'Fields of Faith' Student Ministry to Draw Over 100,000 to School Yards
More than 100,000 students nationwide are expected to gather at their school's athletic field Wednesday evening for an annual student-to-student ministry event.
The interdenominational outreach event, which began in 2004, will allow students to invite their classmates and teammates to meet at the school's athletic field to hear testimonies from peers. Attendees will also be challenged to read the Bible and accept Jesus Christ as their savior.
This year, the Fields of Faith event will be held at more than 400 locations across the country.
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"Athletics field provide a neutral and familiar spot for students to assemble," explained Les Steckel, president of Fellowship of Christian Athletes, according to Oklahoma's The Express-Star newspaper. "Many nights are spent on those fields cheering on local teams, but this particular night the praise belongs to God."
The Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA), the largest Christian sports organization in America, founded the Fields of Faith. But local leadership teams of ministries, churches, and students organize each local event.
Fields of Faith is inspired by the Bible story of King Josiah of Judah, who at age 16 read the word of God that had been lost at the time. After hearing the word, he immediately set out to change his immoral and Godless country by simply reading Scripture to people and making a covenant with God to follow His word.
The event seeks to return to the simple method of King Josiah of bringing people together, reading Scripture, and challenging youths to commit to reading the word of God and following its teachings.
FCA noted that an estimated 80 percent of youths who attend church will stop going between seventh and 12th grade.
"When a team is losing, they go back to the fundamentals," says a statement on the Fields of Faith website. "They don't make their game plan more complex."
"That was God's answer to Jeff's (Oklahoma FCA athletes area director and visionary of Fields of Faith) prayer: bring kids back to the fundamentals of the 'game plan of life,' His word."
In 2004, more than 6,000 students gathered on school athletic fields throughout Oklahoma, Texas, and Kansas for Fields of Faith. Through the event, more than 100 students made decisions for Christ. Last year, more than 125,000 people took part in the Fields of Faith on 446 athletic fields in 38 states. FCA recorded 1,852 students making first-time commitments to Christ and 9,149 committing to reading the Bible daily.
Each year, the Fields of Faith event is held on the second Wednesday of October.
