It all started a few short years ago…I was frustrated after being a minister for more than 15 years. Looking at the culture of the United States and its moral digression, I couldn’t help but think about my three kids who were about to become teenagers. I was particularly struggling with the fact that we had so many great Christian resources in America—more than at any other time in history—and, yet, we still seemed to be losing the moral and spiritual battle. Everywhere my wife and I went, we were, as parents, always on the defense against the culture and the media. And anyone who knows anything about sports knows that if you’re always on defense, you’re not going to win. At some point you have to go on offense.


One morning in which I was particularly frustrated, I happened to be reading 2 Chronicles 34 during my quiet time. There I read about a teenage king named Josiah who started a revolution in his country. The people of Judah had lost all their Scriptures because of how evil the country had become. My attention was captured. That seemed very similar to the movement of forces in America to remove God from the public square. I realized that I was reading about a once-Godly country in which the same thing had actually happened. The question began to nag at me, What is the difference between a country that has no Scriptures and doesn’t read them, and a country that has countless Scriptures and doesn’t read them? For both, the end result is the same: a godless country.

As I read through 2 Chronicles 34, I started learning more and more about King Josiah and his decision to take action. His first step in changing the culture was to clean out the idols. That was all he knew to do. During that long process, a curious book was discovered in the temple. It was brought to Josiah and discovered to be the Word of God, which to that point had been completely lost. When the Word was read to Josiah, he fell face-down and repented before God for the sins of his nation. Immediately he decided to do something. He got everyone together, great and small, in one place and personally read the Scriptures to them.

After he read the Word He looked out to everyone and said, “I want everyone to stand.” They stood up, and he basically said, “This is what I’m going to live by. And I want to challenge you to do that, as well.” The Bible says that as long as he lived, the people of Judah followed the Book of the Law.

After that, a light bulb came on inside of me. I thought about this influential teenager who had been doing the best he could. And, really, what changed that country? It wasn’t a program, a conference or anything like that. It was this king who stood up and said, “I’m following the Word of God.” That’s what God used to cultivate change.

The simplicity of that really began to soak in. I thought, What if we could do this? What if we could gather everyone in one location and have “impact teenagers,” the ones in leadership positions, stand up and say what the Word of God meant to them; and have them challenge the crowd to stand with them, to share their faith in Christ and to encourage their peers to follow in their footsteps?

So began the “Fields of Faith” movement. What started as a Josiah-influenced dream came true when more than 6,000 students gathered on school athletic fields throughout Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas in October 2004. In 2005, more than 9,200 students gathered at stadiums across the southwest. Thousands responded to the clear call to seek God through His Word each day. More than 450 students made professions of faith. In 2006, Fields of Faith grew into a national movement reaching over 50,000 people in 32 states.

While the ultimate goal of the Fields of Faith night is certainly to bring people who don’t know Christ into a relationship with Him, it also serves as a way of challenging those who do know Him to read His Word. As Christians, we believe that as we start to read the Word of God, we will see the importance of it, because it isn’t optional. As a result of that discipline our culture will start to change because we Christians will be moving from defense to offense. Our resources, the church and every ministry will be strengthened simply because people will be communicating with God, hearing what He asks them to do and acting on it.

At a Fields of Faith rally, that message is communicated from one student to his or her peers. This is an important point because a typical student will usually listen more intently to a peer rather than to an adult. Most events have great speakers or popular athletes who talk with kids, and while those are important discussions, the students listening don’t necessarily identify with the speaker. They may not relate to a high-profile person on a national stage, but when a peer and who might be struggling in algebra or whose parents have gone through a divorce is speaking, they will listen. And when that person has had all of those same struggles and still is living a life of Christ, the crowd is absolutely silent. The impact of that student is unparalleled simply because the audience is living that same life.

Now, when those leaders not only share the gospel, but also the importance of reading God’s Word, not only are lives changed, but one of the greatest tools for spiritual battle is unleashed. In Scripture, the Word of God is mentioned as an offensive weapon. And these students have to be armed, because this battle is far too important to lose. The result would be the loss of our nation and of our freedom. But when thousands of students hear and respond to the call in this time and in this culture to read the Word, it will be like a flood sweeping through our nation—a mighty movement by the hand of God overtaking the powers of darkness.

I know it sounds simple, but that is the power of God. It is not up to the special speakers or the great things that we try to put together to make a big “splash.” It is up to God and His use of untrained, ordinary people to communicate the message that He is waiting to speak to people through the Scriptures. Once they do that it will change them. It will change their town, their city, their state and their country.

Throughout history, God has sparked great spiritual awakenings through young people. And that is the power of what we are trying to accomplish through Fields of Faith. 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. Bring on the battle.


To learn more about Fields of Faith go to the official website. http://www.FieldsofFaith.com

Gathering at the NABC
First-ever coaches' wives event planned for the NABC Convention.

The National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Convention has long been a site of significant ministry. Every year, the weekend is filled with opportunities for coaches to encounter Christ through events such as the opening worship concert, the Legends of the Hardwood Breakfast, the FCA Coaches Luncheon and men’s Bible studies.

You're Invited! If you are a coach’s wife attending this year’s NABC Convention, you are invited to attend the first-ever ministry event designed especially for you! What: The Gathering Where: Marriott Rivercenter, San Antonio When: Friday, April 4, 2008 9:00 - 11:00 a.m.

But a question often asked is, “Where do the wives fit in?”

This year, that question is being answered.

With the support of NABC Executive Director Jim Haney and his wife, Carol, a new event entitled “The Gathering” will be included in the convention’s lineup and will specifically be designed to minister to the coaches’ wives who have made the trip in support of their husbands.

“The NABC Ministry Team (which consists of representatives from five ministries, including FCA) has devoted itself to providing opportunities for coaches and spouses to bathe in the presence of God,” said Haney. “The Gathering provides spouses the opportunity to gather together, share common experiences, renew friendships and be ministered to by the Lord.”

Thoroughly understanding the life of a coach’s wife—her husband played the role of college basketball coach throughout the 1970s and early 80s—Carol Haney knows that the opportunity to reach out to wives at the convention could serve a specific and meaningful purpose.

“The convention is a great opportunity for ministry because of the timing,” she said. “The uncertainty of the future for some wives due to their husbands’ career changes brings opportunity that might not present itself at other times.”

Hosted by women who also have been in the “trenches” of a coach’s spouse, the event will cater to the specific needs and situations of such women. Hostesses of The Gathering include Connie Jarvis, wife of former St. John’s Head Coach Mike Jarvis; Julie McKay, wife of Liberty Head Coach Ritchie McKay; Pamela Haith, wife of Miami Head Coach Frank Haith; and Leona Romar, wife of Washington Head Coach Lorenzo Romar.

“The Gathering will give many wives a better understanding of the importance of focusing on fulfilling the mission that’s before them in an effort to please Christ,” Haith said. “It will allow them to interact with wives who deal with many of the same issues, and it will create an opportunity for them to develop lifetime friends and prayer partners.”

Added Jarvis: “The life and circumstances of being the wife of a coach are very unique. Only another coach’s wife can really understand the pressure that can be involved. When other people’s husbands go to work, they don’t have 12,000 people second guessing their decisions. The younger women could learn a lot from their older counterparts. Wives are naturally relational beings, and this event could be the seed necessary to grow and develop a very special and powerful voice.”

In the world of college basketball, few people are as respected as Jim and Carol Haney. Click here to read a full Q&A with the pair.