Students to celebrate Fields of Faith Oct. 5

Students from Pike and adjoining counties will join thousands of other youth across the nation on Wednesday, Oct. 5 to share their Christian faith with fellow students during the 13th annual national Fellowship of Christian Athletes Fields of Faith event. This year’s local event will be held at 7 p.m. at the Pike County Auditorium with local musical entertainment. Local teens will also speak and give their testimonies during the event as well as a college student. ’While many Christian rallies are anchored to an entertainer or professional speaker, FCA’s Fields of Faith is structured as a student-to-student ministry. Peers invite their own classmates and teammates to meet on their school’s athletic field to hear fellow students share their testimonies, challenge them to read the Bible and to come to faith in Jesus Christ,’ said FCA’s Chuck Jeffery. ‘This will be the Fourth Annual Fields of Faith event for Pike County. Last year, around 400 students and supporters attended at the Pike County Football Field.’Since 2004, more than a million people have joined the movement. In 2015 alone, more than 189,000 students gathered on 526 fields to participate in the event.’It’s not just those numbers that have FCA organizers excited about Fields of Faith. It’s the real-life impact that these gatherings have on young people,’ said Jeffery. ‘Last year’s series of events saw nearly 6,000 students make first-time faith commitments to follow Jesus Christ; 6,647 recommitted their life to Christ and 7,376 committed to reading the Bible daily.’Fields of Faith began with an idea from Jeff Martin, FCA’s Executive Vice President of Ministry Programs and Resources, who conceived the concept from an Old Testament reference in 2 Chronicles 34, after searching how to help today’s generation of students face spiritual battles and temptations. In the scripture, King Josiah, an influential teenager very similar to Fields of Faith attendees today, gathered his people and challenged them to read the Bible. As a result, they changed their culture.’Every year we are amazed at what God does in stadiums across the country,’ Martin said. ‘Entire communities unite, and lives are changed for eternity right there on the athletic fields. We are excited to see how God will move again through His Word and His people this October. Fields of Faith challenges this generation to be committed to reading the Bible and living a transformed life for Jesus Christ. It’s students challenging students, peers challenging peers and that’s the heart and soul of Fields of Faith.’In 2004, the Josiah-influenced dream came true when 6,000 students gathered on school athletic fields throughout three states for the first Fields of Faith event. That was the beginning of what has become one of the most significant faith-related gathering of students in a single day.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, go to FieldsofFaith.com or FCA.org. To learn more about the event at Pike County High School in Zebulon, contact Chuck Jeffery by email at jefferychuck@gmail.com.