We had our Annual Campus Kickoff this past weekend at Robin and Stephanie Ventura's home in Arroyo Grande. I thought it went well and I am impressed with many of the students we have leading the ministry at their schools this year. This is a time were we try to gather student leaders, some key parents and adult volunteers from across our area with the goal training, equiping and inspiring our leaders to prepare for the year ahead. This year was by far the biggest group we have had with close to 90 people representing 15 schools from across the Central Coast. We talk about our role as a ministry as being a part of and a extension of the local Church and what it means to be a servant leader. We discuss the calendar of events for the year and go over some of the X's and O's of leading a ministry on campus.
One neat story that has been developing this year is the birth of FCA at Cabrillo High School. Over the summer I was playing beach volleyball with my friend Dan and his brother at the Pismo courts. We needed a fourth and found this tall 6'8" guy who was sitting with his family and watching us play. He played on my team and we lost. I don't think he was to blame. After a few games we all got a little tired and took a break. We meet his family and then his daughter and her friend played with us in place of her dad. I came to find out that she played volleyball for Cabrillo and so I told her what we do with FCA on campuses in the area. She said no way that sounds awesome. Just a few weeks earlier she had went to a camp and had been praying about wanting to reach out to athletes at her school and asking the Lord how she might be able to have a stronger impact on campus. We exchanged contact info and she contacted me as this school year was getting started.
Long story short, Cabrillo brought around 20 people to the campus kickoff, the family already provided funding for bibles and resources for the year and a leadership team of students has been formed! It is always encouraging when we get to see things like that happen in the Lord's timing. I had been avoiding starting Cabrillo becasue I didn't want to drive that far : ) I know right. But the students are motivated and taking the lead and I am excited to help them.
Ryan did a great job leading the activities outside including a water balloon toss. Big thanks to Matt Pearce who catered the event from San Luis Bar B Q!!
If you are someone who chooses to pray for this ministry please pray for God's protection over the minds and hearts of these student leaders as they step out in faith and choose to take a stand for the Lord on their campus. It is not easy going agasint the norms of pressures they face on a regular basis and it seems that some times with ministry comes heightened spiritual attack. If you are a leader at your school or in your community, keep up the good work, stay the course, finish the race...
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
2011 Campus Kickoff - 85 people representing 15 schools
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Surgery Update - damaged trigeminal nerve
So I had planned to start blogging more which I still hope to but this last month has gone by quick, wow! Here is an update on my surgery. The image below is the first of four incisions that they did to begin inserting titanium plates and re aligning my facial bones.
One day after surgery
Here you can see the five titanium braces they inserted. The red on the mouth is just imaging stuff and not related to the injury.
After getting back in the US I meet with an Ophthalmologist while spending a few days with my family in Laguna. They did an eye test and when asked to read the "bottom line" I could make it out fine with my right eye but my left was really blurry although I could still read it. The nurse said ok, well thats good, you still have 20 20 vision in both eyes! I thought, wow if the blury eye is 20 20 I must have had pretty good eye sight before surgery : ) My sight is now almost fully restored and I have no permanent damage to my eyes! This is very fortunate especially since one of the surgeons said if the fracture to the floor of my orbit had been over a millimeter I probably would have lost vision to my left eye. In Laguna my family made me take family pictures (which came out very nice Malea : ) and they were all kind enough to were sun glasses with me for most of the pictures.
I have a wonderful family!None of us choose the families we are born into but I feel very blessed and undeserving of the family I have. We are not perfect by any means and all have our quirks but we love one another I really appreciate them in my life. I also have some of the coolest nephews on the planet and got to meet one of them (little Luke) for the first time that week!
By the time I got back to SLO my swelling was mostly gone but still had the blood hemorrhage in my eye.
Two weeks after surgery
Month after surgeryI do not have any pain but I also still have no feeling in the left part of my face from below my eye to the top of my lip. Kinda feels like you would after going to the dentist only all the time. Basically the injury damaged whats called my trigeminal nerve which is one of three main nerves in your face. So I can't feel it when I shave the left side of my lip and stuff like that which is pretty trippy. Sometime I get a tingliny feeling which is a hopeful sign that I may get feeling back someday but they say it could take up to a year.
Anyway this month has been going well as I have been back on campus training students, working with coaches and speaking at FCA huddles. We got some new office space donated and made available to us for FCA which is a huge blessing! The ministry has been growing pretty subastantially and we now have FCA at 16 schools on the central coast. This kind of growth has required us to do more with leadership training, delegating, and recruiting more volunteers in local areas which has been good. It is also requiring us to generate more resources and funding from the community to help support all these school which we are working on.
I got a new roomate this month. My buddy Eric moved in which has been great. He works for a financial planning firm and used to wrestle for Cal Poly back when I was a runner there. It has been a season of a lot of change and transition for me over the last many months but the Lord is faithful and has been teaching me a lot. I hope to write some of my thoughts about my understanding of the role of suffering in our lives and about the grieving process when I have the time and it feels right...
I was at St. Joe's high today and we had about 35 kids come to the meeting. The students always seem to ask me to share my story about my eye which I have been and then challenge them to evaluate where their foundation in life lies and the importance and value of being grounded in Christ. We will all face challenges and hardships in this life and where our trust lies will effect how we are able to process those events and potentially reflect Christ in a way that honors the Lord or not. Students read out of Romans 5:1-8 and we discussed it and introduced some of the new student leaders....
AG High FCA on TuesdayAfter that I meet with some of our former student leaders at Cal Poly and talked about ministry on the college campus... As I was walking back to my car I say my old teammate Jamey Mora running 1000's around the track. I am so impressed with him and many of my old teammates and opponents who are still training so hard. (I surfed 7 foot Hazards this morning, and got worked pretty good a couple times, does that count as training? : ) Jamey is training for the marathon and races in a couple weeks. He is trying to run the Olympic qualifying time which is 2:19:00 so please keep him in your prayers!!
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Maxillofacial Plastic Surgery in Egypt - My Story
So I decided i might start writing more on my blog again. It has been a while and I thought why not start with our trip to Egypt/Israel this summer. As some of you may have heard I got injured on the second day of camp while playing soccer in the second practice of the day. Through a fluke accident I got kicked in the face by one of the players named Muhammad who went to volley a ball I was attempting to hit with my head. 
I hit the ball first and he hit my face. It was a total accident and one of those simple mistakes that could have happened any of the 14 years I played soccer in the states. Upon impact I could tell it was a pretty hard hit so I checked to make sure I didn't loose any teeth and opened my eyes to make sure I could still see. My teeth were there although one was chipped and I could see fine but as I closed my mouth my bite did not align correctly and I knew something was off.
I got great care by the camp Dr. named Heidi and then got driven to an ER in Cairo. I got a CT Scan and my Dr. was the was the chief of radiology and the father of one of the players I had just coached at the camp. The CT Scan initially revealed five major fractures to my face. Three on my left check separating it from the rest of my scull, one above my nose and one on my left eyebrow bone.
I was scheduled for immediate reconstructive plastic surgery the following day in Cairo. Maged and I left the ER and drove and hour to his house. We picked up some nuggets and fries on the way to his house. I couldn’t chew then so we blended the McDonald's at his house which I ate with a spoon! It was actually pretty good. I had to stop eating by midnight and only had a couple minutes to spoon feed myself to get some nourishment before the next day.
Of course I didn’t expect to go through this over hear but I also know the Lord is purposeful with the suffering He allows us to go through and I wanted to gain spiritually and emotionally from this experience. As I laid down on a small bed at Maged’s house that first night I was alone, it was dark and I’ll be honest I was a little scared for the next day.
It is interesting how Paul talks about wanting to know Christ “even in his sufferings”. I don’t think as Christians we should pursue suffering for it’s own sake but when it comes I do believe there is great value in choosing to embrace it and to realize that we can have experiences with the Lord that we may not be able to have otherwise. I felt the comfort and presence of my savior as I laid in bed that night. I knew my appearance could end up forever altered, their could be complications, I was far from home and was about to have plastic surgery in Cairo, not your ideal situation. I assumed my chance of going with the team to Israel was over and I figured I probably wouldn’t get to say bye to the kids from camp…Still the Lord gave me His peace which surpasses understanding and a worship song came to my mind as I started to sing before I fell asleep for the night.
The Dr. was a maxillofacial surgeon named Emad who got his training in the US at Emory University and is one of the most renown surgeons in Egypt.
He was pretty encouraging and told me about all the “state of the art” equipment and titanium he was going to put in my face. My nurse at the surgeons clinic was named Eman which means "faith" which I thought was pretty cool!
I went under general anesthetics and the surgery lasted five and a half hours.
When I woke up the first thing I did was try to close my mouth. It lined up well and my jaw wasn’t wired shut...I was thrilled! I stayed the night at the hospital that night and then they actually drove me back to the camp at Wadi the next day. I was welcomed back to camp by the cheering of the kids. Friday morning I was feeling pretty good and got to give the talk for “treasure time” and speak to all the athletes. One neat story is that during the daily talk the day after I was injured the Muslim and Christian kids took a moment to come together to pray for me. That was just hours before I went into surgery. At the beginning of my talk Muhammad came up and gave me a big hug and all the kids clapped.
At wadi I received incredible care from my friend Hema who practically never left my side and Heidi who oversaw the distribution of all my medications and general care. Honestly I would not have gotten through this the same without them and am deeply grateful the Lord had them there for me. 
For those of you who are curious I ended up with a total of six fractures to my face and had five titanium micro braces put in place with 21 micro screws. I got around 40 stitches on my face and in my mouth, a micro titanium mesh inserted in the socket under my left eye, and a chipped front tooth. (The pictures from the surgery are pretty intense so I decided not to post them here but the right eye in the example below is similar to what they did on my left eye)
On Saturday I returned to the Dr. for a post op appointment. They removed half the external stitches, did a new CT Scan to see how everything came out and did some dental work to better align my bite.
The Dr. said I was healing really well and that my attitude probably helped as well. We were all having fun and joking around a lot. I got to talk to him briefly about what I do with FCA in the states and we finalized insurance and payment stuff.
At this point half my left eye is still filled with blood with milled blurriness, my face is swollen, I have quite a bit of numbness on the left side of my face and congestion in my left nostril. Other than that I am able to talk, see, smell (out of one nostril) and eat! On Sunday morning I flew with our team to Tel Aviv as we had originally scheduled! The timing of everything was pretty incredible and I feel really blessed to have been able to continue on with the trip in light of the severity of the injury. The surgeon was the one most convincing that I would be fine to travel as long as I was careful and keep the incisions out of the sun. (I've since been to the Dead Sea, Qumran, Jerusalem, Jericho and Bethlehem and have keep the incisions covered pretty well : )
My surgery has become part of the message and story I share with the kids and because the injury was so recent they have sure been pretty attentive and it has been great getting to teach over here.
If you would like to pray for me please pray for:
Reduced swelling
Congestion to clear up
Fully restored sight to my left eye
No infection
That my chewing and eating would improve
And appropriate treatment and care when I return to the states
Over the last couple days we say a few sights in Israel and are now running sports camps for Palestinian kids in Bethlehem (the West Bank). Here in Israel we are using our coaches to run camps for Basketball, Swimming and Volleyball players and are having a lot of fun. We have meet so many amazing people and seen so many incredible historic places and I look forward to sharing more stories and video when I return home!
To be honest one of my biggest fears was how my injury might effect other people or FCA staff when thinking about foreign missions. I have seen God use sports ministry internationally in such incredible ways and I feel led to mobilize and encourage others to use sports internationally for the Lord as well. Even though my injury was somewhat serious it was pretty unusual and I just hope others wont fear international ministry and travel becasue of something they heard I went through. We have all been given many gifts, abilities and opportunities and for those of us who know and serve the Lord I hope we will use those gifts for His Kingdom and the nations as He leads us. Thanks for letting me share some of my story! Thanks for your prayers. God Bless.
Wadi Sport Camp 2011 - Green Light!
Here is a post I started while in Egypt but just finished more recently : )
I wanted to give an update from the trip over hear in Egypt. The travel and camps have all gone really well and the Lord is doing some wonderful things in the kids lives. It has also been a blessing to reconnect with old friends and the staff that we are able to encourage over here.
As we have over the past four years we coached basketball, soccer, swimming, tennis and volleyball for club athletes from throughout Cairo. About 90% of the athletes that come to this camp at Wadi come from a Muslim background and we get to enjoy coaching, teaching and developing relationship though out the week. We also man the stations for the high ropes, rock climbing wall and zip line and help with the evening activities like dodge ball and a talent show...you know typical camp stuff : )
With all that was going on with the revolution and seeming instability in Egypt right now we were not 100% convinced that we would be able to bring a team again this year. Still we prayed and keep moving forward planning the trip unless the door was closed and it just never really closed. After about six months of planning we were able to form a team of seven coaches from FCA to partner up with a team of fifteen from San Jose and six from Texas to serve as the clinicians and help make the two camps at Wadi a reality.
We had our veteran coach Jem McAdams from Palomar College out at the pool with the swimmers, with his two daughters, Jana and Andra. Jana is an incredible photographer and is great with the kids as is Andra who helped coach volleyball and swimming. Tobie Helman was a great addition to our team and is a Volleyball Coach from Idaho. Art Wilmore from Point Loma Nazarene was our Tennis clinician along with coach Will from Texas who took the lead the first couple days as Art came a little latter than the rest of us and his flight got delayed a day as well. It actually was a blessing for me that Art's flight was delayed becasue he arrived in Cairo while I was in surgery and was the first person who's voice I heard when I got out of surgery. It was a real encouragement to have him there in those first hours of recovery. If his flight had not been delayed he would have already been at the camp.
We borrowed Marcus from the San Jose team for Basketball who is a great guy and it was a real pleasure working with him! In Soccer we were fortunate enough to have Aaron Tredway from South Africa come and coach the soccer players for us. Aaron played thirteen years of professional soccer for six different countries at the top division and has a PhD in Sports Ministry! He also has his UEFA A coaching licenses and the kids and I really enjoyed learning from him out in the soccer stadium.
Whenever you put together and plan a project like this one there is some uncertainty and at times requires a pretty high level of faith. I remember a conversation I had a couple years ago with my supervisor who was Donnie Dee at the time. He said, "Luke if you are willing I want you to lead the team to Egypt this next year. What do you think?" I was surprised and humbled that he asked and then prayed about it and said, "Ok, If you think I can do it..." Later I remember thinking, "Oh great what did I get my self into." The planning and trust was difficult but I am glad I said yes and the things I learned through that experience were very valuable and formative for me.
This year was similar but different. This year I had our veteran team member and friend Jem to help me plan and bounce ideas off of which was really valuable. While we were planning this years trip, as you may have heard in the news, two churches were burned down in Cairo in May and 12 Christians were killed and 230 Egyptians were injured. In the same month Osama Bin Laden was killed in Pakistan and there was threat of potential back lash against Americans in other middle east countries. After each of these types of incidents we would go to the Lord in prayer and talk to our host contacts and to our team members and each time we all felt the spirit leading us to keep moving forward so we did. We had decided that unless a formal travel alert was put in place by the state department we would still go. The travel alert would hinder us from being able to insure the trip. I checked for that alert every week in the months leading up to out travel date and they never put it up so we had the green light!!
Some have asked me if I ever felt unsafe over while in Egypt or Israel. We spent quite a bit of time in Cairo (me more that others cause of my surgery) and Palestine and I never once felt unsafe. As Americans and as Coaches/Athletes they love having us there and the people are very kind and hospitable. Even on the first night we were driving to a mall in Cairo and the traffic got really bad forcing us to have to turn around. We found out later that the traffic was caused by a demonstration close by. In that demonstration 125 people were hospitalized! But even then we never felt unsafe becasue we were not involved at all (kinda hard to explain unless you experience it). Now if I was an Egyptian protestor with somewhat provocative or radical political views, then yes I would have probably felt a little unsafe. But as I said we were not involved in any that. Most of the people see us as tourist and an important source of their economy and they are usually glad we are there, if they even notice us at all. I actually feel really fortunate to have been in this part of the world during a time when such significant world events are unfolding. I mean we were in Palestine a month before they tried to declare them self a state in the UN. We got to learn and see so much first hand and from the people these events are effecting and I think that is pretty neat. Hopefully we were able to be a source of encouragement and joy in the lives of the few people we got to interact with in the midst of difficult circumstances... Thanks for reading, feel free to comment or ask a question... : )
Monday, February 14, 2011
New Website for Central Coast FCA
We now have a new Central Coast FCA website! Check it out. CLICK HERE
FCA All Star Football Classic!!
KCOY Article Jan 13th - "Local high school football coaches have long dreamed of creating a new high school all-star football game involving the teams that make up the Los Padres andPAC 7 Leagues. With the help of the local non-profit Central Coast Fellowship of Christian Athletes, this game has become a reality.
The building of two new high schools (Nipomo and Pioneer Valley) over the past 10 years has drastically changed the football landscape as we once knew it. There has been the formation of new leagues, the realignment of divisions, and the creation of new rivalries that have added to the already long standing rivalries of old. On Saturday, June 4, 2011, a new rivalry game will kick off between the top senior athletes from San Luis Obispo County (Paso Robles, Atascadero, Templeton, Morro Bay, San Luis Obispo, Arroyo Grande and Nipomo) and the top senior athletes from Northern Santa Barbara County(Pioneer Valley, Santa Maria, St. Joseph, Righetti, Cabrillo, Lompoc and Santa Ynez).
Regardless of the student population growth in both counties, massive cuts to education have dealt a big blow to the budgets of each and every district. High school sites have had their Athletic Departments impacted in ways never seen before. The cuts were so severe in some districts that freshman sports were dropped or programs were required to be run mainly by volunteers. As a result, there is a dire need to provide financial support for the current shortfalls that exist, especially in the sport of football. The new All-Star Game will be an avenue to raise some much needed funds for the local high school football programs and showcase the local talent one more time before graduating seniors move on to the next phase of their young adult lives.
Money raised from the game will support 14 participating local high schools and will go a long way toward bridging the gaps created during these tough economic times."
Date of Game – Saturday, June 4, 2011 (End of Spring Football Practices for most schools)
Time of Game – 7 pm Kick off (Gates open at 5 pm)
Location – Pioneer Valley High School (675 Panther Drive, Santa Maria)
Teams – San Luis Obispo County vs. Northern Santa Barbara County
Participants – All League Senior Football Players from the Pac 7 and Los Padres Leagues
Coaching Staff – A collection of Head Coaches and Assistants from each of the 14 schools.
All Star Planning Committee – A collection of local active and retired Football Coaches, Officials, and Business Leaders
Friday, September 10, 2010
How to run a huddle meeting - The 4 W's
Check out this video that gives a glimpse into how to run a huddle meeting on your campus.
Huddle - Structure from FCA on Vimeo.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Calendar of Events - Sept, Oct, Nov
As the school year start up we have quit a few exciting event going on and the beggining of the year...
Annual Campus Kickoff
FCA Leadership Training for student leaders, coaches, and volunteers.
Sunday September 19th
3:30-7:30pm
Robin & Stephanie Ventura's House in AG.
Tri-Tip sandwiches, team building exercises, and training on how to run a ministry on campus.
See You At The Pole Rally 
Wednesday September 22nd
6:00-8:00pm
Meet at your school flag pole in the morning (7:00am) to pray for your campus, community and country. Then the youth groups in Santa Maria are partnering to host a Rally that Night in the One Way Board Shop parking lot.
Skate Demo, Live Music, food, student speakers, gospel message...
Fields of Faith
October 20th
6:00-8:oopm
AG High Football Field
Ice Breakers, Live Music, Student Speakers, Giveaways
My Speaking Schedule (not including huddle meetings at lunch):
Optimism Club - 6:00pm September 14th
Atascadero Skate Church - 7:00pm September 28th
Santa Maria Foursquare Youth Group - 6:00pm September 29th
AG Kiwanis Club - 12:00pm October 5th
Grover Beach Youth Conference - October 8th-10th
Board Meeting - October 18th 12:00-1:30
Annual Coaches Clinic -
In November we plan to host our anual coaches workshop for coaches on the central coast.
Athletes and teams are invited this year as well.
3:00-5:00pm
Sunday, November 21st
We have a wonderful guest speaker coming to present at our annual coaches workshop this year.
"David Lightsey, M.S. is an exercise physiologist and nutritionist who has worked for the past sixteen years with the National Council Against Health Fraud, a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization combating misinformation in the health marketplace. He is also an advisor to www.Quackwatch.org, and has appeared on Dateline NBC, the CBS Evening News, and has provided research support for ESPN's Outside the Lines."
Mr. Lightsey is also a committed Christian and has a heart for coaches and athletes and their physical as well as spiritual development.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
FCA Camp 2010 - Update!!
FCA camp was truly amazing this year. Camp is usually always a highlight of the year but this year God's presence and power were so clearly evident at camp and the healing, transformation, and new birth that took place in so many athletes lives was tremendous to watch.
We had just under 700 students attend camp at UCLA with over 300 volunteers working as clinicians, huddle leaders, trainers, and behind the scenes helpers.
We were able to send 28 students to camp on scholarship from the central coast representing 11 different high schools, middle schools, and home schools from our area. We also had five college age huddle leaders serve at camp including Chase Pami (Cal Poly National Runner up in Wrestling), Josh Swaney (Cal Poly Football tight end), Rachel Vallerie (former Cal Poly Cross Country), Dan & Chloe Murdoch who lead a surf Bible study at the Esteem surf shop in Pismo beach, and Ryan Pahler who helped with huddle leader training and as a assistant clinician in football......
Coach David Kelly (SLO High head football coach) also served as a clinician at camp along with my wife and I who helped with training and surfing.
Above are some of the students who attended camp from the central coast.The athletic training this year was incredible with over 30 college and professional coaches running the practices, along with numerous guest clinicians like Michael Chang (Tennis), Leah Amico (three-time Olympic Gold Medalist in Softball), and Chris Klein (MLS Galaxy).
The camp speaker was Mike Ere, a teaching pastor at Rock Harbor Church in Costa Mesa. He did a wonderful job communicating the Gospel through exalting Christ, relating to the athletes, showing God as "Father", and bringing the students to a place of decision in this pivotal time of their lives. The camp theme was "Unleash the Power" based on Colosians 1:11 and the campers talked about FCA core values of Integrity, Service, Teamwork & Excellence in their huddle meetings.
Guest speakers like Matt Barley (USC Quarterback), Michelle Perry (womens 100m World Champion in 07), Eric LeMarque (NHL), Kelenna Azubuike (NBA - Golden State Warriors) and Darrell Stuckey (NFL - San Diego Chargers) all also did a great job pointing students to Jesus through prayers and short testimonies of God's work in their lives.I know many of the campers really enjoyed worship with the Katina's as many told me this was one of their main highlights from the camp.
On Thursday night we saw 223 kids make the decision to receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord for the first time and getting the chance to pray with some of them in a separate room was one of my greatest highlights from camp. Seeing 200lb. football guys, and junior high softball girls with tears of joy in their eyes after committing their life to the Lord was a moving experience and one I will never forget.The following night 215 other campers stood to rededicate their life to the Lord and receive prayer from their piers. As neat as it was to see God work in the evening programs, the stories we heard and things we saw made it evident that the deepest ministry and transformation took place in the smaller huddle groups following the program and in the mornings. This provided the time for the athletes to be real and transparent with each other in small groups throughout the week. Our huddle leaders (college athletes) were awesome this year, and although I only got to hear a couple of the many stories from the huddle times I know that hundreds of students were able to open up about their life and beliefs in a safe environment where they were challenged and encouraged by athletes that they respect and look up to.
Click Here to see more pictures from camp on Flickr!We praise the Lord for the work HE did in so many students lives last week and look forward to the follow-up and continued ministry that can take place as students stay connected through the campus huddles and team bible studies that meet at their schools.
Friday, May 28, 2010
Week in Review
Last week was great as Ryan and I traveled to Schools together and shared about FCA's One Way to Play - Drug Free Program. We shared our stories and challenged high school students to make the commitment to not use and abuse drugs and alcohol. I talk about some of the positive consequences making that decision had in my life in high school and into college but also the impact it had on some of my friends and teammates as well. We also talked about the all to familiar and frustrating stories of seeing teammates and peers who waste thier potential and forfeight the opportunities in front of them through substance abuse.
I had three friends (two of them teammates) die in high school in an alcohol related crash and one friend while in college. Two students died in a substance related crash last year at Coast Union and sadly these kinds of stories are endless. We have had over 50 students from the four schools we shared at commit to the program last week and it is neat to see students stand up to make a commitment and be examples to their peers.
Gabe Dominguez shared at Santa Maria High School Monday of this week and we had our last FCA meeting for the year at Coast Union on Tuesday. There are quite a few non-believers in their group and we talked a lot about the Resurrection and then One Way to Play. Atascadero also met on Tuesday and we took time for students to share highlights from the year and prayer requests/thoughts the Lord has given them. It was really encouraging to hear so many students share.
Chelsea Norton shared about Romans 12 at SLO High on Wednesday and I shared out of 2 Corinthians 5:18-20 about being and ambassador of Christ and what it means to represent Christ to those around us at Nipomo. Before I shared the leaders gathered the students in a circle to pray to end off the year. It started slow but then one after another students began to pray and thank the Lord for the ministry on their campus and the imact FCA has had at their school this year.
Of the 60 kids that where present 8 or 9 of them prayed and I was encouraged when one the students shared how he just got involved this semester but how FCA on Wednesday's was the highlight of his week!
Yesturday Vinnie shared out of Romans 10:14-18 at Pioneer Valley and it was neet to hear students stories about how they came to know the Lord through people sharing Christ with them and opportunities they have had to share their faith with others as well.
One student named Armondo shared his story and was glad to share it with me after the meeting as well. Watch video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgdktjum3Tw
Today I am off to St. Joes for their last FCA meeting of the year!
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Camp Kickoff Update
The camp kickoff went great this past weekend. We had about 20 families and a few dozen students attend. Through the donations of our board and a hand full of other families we were able to raise $9,925 toward our goal to send 40 athletes on scholarship to the FCA sports camp at UCLA this summer.
The bar-b-q was great, and although it was a little overcast we still had a fun water balloon fight, and pool basketball, etc : )
Thank you to everyone who was able to contribute at the event!
If you were not able to come but would still like to help students experience a life changing sports camp this summer you can do so here. Select "send an athlete to camp".
I'll put up another post soon with all the details about camp.
http://www.socalfcacampoffice.org/
Saturday, May 15, 2010
End of the Year FCA Bar-B-Q - Sun May 16th AG!
End of the Year FCA Bar-B-Q
“Annual Camp Kickoff Event”
Where:
Pat & Dana Cusack’s Home in AG
1080 Newsome Springs Road
Arroyo Grande, CA 93420
When: Sunday May 16th 3:00pm
What: Big Bar-B-Q, FCA ministry update, basketball, pool water basketball, fundraiser, camp info, games, etc.
Who: Families and individuals who have been or may like to be more involved with FCA on the Central Coast. Students and Parents welcome! Fun day in the Sun.
Directions:
Exit Traffic Way (or Grand Ave.) turn onto E. Cherry Ln.
R on Branch Mill Rd, R on Newsome Springs Rd, Very Top of the Hill
Call Luke (805) 215-4175 with any questions?
Friday, March 5, 2010
Assembly Update!! 5,640 students in two and a half days....
It was a tremendous blessing to have Melvin, Roberto, and Brandon in town for the assemblies at the end of last month. It was also humbling to be a part of the whole endeavor as we saw the Lord do some pretty exciting things in students lives.
We hosted six assemblies and three evening rallies in two and a half days. We had 5,430 students attend one of the six assemblies and 492 students attend one of the three evening rallies.
Not including New Life we had 112 students and one Athletic Director respond to the gospel during the invitations to receive Christ at the rallies!
There are many incredible stories of students that were impacted by the speakers, and presentations. Please keep these students, local youth groups, and the FCA huddles in prayer as we seek to provide effective follow up in the Santa Maria Schools.
Righetti's First Assembly
Righetti's Second Assembly
Roberto talking with students who where crying after the assembly. One of these girls said to me "I feel like crying but I can't, my uncles tell me I am not allowed to show emotion because I'm a Gonzalez, so I just keep it all in side...but then it just comes out in other ways."
Santa Maria High Assembly
Melvin answering questions after the Assembly
Roberto at Pioneer Valley's Second Assembly
Gotta love the fro!
Melvin also spoke for the St. Joe's FCA club as well (which was one of the best and by far funniest meetings he did : ) you had to be there... (I'm working on a video of the events that I hope to get out soon)
New Life on Wednesday Night
Brandon (SYPREME) praying with a student after the first Rally
Second Rally at the Pacific Christian Center
This young lady has a really neat story...Her name is Katheryn Martinez and she has a dream to be a paramedic but she has a learning disability and has a very difficult time reading...She gave her life to Christ at the third Rally and said "this is the first religious thing I have ever been to and it like made realize that He (God) is there and that He wants to help..."
We had given her an FCA Bible but when she told Emmy and I about her learning disability I remembered an audio Bible that had been sitting in the back of my car forever and I was able to give it to her! She got teary eyed and seemed really moved by the whole evening. Emmy (my wife) got to share her experience with Katheryn of having a hard time with school when she was younger and then going on to become a Nurse... It was a great night.
There were many students who have been involved with gang activity and come from broken homes that seemed deeply impacted by the presentations, especially Roberto's story. At the third rally we had kids who gave their life to the Lord who didn't want to go home because they knew the challenging environment that awaited them.
Fortunately we had four or five awesome youth pastors in the Santa Maria area help make all of this happen and we where able to point students to them for help with follow up.
If you would like to help us reach out to students on these campuses please let me know. We do need help with follow up and continued prayer support. (lllamas@fca.org)
If you would like to contribute financially to help with the cost of these events and other rallies and campus ministry in the future you can click here.
We hope to host more assemblies and non-school based rallies at more schools in the future and I am so grateful to everyone who volunteered their time, resources, and insight to allow these outreaches to take place! Thank You
