at a time, and they are now expanding their outreach in schools in Broward County. Since 1954, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes has been challenging coaches and athletes on the professional, college, high school, junior high, and youth levels to use the powerful medium of athletics to impact the world for Jesus Christ. FCA focuses on serving local and international communities by equipping, empowering and encouraging people to make a difference for Christ. FCA has seen over two million people come to Christ and has served in 39 different countries. Their vision is to see the world impacted for Jesus Christ through the influence of coaches and athletes.

 

Broward expansion

Like they have with every county they’ve reached, FCA hopes to encourage athletes and coaches to share their testimony with team members in hopes to create a Christ-like affect at their school and in Broward. FCA has already inhabited 25 schools in cities such as Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, Coral Springs, Deerfield Beach, and Plantation, and is seeking to serve in as many more as they can. Heading up this new goal is the FCA Broward Area Director, Mike Blanc.

Blanc was a starter as a defensive tackle at Auburn University. He chose Auburn University because while he wanted to pursue football, he also wanted to serve God, and Fellowship of Christian Athletes was active at Auburn which gave him an opportunity to do both. God eventually led Blanc to become president of FCA in his senior year. He later moved on to play professional football for the Chargers and the Steelers, but while playing for the Steelers he was injured and eventually released. He saw this not as a deterrent but a chance to serve God’s kingdom. He believes that it was “only because of him that I was blessed with this opportunity.”

George Martos, FCA board member, commented on how much he respects Blanc. He stated, “He’s given up all the things he could’ve pursued to serve the Lord. He’s people-oriented and loves the Lord. He wants to see them go to heaven and is doing everything in his power to affect the lives of high schoolers and middle schoolers.”

 

FCA activities and camps

Fellowship of Christian Athletes impacts the schools they occupy in numerous ways. They provide teaching and devotionals for the athletes as well as prayer before games. FCA will sometimes have a school-wide huddle in which they get to spread the good news of Christ. During the summer, FCA has a summer camp in 40 states and 33 countries. There are six different camps, the Sports Camp, Leadership Camp, Coaches Camp, Power/Youth Sports Camp, Team Camp and Partnership Camp. These camps are designed for coaches and athletes who seek comprehensive athletic, spiritual and leadership training. To sign up for one of the camps visit fca.org.

 

How to get involved

Fellowship of Christian Athletes is instigated and conducted by student athletes and coaches at schools. So athletes and coaches who have a heart for the Lord are encouraged to join FCA in the journey to impact Broward for Christ. If FCA is already at your school, just jump in. If not, go to browardfca.org and click on Campus to learn more about FCA and how you can get FCA at your school. FCA is looking for local action-oriented coaches and business people willing to be on the board. They are also looking for coaches and athletes who have a passionate heart dedicated to serving the Lord, as well as current or retired professional Christian athletes who would like to speak to young athletes and serve alongside FCA.

For more information regarding Fellowship of Christian Athletes in Broward please visit browardfca.org.

 

Gabriella Morris is a home-school student and a Good News Intern. She can be reached at [email protected].

 

Share this article

Comments