Fields of Faith slated at Badger field Wednesday

Students from Lampasas High School will converge on Badger Stadium to share their Christian faith with fellow students for "Fields of Faith," set Wednesday from 7-8:30 p.m.

LHS students will join youth from across the nation as part of this surging national outreach event.

What started as 6,000 students in Oklahoma and Texas three years ago, ignited into a national launch in 2006 that reached over 50,000 students on 337 fields from coast to coast.

As word of the event's impact spreads throughout schools, organizers have set a goal of 100,000 students participating on 500 fields in this second year of the nationwide push.

The event is structured as a student to-student ministry, where 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 Word and to come to faith in Jesus Christ.

The impetus for Fields of Faith began with Jeff Martin, an Oklahoma area director for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, who conceived the idea from 2 Chronicles 34 upon searching how to address the spiritual battles facing today's generation of youth. In that scripture passage, King Josiah, an influential teenager, gathered his people and challenged them to read the Bible. As a result, they changed their culture.

In 2004, the Josiah-influenced dream came true when students gathered on school athletic fields throughout Oklahoma and Texas for the first Fields of Faith event. That was the beginning of what promises to be one of the most significant faith-related gatherings of students in a single day.

"An athletic field is a location that everyone is familiar with and provides a neutral rally point," said Les Steckel, president of FCA. "With 2007 being the second year we have promoted Fields of Faith nationwide, we are hoping to double the number of participants from 2006."

Throughout history, God has sparked great spiritual awakenings through young people, Martin said. "And that is the power of what we are trying to accomplish with Faith of Fields. It goes beyond its appearance of a one-night rally on an athletic field. It goes to the heart of the future of a nation. It's not just another event, it's a change in culture."

While Fields of Faith has its roots with FCA leadership, the event is designed to include multiple national Christian organizations, ministries and church denominations.

A local leadership team, primarily of students, determines the program of each event.