Teammates and Friends

Teammates at the FCA Endurance Triathlon Camp. To see more pictures, head over to our facebook page.
Our year is already off to a fantastic start!  Last weekend over 30 people came together in Tucson, AZ for our first FCA Endurance Adult Triathlon Camp (formerly held as the ICTN Tri Camp)! This was an amazing time of fellowship, worship, training, coaching, and equipping. In addition to the physical components of the camp (which were fantastic), the worship was wonderful and the teaching was powerful. We also held a mini-EMI on Saturday morning, equipping campers to more effectively share their testimony and the Gospel. Uniting and Equipping was in full effect! We'll keep you posted regarding future camp opportunities.

           Being one month into our new year, I'm guessing that most of you have selected your 2013 "A" races. Many of you are also already training for these races and the coming season. As you consider your preparations, I'm hoping that none of you are intentionally sitting around, watching racing on TV while eating pizza and doughnuts, hoping (praying?) for a supernatural miracle on race day. While the Lord could instantly prepare you for a marathon win, I'm confident this training strategy will more than likely result in significant pain and a pitiful end-result. Whether you're looking to complete your first 5K, set a PR in an Ironman, or earn a big buckle at the Leadville 100; as endurance athletes, you understand an important basic principle: in most cases, you reap what you sow! Basically there are no shortcuts to becoming prepared.

             While many of the endurance athletes I know are enthusiastic about making intentional, strategic, and expensive (time, money, etc.) training investments for the race season ahead, I fear that many are overlooking this basic cause and effect principle with things that are much more significant. While we could go in many directions here, I'll suggest two for this month: seeking God (Mt. 6:33, Col 3:1-2) and disciple-making (Mt. 28:19-20).  

 

             While the Holy Spirit is critically necessary to transform a life and work among those you minister to, we are active participants in both processes. We cannot sit back (or charge ahead with other life activities) and hope that intimacy with God and fruitful disciple-making will come supernaturally through metaphorically sitting around eating doughnuts. In disciple-making and experiencing intimacy with God, as with physical training, we tend to reap what we sow. And so, I come before us all, encouraging us to prayerfully consider this principle regarding our walk with God and our disciple-making activities.  

Teammates working on writing their testimonies at the FCA Endurance Triathlon camp.
      To get practical, are you regularly pursuing God in intentional, strategic, and "expensive" ways? What does your investment look like as you read, study, memorize, and mediate on His Word? Is it even close to your time in the saddle or out on the running trails? Is your prayer journal as detailed as your training log? Are you as dedicated to witnessing to your lost training partner(s) as you are to increasing your overall bike mph? Have you committed to discipling a new believer with the same commitment and zeal that you have towards attending a crazy-early morning swim group? Both require discipline and investment, but which one are you practically more committed to?

 

These are perhaps tough question that we all need to wrestle with a bit. As you do, I simply exhort you to focus on what's most important.This season you will reap what you sow. Sow wisely my friends! (Gal 6:7-110). May we celebrate a bountiful crop at the end of the year!

   

            In an effort to help you pursue the Lord and make disciples within the endurance community, we encourage all of you to frequent the equipping page on our site. This page is meant to supplement the training you receive through your local church, as well as at live EMI training retreats. As you explore this page and your ministry equipping needs, please let us know if you can't find what you're looking for. It's our desire and passion to equip you as an endurance disciple!

 

  Speaking of EMI Retreats, I wanted to share that the February dates for our Savannah-area retreat have been changed. For on-the-ground logistical reasons, we need to postpone that event until later in the year. I apologize for any inconvenience this creates, and we will keep you posted as new dates get firmed up. In the meantime, if you're interested in hosting a retreat near you, please contact Chris Anderson for details.  

 

 

I also wanted to pass on some Huddle News from Steve.
     On January 19th, The Chicago Huddle set up at their local YMCA to spread the word about their new FCA Endurance Huddle. Huddle Leader, Carissa Dahik, gives us more details.

"We moved breakfast into the main lobby and had a meet and greet with the members of the YMCA.  We were able to hand out information to athletes and family members of athletes.For example, one elderly lady was quite interested in our group, and, after speaking with me at length, gathered information for her granddaughter who is a runner.  Another young lady who works at the YMCA is a runner and signed up to receive more information about our group.     


Through this experience, Carissa learned:

  • Most people were unfamiliar with FCA
  • People were surprised to hear that  FCA is not affiliated with a specific church and that we do not expect dues from members
  • Free food gave us a wide open door into conversations we would not have otherwise had
  • People were intrigued by the concept of using their sport as a ministry

This experience built awareness and provided valuable insight, which will be applied to future Huddle meetings and ministry-building strategies that will accomplish our mission in Chicago.

 

The Central Texas Huddle
      The Central Texas Huddle came together for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Hero-Thon to help set up and man one of the water stations. Co-Huddle Leader, Claudia Ruibal, stated that God worked through "The testimony/witness that we as a team presented to DMSE, Boston, MA, regarding our ability and willingness to work as a team in set-up, to be encouragers and servants to event participants and our post race clean up. All parties commented on Team Endurance's performance." For them a verse that well summarized this event was Amos 3:3 - -  "We all walked - and thus worked - together to accomplish His goals in serving others."

New Huddles!
  • Northwest, Ga - Merrily Suits
  • Cross Timber, TX - John Dennie
  • Charleston, SC - Alan Struble - co leader
  • Chicago, IL - John-John McEvilly - co leader  

Lastly, I wanted to pass on three quick updates:

  1. An Ironman or 70.3 Opportunity? The WTC has recently announced a new Triclub Program that allows us an opportunity to bring greater awareness to our ministry and Jesus Christ.  As you register for these races in the coming year, please sign-up as a member of "FCA Endurance."  If you're already signed-up for a 2013 race, you can have this added to your profile by completing the following short survey.  
    By registering together, our ministry will be given some special opportunities to reach out more effectively. Together we are impacting the world for Jesus Christ through endurance sports!     
  2. RSPV for Your 2013 Events!
    To help us connect you with other Teammates and keep you in the loop regarding ministry events and opportunities during the 2013 season, please RSVP to the events you'll be at via our team events calendar on The Body.   
  3. Clearance and Team Winter Beanies: If you're looking for a great winter beanie for casual wear or training, check out the team beanie available through VBS. It looks great and functions excellently.
    Also, please note the
    FCA Endurance clearance
    page on VBS for great closeout deals.
  4. Please Share this, but use the Forward button at the bottom:
    We pray this newsletter blesses you and that you share it liberally with your friends via email and Facebook. However, if you share it via email, please use the forward button at the bottom versus just forwarding through your email system. It has come to our attention that if you forward through your email system and someone unsubscribes, they will actually unsubscribe YOU. We just don't want you to accidentally miss anything.

Thanks for your partnership in ministry, and God bless you in 2013!

 

 

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FCA Endurance Mission:  To present to athletes and coaches, and all whom they influence, the challenge and adventure of receiving Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, serving Him in their relationships and in the fellowship of the church.

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