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Words of a Student
Titus Scott • November 21, 2019
The Words of a Student: a college admissions essay
"My football coach sits in a semi-comfortable chair as he recites a Bible verse to the circle of interested high-schoolers around him. Members of FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) meet every Friday at 6:30, and today is my first meeting with the group. For years, I had been a part of that family who only goes to church on Christmas and Easter. A family that claims to be Christian but rarely takes action to support it. So why am I getting up early before school to participate in a so-called “Bible group”? The main reason: my football coach - Coach Adams. This was a man of great passion, positivity, enthusiasm, and leadership. A man that has inspired me for so many years. So when he asked me to come to this club that he was leading at school, I undoubtedly agreed to come.
Just as I was starting to zone out, my coach caught my attention. He pulled out an unmarked cardboard box, causing curiosity to swarm my brain. Before I could guess what was inside, he removes a handful of seemingly mundane rocks. My coach then went on to explain what they were, and more importantly what they represented. The pocket stones, as he called them, served as a constant reminder that God is always with me, and I should live my life accordingly as a person with great morals, responsibility, and character.
As I sat there running my fingers through the black cross engraved into the smooth, lustrous marble, I pondered the idea of what it meant to be a “Man of God”. I would have to be a man of great kindness, generosity, and equality. A man of loyalty and devotion. A man of love and happiness. I started to fantasize a version of myself with all of these “perfect” personality traits. But then I began to wonder, what was holding me back? Why can’t I truly become this idealistic version of myself? And I had no answer.
Throughout the rest of the day, I strolled the halls with a little extra pride - smiling and waving to everyone that passed. It was one of those days where I just felt good. Happy with the way this “new me” was feeling, I made a promise to myself to uphold this type of personality and character. Not only does that pocket stone serve as a friendly reminder that God is always with me, but also that I should uphold my standards as a man of good character. After that day, I went to the store and bought a set of those big letters that stick to bedroom walls. Right next to my bed frame, I organized the phrase “Be kind, be honest, be humble” as yet another reminder to be the best version of myself.
To this day, I do not go anywhere without my pocket stone. I can finally say that I am proud of the person I have become and fully understand the person that I strive to be in the future. Remarkably, something as small as a pocket stone could encourage personal growth beyond one’s imagination." -- Alec Beshears
Detroit FCA Blog
God has been performing miracles and doing some incredible things since our last update! This Fall, we joined with Tim Morton and our teammates up in Oakland County to put on the first Fields of Faith here in the Metro Detroit area. What an awesome evening of worship through song and testimony, followed by a challenge for the young people to give their lives to Christ or rededicate their lives to following Christ through discipleship and local church community. So awesome to see four young men from Detroit respond to the invitation and commit to following Christ!
A rally cry on the sports field and a command by Jesus from Matthew 28. What an incredible summer we experienced. Athletes, coaches, and many others were challenged to live out this command during the Michigan FCA Sports Camp.
On May 31, FCA hosted their annual Night of Champions at Little Caesars Arena! Several hundred people joined us for an incredible evening of testimonies, updates, and vision casting for future ministry! This annual celebration and fundraiser was incredibly encouraging to those who attended as they were blessed to hear from several former and current professional athletes.
"When I look back on my life, I can see how the Lord has put certain people, churches, mentors and organizations in my life at the exact right moment to protect, help me grow as a man of God, and guide me to my purpose of spreading the Gospel through sports. I was blessed with the opportunity to play college football at The University of Alabama at Birmingham and by the grace of God I was able to become the starting defensing back my freshman year and earn a scholarship my junior year. I say it was by the grace of God, because if you know anything about football in the south, and especially Alabama, it is very competitive and playing football is a way of life for most young men that live in the south. There was no way a skinny, 140lb boy from Detroit, MI that was cut from his JV team at Cass Tech and never played organized football until college, was supposed to beat these top athletes out of a position. I believed at the time, that was the biggest prayer that God had answered for me and I could not believe my dreams were coming true like it was.
What do you really do? Are you trying to do the job of the church? What is your primary focus? These are just a few of the questions I’ve been asked over the last two years. They are all great questions and very important to consider for anyone interested in participating in and with our ministry. I want to take a few minutes to answer those questions and more thoroughly explain the ministry of FCA. Vision: To see the world (Wayne County/Detroit) transformed BY Jesus Christ through the influence of coaches and athletes. Mission: to lead EVERY coach and athlete into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ and His Church.
"Can we do more FCA stuff?" -- Detroit Osborn student This was just one quote overheard following the night we spent celebrating FCA with the Detroit Pistons! Over 400 people got to hear Pistons players Ish Smith, Langston Galloway, and Jon Leuer share their faith and answer questions following the game. What an incredible night celebrating FCA along with hundreds of friends. The event started with 28 volunteers from our Huddles at Wayne State University, Lawrence Tech University, and several additional supporters. They arrived over 2 hours before the game and sold 50/50 Raffle tickets through the 3rd Quarter of the game! We are so thankful for their time and help as we were able to raise funds for the ministry!
“And the King will answer them, Truly I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me”- Matthew 25:40
It has been an exciting and rewarding 60 days here in Detroit! I have been serving at Westside Christian Academy, Dr. Martin Luther King HS, and Wayne State University and I’m so excited to share what God has been doing!
This month has been absolutely packed with incredible opportunities, reasons to celebrate, and a time of mourning. As the school year got off to a good start, we have also been able to re-start and launch several new Huddles! Our new FCA Ambassador, Kayla Norman, was able to start a Huddle at Westside Christian Academy in Detroit, begin discipleship with the lady athletes at Wayne State University, and help with the Huddle at King High School!
Player #1 sprints to the sideline and is mobbed by teammates, I wait for him to make it through and I give him a hug and congratulate him. He's just intercepted a pass and, with a huge return, has set his team up to score the winning touchdown with just a couple minutes left in the game! Player #2 sits on the bench. He just made a mistake that led to a critical fumble in the red zone and costs his team an important scoring chance. After a conversation with his coach, he throws his helmet and proceeds to blame his teammates and complain that it's not fair that he always gets blamed for everything, no matter whose fault it is. I sit down next to him and challenge him to put it behind him, and to move on and focus on building the unity their team needed. At half time I see him talking to the team and watch as they work together to come from behind for a last minute win!
Contact Info
PO Box 14594
Detroit, MI 48214
(248) 574-4197
tscott@fca.org