Osage County Herald-Chronicle | First Fields of Faith event held in Lyndon

Wayne White/Herald-Chronicle

Dusty Workman, music minister and worship leader at Grace Community Church, Overbrook, leads students in inspirational song during the Fields of Faith event held at Lyndon High School auditorium Oct. 14.

Wayne White | Managing Editor

LYNDON—Students from across the county teamed up last week to share their faith in Jesus Christ and challenge teammates and friends to read God’s Word. The game plan was to meet at Lyndon High School’s football field the evening of Oct. 14, for the first Fields of Faith event to be held at Lyndon. A rainout pushed the gathering of 97 students and about a dozen adults inside the school auditorium.

Fields of Faith is an annual event promoted by the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA), of Kansas City, Mo. Lyndon’s event was organized by Billy Richmond, FCA coach and youth minister at Solid Rock Action Center, Osage City, and youth minister Rodney Caldwell, and music minister worship leader Dusty Workman, both of Grace Community Church, Overbrook.

According to the FCA’s Web site, in 2002 an Oklahoma FCA director prayed about what to do with his frustration regarding the temptations and spiritual battles facing youth. God led him to 2 Chronicles 34 which describes how King Josiah, an influential teenager, gathered his people and challenged them to read God’s Word. As a result, they changed their culture.

The answer to the director’s prayer: Bring kids back to the fundamentals of the “game plan of life.”

The resulting event was, as described by FCA, student-to-student, where peers invite classmates and teammates to hear and share their testimonies, be challenged to read God’s Word and follow Jesus Christ. An athletic field provides a neutral, interdenominational rally point where a community can come together.

The idea of a gathering at Lyndon happened at Richmond’s urging, Caldwell said after the event.

“We thought what a great opportunity to do one at Lyndon, since they didn’t have an FCA there yet,” Caldwell. “And there wasn’t really [a Fields of Faith] locally.”

Richmond was quoted in other media saying he hoped other FCA chapters would develop from the Lyndon event.

Since its beginning, Fields of Faith has increased in popularity. In 2004, more than 6,000 students gathered for the event on athletic fields throughout Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas. In 2005, 9,200 students gathered, and by 2006 the annual Fields of Faith was held in 35 states and reached an estimated 50,000 people.

Caldwell said the Lyndon event was his second Fields of Faith, after having assisted Workman Oct. 7 at Burlington High School where 115 students gathered. It was the third such event to be held at Burlington, and one of the expected 400 events to be held around the U.S. this October.

The rain was the students’ first challenge at the Lyndon event. After receiving permission from USD 421 Superintendent Brian Spencer, the event was moved from the field to the school’s auditorium where students represented most of the schools in the county, including home-schooled students.

Caldwell said the organizers were pleased with the turnout, especially considering the weather.

“We looked at the weather forecast. We were anticipating about 15 kids. We would have been happy with 10 to 15,” he said. “We were very impressed.”

The auditorium offered an evening of prizes, games, music, worship and prayer.

“There were several students that gave their personal testimonies,” Caldwell said. “There were several who read Scripture verses.”

Students then gathered into huddle groups of 10 to 15, with each huddle having a huddle coach.

“We had picked kids to lead the huddles,” he said.

In the huddles, students were challenged to read the God’s Word of and follow Jesus Christ, completing the game plan laid out by King Josiah.

Caldwell said the evening turned out better than hoped, despite the rain. Although he said Richmond and Workman coached the first Fields of Faith event at Lyndon, a higher power made it successful.

“It was because of the Lord, it wasn’t any credit to us,” Caldwell said. “We want to give God the credit.”

The FCA was organized in 1954, and has been challenging coaches and athletes on the professional, college, high school, junior high and youth levels to use the medium of athletics to impact the world for Jesus Christ. FCA is said to be the largest Christian sports organization in America.

For more information about FCA or Fields of Faith, contact Caldwell at Grace Community Church, (785)-665-7117, or Richmond at Solid Rock Action Center, (785) 528-3233.