History of Fields of Faith

The Need

It is estimated that more than 80% of youth who attend church will stop going between the seventh and 12th grades. It seems we are losing the spiritual battle in America. The question that must be asked is if we have more ministry opportunities than ever before, why are we experiencing so many setbacks in the spiritual realm?

An Inspired Start

In 2002, Oklahoma Fellowship of Christian Athletes Area Director, Jeff Martin, prayed about what to do with his heartfelt frustration regarding the temptations and spiritual battles facing our more “spectator generation” youth. God led him to 2 Chronicles 34 for the answer. King Josiah, an influential teenager, gathered his people and challenged them to read God’s Word. As a result, they changed their culture.

When a team is losing, they go back to the fundamentals. They don’t make their game plan more complex. That was God’s answer to Jeff’s prayer: bring kids back to the fundamentals of the “game plan of life,” His Word.

The Purpose

This ministry is student-to-student, 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 Bible and to come to faith in Jesus Christ.

A Dream Comes True

In 2004, The Josiah-influenced dream came true when more than 6,000 students gathered on school athletic fields throughout Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas for Fields of Faith. Through the student led events, more than 100 students made decisions for Christ. In 2005, 9,200 students gathered for the same purpose, and 372 made commitments to Christ.

National Roll-Out 2006

In 2006, the annual Fields of Faith event went nation-wide, Wednesday, October 11th. It grew from just three states to over 35. It balooned from 31 Fields to over 337 and impacted over 50,000 people!