West Kentucky FCA

2013 DECEMBER NEWSLETTER written by: Maria Grogan

! December is such a unique month. Its a time of celebrating both beginnings and ends. We celebrate the birth--the beginning--of our Savior, yet we celebrate the end of another year. As we look back over 2013, we cant help but praise Him for all that He has done and is doing! Recently, on November 7, we had the opportunity at our FCA Fall Gamechanger Banquet to do just that--spend the evening testifying about how the Lord has been working and moving this year. As we are still in the building phase of West KY FCA, this was a very important night for our ministry. Basically, it was a night of working to get the word out about how FCAs working to get His Word out! The night was extremely successful in that regard as
Mitch Barnhart shares his heart about inuencing young people

240 people were in attendance. The banquet began with Eric giving a ministry update for the year. Some
of the details he shared included that 22 team huddles were started up this year. This resulted in 175 times that Gods Word was opened and shared, 175 times that athletes and coaches were prayed for and with! As we know that Gods Word never returns void, we look forward with great anticipation in how the proclamation of the Gospel is going to be sown into these lives. Mitch Barnhart, UKs athletic director, was the featured speaker for the evening and talked about the importance of reaching athletes for Christ in the critical years of high school. We also heard moving testimonies from local athlete, Jordan Troutman, and local coach, Kelly Glass. Last, several student athletes and coaches shared--via video--testimonies regarding the impact FCA has had on their walk with Christ. We encourage you to watch the videos at www.westkyfca.org/banquet-recap-2013 as they capture peoples hearts in the way that only videos can. !

20+ students involved in FCA served at the banquet.

When we think of December, we also cant help but remember the tragedy that happened a year ago at Sandy Hook Elementary School

that shook our nation to its core. As a result of that tragedy, last January a few of us moms started a prayer group at our childrens elementary school. Whats unique about our prayer group is that we actually walk the hallways prior to the start of classes each Monday morning, stopping in front of classrooms and touching lockers as we pray over the students, teachers and administration. A few months ago, I and a few high school mothers began doing this on Tuesday mornings at the new McCracken County High School. Hardly a week has went by that we havent had the privilege of praying with a principal or teacher. Hardly a week has went by that tears have not stained a weary-laden soul as a result of us praying with them. As we walked by one teacher recently on our Tuesday morning prayer through the hall, she remarked, I always know that Tuesday is going to be a great day! Friends, I tell you all of this because when Eric and I moved here, we knew that the most important part of our ministry was going to be praying. If we want to see Gods Spirit move in a mighty way upon these students, coaches and teachers, we have to be praying, asking, yearning, begging! We are asking you to please join us in praying for our students and teachers here in West KY who desperately need the Gospel! We are praying that God will bring them to your mind, regularly reminding you to pray for those being touched by our ministry. And friends, pray for us. That we will stay focused, not grow weary, and keep whats most important, most important! That we will keep Jesus at the center of our marriage, our family and our ministry. ! December--a month of remembering, reflecting, rejoicing, receiving. All because of our Savior, Jesus. Thank you, friends, for all that you do to enable the Good News to be spread across the schools of West KY. We couldnt do this without each of you. Truly grateful!

FCA Basketball Camp

West KY FCA partnered with the Kentucky Baptist Convention (KBC) on November 7-9 to bring the three day Gamechanger Basketaball Camp to Paducah, KY. Fifty 5th-12th graders attended the camp. Cameron Mills--former UK basketball player--and Scott Long--former UL football

November 7-9, 2013

player--shared their testimonies with the campers. Eric also shared a message one evening. The attendees learned basketball fundamentals, but more importantly, the camp staff shared the Good News of Jesus with them. We are rejoicing in the fact that two of the campers made commitments for Christ!

On October 22nd, FCA partnered with St. Mary High School, sponsoring our first cross country meet. Seventeen area teams were represented at this meet. Former Heath High School and Murray State cross country runner, Derek Perry, shared a message with the runners and spectators prior to the start of the meet, discussing the importance of listening to your coaches and standing for Christ in your sport. The top five

St. Mary/FCA All-Comers XC Meet October 22, 2013

places in each race were given FCA t-shirts with Psalm 18:33: He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; He causes me to stand on the heights.
Top 5 Finishers of the Varsity Race Derek Perry sharing a message with the crowd

Praises:
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Prayer Points and Praises!

Thanking God for First Baptist Church of Paducah for donating office space for Eric! It has been a wonderful uplifting environment for him to do his work when he is not out visiting schools. An FCA campus huddle is now up and going at McCracken County High School! They meet every Friday before school and have had as many as 50 students in attendance. Please continue praying for more students to come and for strong student leaders to step up and influence their fellow classmates for Christ.

Thanking God for the number of people who attended the Fall Gamechanger Banquet and heard about FCAs purpose. Praying that as result of hearing about the ministry, many will be stirred to action.

Prayer Requests:
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Coaches Time Out Conference is January 18-20, 2014 in Lexington, KY. Please pray that we will reach our goal of sending five coaches and their spouses from our area to this retreat. The intent of this weekend is to bless, refresh and equip coaches and their spouses in their marriages and calling (click on the above link to see testimonies and learn more information about this conference).

We are so appreciative of our current huddle leader/sponsors who volunteer their personal time to oversee FCA huddles at their schools. Pray that God will strengthen and equip them to continue in this critical job in our ministry. Also pray that God will raise up more parent/teacher volunteers to get involved with leading FCA huddles.

If you would like to consider nancially investing in West KY FCA or are interested in volunteer opportunities, please contact:
502-394-9358 Eric Grogan P.O. Box 8206 Paducah, Ky 42002 Web: westkyfca.org Email: egrogan@fca.org Twitter: @FCAWestKy