FCA Impact - Four Chisago High School Seniors

Fun and Laughter

They fondly remember their annual trips to a homeless shelter in Minneapolis where they serve meals, clean, dine with the residents, and hear their life stories. They also looked forward to the annual Christmas feasts and schoolwide volleyball tournaments hosted by FCA. The tournaments were a lot of fun and a great way to share Christ with people who did not regularly attend FCA. 

Then there were the little things that happened at their regular FCA meetings that made them laugh – a lot. Lillian remembers, “One Friday morning, we played a game where two people at a time would sit across from each other and take turns to see who could tell the best joke to make the other laugh. I was in a really bad mood when I got there, and everyone just kept laughing. It was so much fun.” 

Peace, Relationships, and Jesus

But FCA is not only fun and games.

FCA is a place of solace. Lillian says, “It’s always a constant. It’s always there and it’s always good. Sports and school can wear on me, but going to FCA and being able to talk about God with my peers and starting my day out with the gospel has helped a lot. I would always leave FCA refreshed and in a better mood.” 

FCA is a place of connection. For Lizzy, “More than anything, FCA gave me the assurance that I’m not the only Christian at my school and I know my friends in FCA will always support me and we can connect on a deeper level.”

FCA helps them reflect Jesus to others. “It’s always encouraging to see people want a relationship with God and be curious about what we have. People tell us they see a difference in us,” says Claire. For Beau, because he sees a difference in his own life through participating in FCA, it motivates him to be intentional about inviting others to attend a huddle meeting so others can have what he has.

Leadership Opportunities

FCA provides excellent leadership opportunities that will follow these students for a lifetime. It has continually pushed Lillian, Lizzy, Claire, and Beau out of their comfort zones, and they have gained confidence to share their faith with others in large and small group settings. Lizzy says, “I used to be very quiet and shy. FCA has given me confidence and assurance.” Through FCA, Claire has also gained the boldness to share her faith with her sports teams. 

Once school moved online mid-March, as leaders, they had a choice to make – let that part of their lives go . . . or change direction. They decided that what God was doing through FCA was too important to let go, so they changed direction. They moved the huddle meetings online and added online “D” groups another night. These “D”iscipleship groups provide the increased time required to delve deeper into specific passages in the Bible and have greater discussion around how to apply the scripture to their lives. 

Their Present Reality

This spring looks vastly different than they expected it to look. They are missing so many fun events for seniors that they have looked forward to for years. Each one has walked through a myriad of emotions. 

Lizzy started out with a positive outlook but has had moments of doubt. “At first, I was at peace with it, but then I started getting really sad and had a few rough days. Then God reassured me that even though this definitely stinks, that I could still find a bright side, like who else can say they lived through a pandemic when they graduated?”

Claire is attending college in Massachusetts. “It’s given me a lot of really good family time that I wouldn’t necessarily get since I am going away to college; it’s been a blessing to hang out with them.” God has also been pressing Romans 8:38-39 on her heart to encourage her during a difficult time: “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

God has been working on Lillian’s heart through this. “It’s hard because I like to be in control and right now I have no control over anything that’s going on and frankly, I don’t even know what’s going on. I don’t know what’s happening with graduation; I can’t plan a grad party. I want to know and I can’t know. It’s a lot of trusting God. I know He’s got it, but it’s been difficult.”

Beau is just trying to make the best of a difficult situation. He rests on Psalm 3:3 which says, “But you, Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high.” He knows God is protecting him. He has been meeting friends from a distance and has had plenty of time to go fishing.

Each of them has moved through hard emotions, but none of them has stayed there. God has truly changed them through the ministry of FCA. They have built lifelong relationships, learned to lead in school and in life, and grown to trust that God is in control. Each of them is planning to be intentional about finding a group like FCA on their college campuses.

After 66 years, FCA is still impacting young people with the gospel of Christ and creating lifelong leaders. This is happening all over the world in students like Beau, Lizzy, Lillian, and Claire and the thousands of others who are impacted every year through the ministry of FCA.