Fellowship of Christian Athletes

Foothill: Ariele Challenges students to "Really Know" their peers

2012-02-17T10:04:00.001-08:00

It is always a blessing for the students to hear one of their peers speak to them about something that is on their heart. After a crazy game of blindfolded musical chairs, Arielle Hahir did just that!

An eloquent and poised Arielle challenged Foothill students to see beyond Facebook and Twitter to "really know" their friends. She used Psalm 139 as her text reminding students that God has "searched and known" them, and they should be doing the same with those around them. To drive home the point, she shared some very amazing things that few people know about her, including the fact that she was adopted by a family that found her beside a river in her homeland of China!

To get a taste of what happened at last week's Huddle, check out the picture link: http://bit.ly/yWt13D and especially the video link posted by FCA student leader, Mikayla Feldman: www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNfCFN6aeoc&feature=youtu.be
Thank you again, parents, for your prayers, financial support, and helping hands at the Huddle events. Foothill was once a dark place where the evil one did as he liked and the voice of the righteous was small, but years of faithful prayers by Moms in Touch groups, continued investment by local churches, and strong, Christian families have all paved the way for the privilege we now enjoy of sharing the Gospel on our campus.

May we continue to be faithful to support the spread of Truth and Hope in Christ Jesus!

In Him alone,
Linda and Cherie
Next Huddle: February 22

FCA Huddle Recap- Katie Coleman and Josh- Break Dancer Pictures and Video Included

2012-02-07T09:15:00.000-08:00

Dear FCA Parents,

NHS students continue to be blessed with great guest speakers. Two weeks ago, student leader Katie Coleman shared with her peers the struggles she battled her Sophomore year of high school. Katie courageously spoke of her struggle to get perspective on a broken relationship and peer pressure. She likened her battle to feeling weighed down by a heavy backpack she constantly carried around with her. She came full circle by realizing she needed to put God first and Katie second. She went on to share a video from the movement “I Am Second”. Please click on to the link provided to check out what Katie shared with your student about the “I Am Second “ movement as many high profile athletes , celebrities and regular people have shared what miraculous things God has done in their lives.

I Am Second Video

http://www.iamsecond.com/about/#.TzBYYFAl8ps.email

HUDDLE PICTURES Katie Coleman

http://photobucket.com/fcanorthwood1

Also, this past Tuesday we had a returning crowd favorite Josh, who has a break dancing ministry with a bold message. Josh brought a few friends to bust out some moves and recruited one of our students John Hartshorne to bravely learn a few moves himself. Thank you, John, for being such a good sport!! Josh ended his message with an invitation to accept Christ and 7 courageous students stood up in front of their peers and repeated the sinners prayer led by Josh. They were all applauded for their new found faith. Parents, please be in prayer for these students as Jared works to get Bibles into their hands and to get student leaders to follow-up with them.

Lastly, thank you for continuing to believe in what God is doing through FCA and Jared Hall with your time and resources. This ministry continues because of your faithfulness. If you desire to support Jared with a onetime gift or on a regular basis please contact Jared at JHall@fca.org. Our next Huddle is scheduled for Tuesday, February 14^th.

Huddle Pictures Josh Break Dancer

http://photobucket.com/fcanorthwood2

A Big thank you to the following families for funding the last Huddle:

Aviles

Bowers

Pierce

Campbell

May

Loving teenagers,

Torre Murray
Monica Younger
Kate Gisch
Rosalyn Reasor

Irvine Huddle Recap 2/2/12

2012-02-07T09:12:00.000-08:00

                                  Good Evening FCA Families!!
Here is a quick recap of our last FCA Huddle. Once again, the turnout was incredible, the bleachers were packed. I love that each week the number of kids is growing. We are now purchasing 30 pizzas!!

Our speaker this week was Jenn Zuelner. Jenn has a powerful testimony, she shared about when she was burned with acid all over her face and neck and arms.

I asked Valerie Kan, one of our senior FCA student leaders to write as short description of Jenn message. Here it is:

“Today's huddle gave me such big goose bumps! Jenn, a third-degree burn survivor, told us the story of how she got her burns and how much she's grown with God ever since. She was the first female speaker we've had at a huddle this year, but she did an amazing job. It was so awesome to hear how God worked with her through all of the surgeries and procedures she had to endure for 3 years after her accident. When she asked the students about our lives right now, and what we were willing to lay down at God's feet, I feel like she was speaking specifically to me. I am starting to visit some of the colleges that I've been accepted to, and Jenn's story influenced me to whole-heartedly leave the decision for where I should attend college in His hands. Whatever plans He has for me is way bigger and better than whatever else I had planned, and I know that I can trust in His decisions. Jenn's story helped to encourage students to believe and have faith in God even in the darkest of times, and to know that only He is the way, the truth, and the light.”

As you can see by Valarie’s recap, Jenn’s message really inspired the kids and gave them lots of encouragement.

Our Huddles of course could not happen with out the support of our wonderful parents:
Our Pizza sponsors for this huddle were the Torrey, Garmon and Page families.   Their donations helped us provide plenty of pizza for all who attended.
Baked Goods were lovingly provided by the Kenney family.

Water bottles were provided by the Johnson and Lockwood families.

Our amazing sound system is provided by the Alayra family.
Thank you, also to the moms who rolled up their sleeves during their lunch break to help serve water and pizza. We are so grateful for your help as this ministry continues to expand.

As you can see this club is growing and will only stay afloat with all of our help!    If you are able, in these tough times, to donate financially, please send a check made to IHS Athletic Boosters-FCA to: Jodi Nordstrom, 9 Redrock, Irvine, Ca. 92604. (Your donations are tax deductible!!)
THANK YOU PARENTS for your support!!!    Attached are some fun pictures from the day!
Our next Huddle is Thursday, February 23rd!!!
Blessings.......
Jodi Nordstrom
Michelle Carter

Huddle Recap Irvine High School 1/19/12

2012-01-24T09:32:00.001-08:00

                                  Good Evening FCA Families!!
Happy New Year!   Here is just a quick email to share with all of you about our last FCA Huddle went. We had an awesome turnout, our best ever, with well over 150 students in attendance!!

As you know, we had a great speaker & dancer speak to the kids on Thursday. His name is Josh, and he is from the dance ministry called “Break Free”. For more info on this awesome ministry, here is the blog. http://breakfree-kbc.blogspot.com

Here is a little recap of the Huddle...
Once the kids had all been served Pizza, one of the FCA leaders opened us all in prayer and then introduced the speaker.   Josh and his “crew” turned up the volume and impressed us all with their break dancing moves. So cool. Josh then began to share with the kids an analogy explaining how Jesus had given his life so they could have life, how he had paid the debt for their sins. He shared some of his own testimony, and then he gave an invitation to the kids that they could live a new life, that they could believe that Jesus died for them and choose to follow him. He asked anyone that would like to do this to stand.....16 KIDS STOOD!!   Such an incredible and moving moment. So awesome!!
At our next Huddle, Jared will have bibles to pass out to anyone that wants one.

Our Huddles of course could not happen with out the support of our wonderful parents:
Our Pizza sponsors for this huddle were the DeKlotz, Pittaluga, Dossett, Hobbs and Torrey families.   Their donations helped us provide plenty of pizza for all who attended.
Baked Goods were lovingly prepared by the Hobbs and Kenney families.

Water bottles were provided by the Johnson family.

Our amazing sound system is provided by the Alayra family.
Thank you, also to the moms who rolled up their sleeves during their lunch break to help serve water and pizza. We are so grateful for your help as this ministry continues to expand.

As you can see this club is growing and will only stay afloat with all of our help!    If you are able, in these tough times, to donate financially, please send a check made to IHS Athletic Boosters-FCA to: Jodi Nordstrom, 9 Redrock, Irvine, Ca. 92604. (Your donations are tax deductible!!)
THANK YOU PARENTS for your support!!!    Attached are some fun pictures from the day!
Our next Huddle is Thursday, February 2nd!!!
Blessings.......

Movie and Pictures for the second Beckman FCA gathering - Kids say yes

2012-01-18T21:47:00.000-08:00

we continue to be blown away by how powerful God is and how he's working in our community. The kids in Tustin/Irvine are soaking up the message that God loves them and Thursday's huddle was another example.

Our second huddle in the gym - this time with plenty of pizza for the roughly 200 kids. We had a group of break dancers showing their moves to the kids and even teaching some how it's done. Then in a span of 10 minutes, the leader stood up and told the kids how Jesus died for their sins and life in heaven was awaiting them if they would decide to follow Him.

We counted 17 kids who stood up (in front of their peers) and said "I believe". We handed them an FCA bible and will follow up with those kids on their faith journey.

I left with tears in my eyes, eagerly anticipating how God would continue to use our time and donations to reach this community.

http://gallery.me.com/smathews#100601

and the movie:

Beckman FCA - Kids Say Yes to Jesus

http://gallery.me.com/smathews/100593

Foothill FCA: Katie Quesada Challenges Students Not to Worry about the Wrong Things

2012-01-17T21:24:00.001-08:00

Dear FCA Parents,
Thank you for covering last Wednesday's Huddle in prayer. With a last-minute venue change, we certainly needed the extra prayers! Thank you to the parents serving and bringing baked goods or water for being flexible.

God, of course, worked everything out! Almost 200 kids (many new faces included) crammed into Mr Roundy's room (Thank you, Mr. Roundy for giving us a place to meet!) to hear Katie Quesada, youth leader at Trinity speak. What a great job she did sharing the kind of relationship God really wants with us! (See Huddle pics: http://goo.gl/AmkFz )

Katie started by asking the packed room; "How many of you have ever told God, 'If you just get me out of this situation, I'll never do it again!'?" Hands went up, heads nodded and lots of giggling was heard. Then Katie pointed out that we tend to call on God in our most dire situations--like her and her boyfriend's encounter with the police! Katie shared this misadventure with her unique sense of humor, and had the students' undivided attention as she recounted being caught making out late one night and being sure she and her boyfriend were "dead." She pointed out that ironically, this moment of desperation was the first time she and her boyfriend (now her husband, by the way) prayed together as a couple!

Then using the Philippians 4:6 cards each student was given, Katie pointed out that we all worry, feel guilty, and even pray about the wrong things like getting the attention of that cute guy or girl we want, rather than being concerned about the big things like the kind of person we are becoming! Katie reminded us that God knows more than we do, that He has a plan for us and that He is in control, so we are commanded not to worry, but to pray and be thankful for God's answers--even if He answers "No" or "Wait."

The kids were incredibly attentive, and several stayed after to talk with Katie as well as Jared (FCA Area Rep), and Melissa (from Calvary).

Thank you again for supporting this ministry. For those kids who know Christ, these Huddles offer encouragement they don't hear elsewhere on campus, and for those who have never heard the Gospel, these Huddles bring to light the TRUTH they may not ever hear anywhere!

Blessings,
Linda and CherieUpcoming Huddle Dates:
February 8, 22
March 7, 21
April 18
May 2, 16, 30

* FCA Huddle Recap * Irvine High School

2011-12-15T09:03:00.000-08:00

    Good Evening FCA Families!!
Merry Christmas!  We wanted to send you a quick recap from our last huddle of 2011. God has been so good this year and it has been awesome to see how He has grown the FCA ministry at Irvine High School.

Last Thursday, our guest speaker was Egypt McKee. Egypt always captures the students attention with his humorous stories, but more importantly he is able to share a powerful message relating to identity issues, respect, and the importance of making right choices that matter.

I had Trent Williams, one of our FCA student leaders, write a short recap of our huddle ..."This week Egypt McKee spoke a very powerful message to Irvine High students. His message to everyone was about "Perspective" and how many teens build fronts to protect their inner feelings. Egypt said one phrase that stuck out in my mind, "Perspective helps you see what's actually there rather than what you want to see." He really spoke to the student that attended. His ability to convey a strong message, while keeping the audience intrigued was so powerful and amazing. Many student could relate to the message, and hopefully Egypt was able to change their lives, turn them to Christ, and change their perspective on life. We are so blessed that Egypt had the time to return this year."
Our Huddles of course could not happen with out the support of our wonderful parents:
Our Pizza sponsor for this huddle was the Searl Family.   Their donations helped us provide 30 pizzas!!
Baked Goods were lovingly prepared by the Kenney family.

Water bottles were provided by the Johnson and Garmon families.

Our amazing sound system is provided by the Alayra family.
Thank you, also to the moms who rolled up their sleeves during their lunch break to help serve water and pizza. We are so grateful for your help as this ministry continues to expand.

As you can see this club is growing and will only stay afloat with all of our help!    If you are able, in these tough times, to donate financially, please send a check made to IHS Athletic Boosters-FCA to: Jodi Nordstrom, 9 Redrock, Irvine, Ca. 92604. (Your donations are tax deductible!!)
THANK YOU PARENTS for your support!!!    Attached are some fun pictures from the day!
Our next Huddle is not until January 19th !!!
Blessings.......
Jodi Nordstrom
Michelle Carter

FCA Huddle Re-cap Egypt McKee - PICTURES/ HUDDLE TOMORROW- BRITT LANGDON SPEAKER

2011-12-13T11:01:00.000-08:00

Dearest FCA Parents,

We hope this email finds you all well as we approach the last huddle of
2011. Please encourage your student to attend tomorrow's huddle as former
NHS student Britt Langdon will be our guest speaker. Britt is currently a
Junior attending Seattle Pacific University on a soccer scholarship. She
plans to share how her faith has gotten her through two torn ACL's and a
Mission's trip she took to Africa last Christmas. You do not want your
student to miss Britt's inspiring testimony!!

Also, we have attached picture's from our last huddle as guest speaker Egypt
McKee held our NHS students attention with humorous stories relating to
identity issues, respect, and the importance of making right choices that
matter. Egypt's engaging message prompted parents in attendance to invite
Egypt back to hopefully speak at another NHS event possibly before Winter
Formal. Parents, please be in prayer about this opportunity.

Lastly, if you are able to serve, donate baked goods or bottled water please
be in the gym by 11:40. If you feel led to donate toward pizza please send
you donations to Monica Younger at 26 Rincon 92620. Please make checks
payable to "FCA NHS Huddle" if you need a tax deduction. If not make
payable to Monica Younger.

A big thank you to the following parents for supporting tomorrow's huddle:

Stone
Holder
Wong
Hammeras
Bowers
Mix
Nagel
Nellesen
MacDonald
McMains
Thomas
Gregorson
Crust
Campbell

We wish you all a Merry Christmas as we celebrate the birth of our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ!

Loving teenagers,

Monica Younger
Torre Murray
Kate Gisch
Rosalyn Reasor

Foothill FCA: Erin Hendry Shares that God Loves the "Perfectly Imperfect!"

2011-11-21T14:57:00.001-08:00

This Wednesday's Huddle was all about Student Leadership. (see pictures of the Huddle here:http://bit.ly/rAgwbo )

After a student-lead icebreaker game involving Oreos, Jared Hall, our FCA Area Representative, had the FCA Leadership students stand up. He pointed out to the crowd that these students not only organize the Huddles, but also pray over the prayer requests submitted in the "Prayer Box" at each Huddle. By standing up, these leaders really put it on the line and will certainly need our continued prayers!
Erin Hendry, FCA Student President, then took the mic, and shared an interesting phrase: "perfectly imperfect." She told the crowd that as humans we aren't perfect, but God made us unique and special--that He has given each person gifts, talents, and strengths. "Don't try to be like someone else!" she warned! Erin shared her story of seeking to be perfect--just like the slender girl she looked up to in her dance classes, and how this led to years of destructive eating disorders. During her sophomore year, Erin got so worn down that she had to stop dancing and acknowledge she had a problem. Because of this crisis, Erin sought the help of her church youth leader and mentor, who helped her discover who God created her to be. Though she still struggles with her imperfections, Erin recognizes that because God created her, He loves her for who she truly is!

The students in the bleachers were very quiet. What Erin shared related to many students--the struggle with identity is such a common issue in high school! For many, the good news on Wednesday was that God created them and loves them just as they are!

Thank you again for all your support and prayers. That these kids can hear about God's love on a public school campus is truly awesome! That our own students are the ones sharing the message is truly humbling.

In His service,
Linda and Cherie

FCA Huddle Recap-Mater Dei 11/10/2011

2011-11-14T10:26:00.001-08:00

FAM supporters, ( we have got to come up with a better name)
I have to share with you right away because yesturday was absolutely amazing! I wish you each could have been there to see how God is taking our simple effort, our prayers, our smiles, our food, and doing such huge work at Mater dei! We estimated there were about 150 kids in the upper lunch, and maybe 80 in the lower. They all laughed at the game and listened so attentively to Brian Jones share about his own faith. He did such an incredible job, it was powerful to hear from a fellow high school student about how God took Saul who was a murderer, and called on him and used him. Brian challenged the kids to seek a relationship with God, to pray for God to show himself to them in a unique way. The kids were glued to his words. We served pizza afterward and as we saw last year the kids are beginning to linger, be together, and hang out. Amazing!

Thank you so much again for praying, coming, serving and bringing food. Thank you especially to Kim Caskey for handling the pizza, and also to Laurie Root and Sandra Chu for bringing treats. Thank you Lynn Lapcheck for coming and serving, it was so fun being with you all. I already have precious volunteers to handle the pizza for next huddle, which is a huge blessing. Thanks again to our faithful leaders, Jared and Kathleen for all we see you building into the leadership team. Can't wait for the next huddle,
Paula Boyer

Huddle Recap Irvine HS 11/3/11

2011-11-07T09:14:00.000-08:00

                                  Good Morning FCA Families!!
What a beautiful morning to wake up to! Here is a quick recap of our last FCA. We had another great turnout almost too many kids to count, they pretty much filled up the bleachers!!

We had two youth Pastors attend... Greg from the River Church and Jon from Mariners Church. We also had a couple of teachers attend, Mr. Eric Terry (who attends all of our huddles, helps with the set up and clean up) Mrs. Morgan Rosser and her student teacher Linda. Please don’t forget to extend an invite to your youth pastor to come to our huddles. We also would love to have more IHS coaches and teachers attend the Huddles. Please encourage your kids to extend an offer to their teachers and coaches.

Our speaker was Bryce Turi. Bryce is currently the youth Pastor at Calvary Chapel Tustin and a former Irvine High School student. Here is a short recap of what the speaker shared with the kids. The recap was written by one of our FCA student leaders, Valerie Kan...
“At this week's huddle, Bryce from Calvary Chapel in Tustin spoke to us about satisfaction in God. We look for things in our everyday lives in order to find peace, whether that be in a relationship or in worldly possessions, but nothing will fully satisfy us except for God. We need to have faith in Christ alone in order to be satisfied with our own lives. Bryce used this bible verse from John 4:13:

"Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

This spoke to me personally because in my everyday life, everything is always so hectic and busy. Between school, homework, water polo practice, and college applications, there are so many things that I have to worry about. But I know that if I put my life in God's hands and let Him take the wheel, I have faith that He will always come through and whatever He has planned for my life will work out for me in the end.”
Our Huddles of course could not happen with out the support of our wonderful parents:
Our Pizza sponsor for the huddle was the Torrey family. Their donations provide 29 XL pizzas!!
Baked Goods were lovingly prepared by the Carter family. Additional treats were provided by the Kenney family.

Water bottles were provided by the Kamai and Richmond families.

Our amazing sound system is provided by the Alayra family.
Thank you, also to the moms who rolled up their sleeves during their lunch break to help serve water and pizza. We are so grateful for your help as this ministry continues to expand.

As you can see this club is growing and will only stay afloat with all of our help!    If you are able, in these tough times, to donate financially, please send a check made to IHS Athletic Boosters-FCA to: Jodi Nordstrom, 9 Redrock, Irvine, Ca. 92604. (Your donations are tax deductible!!)
THANK YOU PARENTS for your support!!!    Attached are some fun pictures from the day!
Our next Huddle is Thursday, November 17th!!
Blessings.......
Jodi Nordstrom
Michelle Carter

Foothill FCA: Josh "Breaks" and Challenges at the Nov 2nd Huddle

2011-11-07T09:08:00.001-08:00

Dear FCA Parents and Supporters,

In spite of challenges with advertising and announcements, 450 kids made their way to Wednesday's Huddle. Last month God used rain to bring them in--why not blow them in this month?The Santa Ana Winds were certainly put to good use!

After grabbing pizza and homemade cookies, the kids enjoyed some break dancing by both our speaker, Josh, and his eight-year-old protege, Jojo! The kids cheered for Jojo, and a few of them took up Josh's dancing challenge and did some breaking with him!

Not one to waste time, Josh steered the students' attention to the reason he dances--to have an opportunity to share the Gospel! He got right into his message by asking the crowd if they recalled the recent mass shooting at the hair salon in Seal Beach. Josh asked the kids what sort of emotion this stirred in them. They all agreed that Justice should be done. After discussing justice, good judges and fairness, Josh pointed out God's law, the 10 Commandments.

Josh shared that he grew up thinking he was a "good" kid, but in junior high he realized he was just a "poser" Christian. He thought about God's perfect law which he had broken many times, and recognized his need for a Savior. He asked them; "What if you had done something really bad, and were being sent to prison for life? How would you feel if an unknown stranger offered to go to prison for you?" He told the kids, "When Jesus died on the cross, he took the fall for every sin you have committed--to give you a free gift: Eternal life." Josh hit the point home when he asked them, "What if you died today? Would you be innocent or guilty? Would you go to Heaven or hell? God loves you...and He's offering a huge gift--to take the fall for you--but you have to accept the gift!" Finally, Josh challenged them: "Who will raise their hand and admit they need God?" A few kids raised their hands, and even though the bell rang, they stayed and prayed! In spite of the time crunch, a few kids stayed after to talk with Josh as well.
There were kids in that crowd who had a divine appointment today. We don't know if it was the wind, the smell of pizza, or an invitation from a friend that brought them, but we do know that 450 kids listened intently to the Gospel and that life-changing decisions were made!

Those life-changing decisions are why we do all that we do at each Huddle! The food, the speakers, the prayers...it's all to bring kids in and give them a chance to hear the Truth about who Jesus Christ is! Thank you for your prayers and support as we focus on this one simple--but very powerful--goal!

Humbly,
Linda and Cherie

Mater Dei Huddle Recap 10/27/11

2011-11-01T10:52:00.000-07:00

Well, you did it again and wewere so blessed by all of your help and support and JOY! Thank you so muchfor praying, coming and serving our kids at the first official FCA meetingwhich was awesome. We had approximately 100 kids at the upper lunch andafter a slow start about 80 we think in the lower lunch. We were so happyabout the showing especially in the lower lunch because the first one is alwaystough on the younger kids as they don't know what it is all about. Butthey came slowly but surely around the corner and filled the bleacher seats inthe old gym and we eventually even ran out of pizza. The kids heard fromspeaker Barry Martinez about the prodigal son and how God loves them no matterhow they come to him. Seeds planted!

Special thanks to SallySpringer, Kim Caskey, Cathy Sullivan, Lucy Rawlins, Lee Glover, and ElisaLarson for bringing food, serving food and reflecting such love to thekids. Jared and Kathleen, thank you for organizing and putting togethersuch a great huddle. What a good start to build upon.

PaulaBoyer

Northwood Huddle Recap 10/18/11

2011-11-01T10:44:00.000-07:00

Dear FCA Parents,

Our first Huddle of the year was a full house (see pictures) asBarry Martinez spoke of the Prodigal son and the love our Heavenly Father hasfor each and every one of our students. Barry has a way of turning abiblical story in to a relatable life lesson as he shared a story from his ownhigh school football days. To keep the students engaged he had afemale student demonstrate a football hike while students cheered her on. Welove you Barry!!

Parents, please remind your students that we have our nextHuddle, tomorrow, November 1^st. If you’re interested inserving or donating bottled water or baked goods please be in the gym by11:40. If you would like to donate toward pizza please make checkspayable to Monica Younger. If you need a tax receipt please make checks payableto FCA and send to Monica Younger at 26 Rincon 92620.

Lastly, we would like to say thank you to all of you for yourcontinued prayer and support of this ongoing ministry!! Please rememberto pray and support our area FCA Leader Jared Hall for his tireless effort tolove and care for our NHS students!

A BIG thank you to the following families for serving anddonating to our last Huddle:

Larson

MacDonald

Skelly

Bowers

Coleman

Thomas

Campbell

Gisch

Nagel

Leifer

Quigley

Stofko

McMains

Nellesen

May

Hammeras

Perkins

Tucker

Weyand

Langdon

Fox

Blessings.....

Team FCA,

Kate Gisch

Torre Murray

Rosalyn Reasor

Foothill FCA: Crag Darby shares the Most Important Miracle at October 19th Huddle!

2011-10-25T13:52:00.000-07:00

With Spirit Week activities going on outside, 400+ students still made their way to the gym for pizza, games, and a speaker!

Three brave souls were willing to play the spin, jump, run, shoot-a-basket game, and yes, they were quite entertaining! (See Huddle photo album link below.)
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=mduffy&target=ALBUM&id=5665438805901788193&authkey=Gv1sRgCJjn--W0866fQw&feat=email

Engaged and intrigued, the crowd was then introduced to Huddle speaker, Creg Darby, from Free Chapel Church in Irvine. Crag recalled how tough the high school years can be, how often it seems that only a miracle can help save a grade or a relationship.

Using the story of Lazares' resurrection as an illustration, Crag pointed out that Christ alone has the power and authority to do miracles. Crag then connected Christ's ability with His desire to do a miracle in our own lives--whether it's helping students succeed in tough classes (like Crag's 3-time favorite...algebra), or restoring broken families, or most importantly, knowing God and allowing Him to change us. He asked the students, "Who needs God to work a miracle of change in their life?" Several hands went up, and Crag invited them to join him in a prayer of salvation. The gym got very quiet, and the only sounds heard were those voices repeating Crag's prayer.

The fact that Fellowship of Christian Athletes is WELCOME on Foothill's campus and can boldly share the TRUTH of the GOSPEL during lunchtime is indeed a major miracle! But the greater miracle is the lives that are touched by God at these Huddles. We don't always know who is responding to the Gospel, or what seeds are planted, or who is even hearing about Christ for the first time, but the evidence of God's blessing on these Huddles is too great for us to doubt that God is at work on our campus! We are reminded of His promise in II Peter 3:9; "The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance."

Thank you for your prayers and support. May God be glorified, and may we see everyone at Foothill come to know Him as Savior and Lord!

Humbly,
Linda and Cherie

Huddle Recap- Irvine High 10/20/2011

2011-10-25T13:50:00.000-07:00

I hope you are all enjoying our Fall weather. Just a quick email to share with all of you about our last FCA Huddle went. We had a great turnout again with over 140 students in attendance!!

We also had two youth Pastors attend... Steven from Good Shepherd Church and Jon from Mariners Church. Please don’t forget to extend an invite to your youth pastor to come to our huddles. We also would love to have more IHS coaches attend the Huddles, have your kids extend an offer to their coaches.

Our speaker was Vinh Nguyen. Vinh is a junior at Irvine High School and one of the FCA student leaders. Vinh began by telling the story of David and Goliath, and how God worked through David. Vinh shared how God can work through us and how a year ago, he completely surrendered his life to Christ. Vinh told the students that he didn’t immediately change and become a completely different person, but how he chose to walk each day with God and in doing so, God created in him a desire to live a different life and make different choices. Vihn shared his story with such confidence and in a way that the students really connected with what he was saying. It was so awesome!Our Huddles of course could not happen with out the support of our wonderful parents:
Our Pizza sponsors for this huddle were the Proehl , Hall and Johnson families.   Their donations helped us provide plenty of pizza for all who attended.
Baked Goods were lovingly prepared by the Hankus, Michelson and Kenney families.

Water bottles were provided by the Hall and Kamai families.

Our amazing sound system is provided by the Alayra family.
Thank you, also to the moms who rolled up their sleeves during their lunch break to help serve water and pizza. We are so grateful for your help as this ministry continues to expand.

As you can see this club is growing and will only stay afloat with all of our help!    If you are able, in these tough times, to donate financially, please send a check made to IHS Athletic Boosters-FCA to: Jodi Nordstrom, 9 Redrock, Irvine, Ca. 92604. (Your donations are tax deductible!!)
THANK YOU PARENTS for your support!!!    Attached are some fun pictures from the day!
Our next Huddle is Thursday, November 3rd!!!
Blessings.......
Jodi Nordstrom
Michelle Carter

Huddle Recap-Woodbridge High School 10/24/11

2011-10-25T13:48:00.001-07:00

Hi Parents!

THANK YOU for your support and prayers ... today's Huddle was extremely well attended again with about 180 students on the first day of Homecoming Week! And this time, we were better prepared thanks to your generous donations. We had just enough pizza and cookies to go around.

The students started off with a crazy game of being human pretzels (I'm sure there's a real name for this game but I didn't hear it) and then had an amazing message by Jon McBirney from Mariner's Church. He connected with the students and it's great to see them relate with speakers like Jon!

I love seeing the smiling faces of these students. I especially love seeing the faces of those who I can tell aren't as connected as many of the kids, but instead is just coming for the pizza. I've been watching this one boy who came to each Huddle last year - at first, he only came for the pizza and then snuck out before the message started. But he still comes and now he hangs out for the message and actually participated in the game today. It's awesome!

A special thank you to the following families for helping make this week's pizza lunch happen:

Pizza Money Donation: Kennedys, Greenbergs, Gibbs', Coyles, Mellors, Haneys, and van Perseums

Water: Councils, Werdermans and Van Horns

Cookies: Babbs, Guests, Clausens, Gaultieres and Escalantes

Plates: Griffins

Set up, serve & clean up: Cheri Babb, Lisa Guest, Kris Gibbs and Kim Coyle

We are so grateful to you and we also thank everyone for their continued prayers. And as always, we are so thankful for Anne Walton, our teacher Advisor for FCA! It was great to see as many students at this second Huddle, even after we had to turn so many away last time. God is great!

Our next Huddle will be on November 7!

Yukie Meyers

FCA Huddle Recap! Irvine High School October 6th 2011

2011-10-12T08:52:00.000-07:00

                                  Good Evening FCA Families!!
I just wanted to share with all of you how awesome our first IHS Huddle of the year was. It was a huge success with over 140 students in attendance!! Luckily, we had extra pizza and everyone had a great time.

Your continued generosity will make it possible for us to be continue to provide the students with hot pizza, homemade treats and a drink... all while hearing an inspirational message.

Our guest speaker was Barry Martinez as he typically is our kick-off speaker for the new school year. Barry spoke of his experience in high school, and how he had a coach you would yell at him. He shared about the dejection and humiliation he felt and how he wrestled with feelings of not wanting to return to school due to the embarrassment. He shared how his faith in Jesus helped him. He then told the kids the story of the prodigal son, and how the parable depicts God's amazing availability to forgive and restore us, and His great love that accepts us independently of our status and past. It was very inspiring!
Our Huddles of course could not happen with out the support of our wonderful parents:
Our Pizza sponsor for this huddle was the Nordstrom family.
Baked Goods were lovingly prepared by the Hobbs and Kenney families.

Water bottles were provided by the Johnson and Kamai families.

Our amazing sound system is provided by the Alayra family.
Thank you, also to the dads and moms who rolled up their sleeves during their lunch break to help serve water and pizza. We are so grateful for your help as this ministry continues to expand.

As you can see this club is growing and will only stay afloat with all of our help!    If you are able, in these tough times, to donate financially, please send a check made to IHS Athletic Boosters-FCA to: Jodi Nordstrom, 9 Redrock, Irvine, Ca. 92604. (Your donations are tax deductible!!)
If you are able to donate waters or baked good on the day of the Huddle, please email me. You can either drop them off at the school gym the day of the huddle or beforehand at my house. If you are able to help serve these hungry students, please show up at the gym at 11:30 on the day of the Huddle.   And most of all, we ask that everyone please pray for this ministry as kids continue to come with a curiosity and a hunger for meaningful inspiration!

THANK YOU PARENTS for your support!!!    Attached are some fun pictures from the day!
Our next Huddle is Thursday, October 20th!!!
Blessings.......
Jodi Nordstrom
Michelle Carter

Foothill FCA: Rain Brings 'Em in Droves to October 5th Huddle 2011

2011-10-12T08:42:00.001-07:00

Dear FCA Parents,

With the sun blazing outside right now, it's difficult to believe that it rained in torrents just a few days ago--on Wednesday, the day of the first FCA Huddle for the school year--to be exact!

If you think the way I do, you were praying hard against the rain, and if you learn as slowly as I do you were disappointed when the wet weather refused to let up.
Thankfully, GOD's ways are not our ways! (Isaiah 55:8-9)

I may be a slow learner, but I certainly couldn't miss GOD's hand in Wednesday's events! I know now that GOD used that steady, soggy rain to make it just miserable enough for hundreds of students to seek the warm dry shelter of the gym where Fellowship of Christian Athletes was holding its first Huddle!

Many who came had no idea what a Huddle was, but intrigued by the smell of pizza and wanting to know what would draw so many students into one place, they joined the students packed onto the bleachers. 500+ students heard Barry Martinez, FCA's Western Regional Director and former multi-sport athlete, ask the question, "What does GOD think of you?" Using the parable of the Prodigal Son in Matthew chapter 7, Barry illustrated how much--in spite of our sin and rebellion--GOD values and loves us! In a crowd that size, this was certainly new revelation for many!

See pictures at: https://picasaweb.google.com/mduffy/FCAHuddleOct5th2011?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCJ2Rltnanvi0kgE&feat=directlink or http://tinyurl.com/3tn6x7j

Thank you, LORD, for the rain! YOU always have a plan!
Thank you, Barry, for sharing this Good News with our kids! This basic truth is unknown by so many!
Thank you, Trinity, for supplying the pizza! It drew kids in who were then able to hear about GOD's love.
Thank you, moms, for baking all those cookies! We were able to give out cookies long after we ran out of pizza!
Thank you to the 20 parents who helped set up, serve, and clean up! What a great example you were to those kids!
Thank you, parents, for your support and prayers! We know that no good think happens without GOD!
Thank you, LORD, for loving us and our children so much that YOU provide a way for YOUR TRUTH to be shared on our campus!

Humbly,
Linda and Cherie
FCA Parent Volunteers

FCA Football Power Camp 2011

2011-09-12T09:11:00.000-07:00

The Lord is faithful! This past summer marked the 3rd year we have put on a football power camp for our youngsters. For 4 days 60 campers took over Lebard Football Stadium for a time of football and worship. We were blessed by great coaches throughout the week that included players such as; Josh Gage-UW, Kyle Negrete-USC, Matt Barkley-USC, Robbie Boyer-USC, Bryce Butler-USC, Mike Willis-APU, Chris Rix-Florida State, Jason Jacobi-Chapman, Jared Hall-Bethel, and many more...

CLICK HERE FOR CAMP PICTURES

The boys, ages 8-13, had a blast and grew both in the game of football and in faith! Mission Hills Church Youth Pastor, Danny Bowers was our Camp Chaplain throughout the week and did an awesome job of sharing about God's Power, God's Strength, and God's Victory. He really connected well with the campers! I was blessed by all the coaches and helpers who volunteered their time to come out and make this week a huge success! I am already looking forward to next year.

FCA Camp 2011 UCLA

2011-09-12T09:02:00.000-07:00

This years camp was the best yet, and we are truly praising the Lord for his faithfulness to the ministry of FCA.
The 682 campers that invaded UCLA for the week had a blast. Check out the video below. Miles McPherson delivered great messages all week, and the Katinas were awesome! The highlight by far though was this...132 athletes gave their lives to Christ for the first time and 398 athletes rededicated their lives to Him. That means 530 of the 682 athletes that stepped foot on UCLA’s campus last week made a new commitment to the Lord. Praise God! That my friends is what it is all about!

Northwood Prayer Vigil

2011-06-06T09:46:00.000-07:00

http://www.ocregister.com/news/sweet-302868-family-people.html

Huddle Recap Northwood High School 5-24-11

2011-06-06T09:44:00.000-07:00

Dearest FCA Parents,

What an emotional week it has been for NHS students and the Northwood community as we mourn the loss of 14 year old Ashton Sweet who was tragically killed in a car accident Saturday, May 28^th. Please continue to pray and lovingly reach out to the Sweet, Rivas, Merassa and Ghaemi families as they start the healing process. Thank you FCA parents for showing your support last night at the prayer vigil as so many of you boldly and beautifully offered prayers of encouragement and love to all parties involved in this tragedy. Thank you for committing to pray around the clock for the next three days as the Sweet family prepares Ashton’s memorial and for her friends as they accept the loss of their dear sweet friend. 1Thessalonians 5:11: Encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.

We apologize for getting this recap out so late as the camera memory card went missing and still has not turned up. Hopefully pictures of our Huddle with USC football player Robbie Boyer will surface eventually. Robbie eloquently spoke of God’s deep love for us and the personal relationship He wants to have with each of our students.

Lastly, our final Huddle is next Tuesday, June 7^th. We plan to make this last Huddle very student oriented and uplifting as our students need the boost. Jared plans to share a word of encouragement, along with a video montage of this year’s Huddles and teasers for FCA camp at UCLA this July and Young Life camp as well.

Please join us in serving if you can as we believe we will have a larger crowd than usual due to the Sweet tragedy. If you feel led to donate bottled water or baked goods please bring them to the gym by 11:40. If you are able to send a taxable donation to go towards pizza please make checks payable to NHS FCA Huddle, or Monica Younger if you do not need a tax receipt. Thank you parents for another fruitful year of serving and giving generously to fund this growing ministry!!

A GREAT BIG thank you to the following families for your sacrificial giving:

Ludwick

May

Stone

Gusikoski

Leifer

Bowers

Skelly

Cervero

Nagel

McDonald

Loving your teenagers,

Torre Murray

Kate Gisch

Rosalyn Reasor

Monica Younger

Huddle Recap Foothill High School 5-25-11

2011-06-06T09:42:00.000-07:00

Thank you FCA Parents and Supporters for your prayers and help in supporting Wednesday's Huddle!
Amalia Moghadasnia did a great job sharing her testimony to the 250+ kids who squeezed into the cafeteria! To a very attentive audience, Amalia spoke about her strained relationship with her father and his unexpected death. An event that could have made her very angry, instead prompted her to pray and find God again! She talked about how the support and love of church friends were key in her finding Salvation and developing a meaningful relationship with Jesus Christ. Her simple and sincere words certainly struck a chord with many kids in the audience (and made some moms tear up)! (See the attached picture of Amalia centered between two friends.)
What a blessing it is to hear a teenager boldly proclaim the Truth of the Gospel!

In two weeks, our graduating FCA Seniors will be sharing this Truth at the LAST Huddle of the year!
Please continue to keep Foothill's FCA in your prayers--it is truly only by the grace of God that our campus has been blessed with such an effective ministry!

In Christ,
Linda and Cherie

Huddle Recap Northwood High School 5-10-11

2011-05-20T11:56:00.000-07:00

Dear FCA Parents,

Our school year is winding down as we have just two more Huddles to go before we break for summer. Our guest speaker last week was pro-surfer Jodie Nelson . On March 28, 2010, Jodie became the first woman to paddle 39.8 grueling miles from the island of Catalina to Dana Point. She finished in 9 hours. 18 miles into her paddle, Jodie had a close encounter with a 30-foot Minke whale Jodie fondly named “Larry” . Larry followed Jodie for 2 full hours while paddling to raise $125,000 for breast cancer research and prevention. Thank you Jodie for sharing your adventurous spirit with our students and for your mission to raise support for breast cancer awareness.

Parents, next week USC football player Robbie Boyer will be sharing with our students. As of today we are short $300 to fund next week’s Huddle as we typically have 500-600 hungry students in attendance!! If you feel led to give at this time please make your check payable to: Monica Younger if you do not need a tax receipt, or to NHS FCA Huddle if you do (26 Rincon, Irvine 92620 ).

A “Big” thank you to the following families for your generous donations:

Coleman

Locklear

Sharpe

Edmond

Waterson

Reasor

McMains

Skelly

McDonald

Nagel

Margaret

Thank you in advance for your generosity as this ministry would not exist if not for your faithful giving. Thank you parents for allowing us to serve your wonderful students!

Loving teenagers,

Torre Murray

Kate Gisch

Rosalyn Reasor

Monica Younger

Huddle Recap Foothill High School 5-11-11

2011-05-13T11:25:00.000-07:00

Dear FCA Parents and Supporters,

Wednesday was another great Huddle! Thank you for all the behind-the-scenes help and prayer you invested that helped make this happen!

Matt Luke, former baseball player for both the Angels and the Dodgers, shared with over 500 Foothill kids how finding God changed his life. (See attached pictures.) Matt described what happened to his life when an injury took him from the lime light of being the number eight draft pick where his entire purpose and focus was on success, to becoming paralyzed for two months--shut away in a dinky hotel room with all of his hopes shattered. It was in that desolate place that he accepted Christ.

He told the kids very honestly that life didn't get immediately easy, but that he "was blessed from that moment." "I learned how to use my skills to glorify God. The focus was
off me and on what I could do to honor God," Matt said. Then using John 14:15 as his text, he asked the kids, "What are you doing with the gifts God has given you? Burying them, or allowing God to use them to bless others?"

Matt asked for a show of hands in response to his question, "How many of you love God?" There were cheers from pockets of kids all over the room. He pointed out that a personal relationship with Christ is much more than just saying you believe. Then he issued the challenge for believers to share the Good News. "Don't be afraid to step out! Sure, you will be ridiculed, persecuted for it, but be BOLD for God!"

What an encouragement these words were for all our children who struggle to live lives that honor Christ each day on campus!

Please continue to pray for the students at Foothill who have yet to hear the Gospel. There is but one Huddle remaining this year--May 25th, and it is our prayer that every student hear the Good News before leaving high school. There are many hearts still to be reached!

To Christ be the glory!

Humbly,
Cherie and Linda

Huddle Recap Northwood High School April

2011-05-10T14:05:00.001-07:00

Dearest FCA Parents,

We hope this email finds you all well as you are enjoying Easter Break with your kids. Thanks to your faithfulness, FCA Huddles continue to draw hundreds of students into our gym (see picture link below) during lunch to hear a thought provoking message from our outstanding speakers. Last week our students watched the popular video skit “Everything” by Lifehouse (see link below) before our guest speaker shared her message. Parents, please take the time to watch the video from beginning to end as it builds and concludes with a very powerful and emotional message. Our guest speaker Shannon Laine shared of her goal to go to USC and fulfill her dream of becoming a USC Song Girl. As she strived and worked hard to accomplish those dreams, she found herself feeling unsatisfied and empty. Shannon shared of her journey to completely surrender her life to Christ in a more intimate way. She referred to Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” Shannon now believes her experience as a USC Song Girl has given her a platform to boldly share her faith in Jesus as she mentors high school and college aged students in their own spiritual journey. Fight on Shannon!!

Huddle Pictures:

http://s1131.photobucket.com/albums/m542/jounger/FCA%20April%202011%20Shannon%20USC%20Song%20Girl/

Huddle Video Skit:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GwdTg9l_bI

A BIG thank you to the following families for donations of pizza money and baked goods:

Gregerson

Holler

Pierce

Coleman

Locklear

Sharpe

Skelly

Thomas

Nagel

Dougherty

Cervero

Our next Huddle is May 10th. If you feel led to donate towards a Huddle, please make checks payable to Monica Younger and send them to 26 Rincon, Irvine 92620. If you would like a formal tax receipt from FCA, please make your check out to NHS FCA Huddle. You can still send that check to Monica.

Thank you in advance for your continued support of this ministry......both monetarily and through prayer!

Blessings.....

Kate Gisch

Torre Murray

Rosalyn Reasor

Monica Younger

Huddle Recap Mater Dei High School 4-29-11

2011-05-05T11:34:00.001-07:00

May 3, 2011

Dear FCA/FAM Families:

We had our last Huddle this past Thursday and it was a home run with Egypt McKee speaking. He was funny, poignant, and really connected with the kids with a wonderful message. It was a great way to end the year.

Thank you to Bart and Debbie Thomsen for underwriting the pizzas. It is so appreciated by the kids....and the parents! Thank you also to the parents who served and brought treats and waters. Also, thank you to Lee Glover for putting the FAM photo book together! It's terrific! Thank you Kathleen Kelly and Jared Hall for a successful FAM year! You are both blessings. Our numbers have grown and we are thankful for that. We are also thankful for our parents who have helped with FAM this school year at our Huddles. We couldn't do it without all of you!

We hope your students have a successful year end and great summer. Keep doing what you do with them because they are all wonderful kids!

See you in the Fall!

With much appreciation,

Paula and Lucy

Huddle Recap Foothill High School 4-6-11

2011-04-11T14:55:00.001-07:00

Dear Foothill FCA Parents and Supporters,

Carl F. H. Henry, former editor-in-chief of Christianity Today, once said, "The Gospel is only Good News if it gets there in time."

These are especially meaningful words in light of the "Every Fifteen Minutes" event that preceeded the FCA Huddle this past Wednesday, April 6th. "Every Fifteen Minutes" very graphically re-enacts for high school juniors and seniors the devistating effects of a fatal drunk-driving accident--something that statistically occurs every fifteen minutes.

To have our speaker, Clint Gresham of the Seattle Seahawks, follow this event by sharing his grief upon discovering his friend's suicide; struck a chord with many of our students. Clint thenshared two truths that changed his life:
1) God doesn't want us to stay away from sin because He likes to take away our fun, but rather because He loves us and wants to protect us from harm.
2) God showed how much He values us by sending His only Son in exchange for our lives!

It was a very quiet and attentive audience. There were broken hearts and tears--evidence thatFoothill is a mission field with a harvest ripe for Christ.

Click to view pictures of this week's Huddle: https://picasaweb.google.com/mduffy/FoothillFCAHuddleApril62011?authkey=Gv1sRgCP3Qs8H7qt2SZg&feat=directlink
Please continue to pray for these students! Many are coming in for the pizza, but they are staying and hearing the Gospel. They need the understanding and courage to take the next step--to cast themselves aside and ask Christ to be their Savior and Lord!

Thank you for choosing to be involved in FCA as it shares the Good News on a public school campus!
To God be the glory!

Blessings,
Linda and Cherie

Huddle Recap Irvine High School 3-31-11

2011-04-05T14:05:00.000-07:00

Good Afternoon FCA Families!!

Here is a quick recap from our last huddle on Thursday, March 31st. Once again, We had a great turnout, in spite of it being an extended lunch. I have attached a few pictures, check them out!! Also, check out our face book page = “IHS Fellowship of Christian Athletes”.
Our speaker this week was Creg Darby. Creg is the Family Ministries Pastor at Free Chapel OC. I asked Paul Roh, one of our FCA Student leaders, to write a quick recap about our speaker...
“The message at this past huddle was about Joseph (from the Old Testament) and how he was put through many obstacles one after another, but still did not give up nor did he turn away from God. He kept going and striving to be the best he could be whether it was being the best brother or servant. After overcoming one obstacle, he was put through an even tougher one. Creg reminded us that we cannot give up on God just because times get tough, because life with God is truly a lot better and meaningful. “

Steven and John from Good Shepherd church also attended the huddle last week. Please don’t forget to extend an invite to your youth pastor to come to our huddles.

Of course, our huddles could not happen with out your help....here is who stepped up to the plate this week:

Pizza – Big Thank You to the Humphreys Family for donating all the funds to pay for our Pizza

Baked Goods were lovingly prepared by the these families:

Hobbs
Kenney

Water bottles were provided by the Lambeth Family...8 cases worth!!

Our amazing sound system is provided by the Alayra family.

Your continued generosity will make it possible for us to be continue to provide the students with hot pizza, homemade treats and a drink... all while hearing an inspirational message. If you are interested in sponsoring a Huddle, please contact me via email –jmnordy@cox.net  As you can see this club is growing and will only stay afloat with all of our help!   (Your financial donations are tax deductible!!)
If you are able to donate waters or baked good on the day of the Huddle, please email me. You can either drop them off at the school gym the day of the huddle or beforehand at my house. If you are able to help serve these hungry students, please show up at the gym at 11:30 on the day of the Huddle.   And most of all, we ask that everyone please pray for this ministry as kids continue to come with a curiosity and a hunger for meaningful inspiration!

THANK YOU PARENTS for your support!!!
Our next Huddle is Thursday, April 14th!!   Here are the dates for the rest of our huddles for this year (only 4 more huddles left) .....
5/5/11,        5/26/11,      6/2/11
Blessings.......

Jodi Nordstrom
Michelle Carter

Huddle Recap Mater Dei High School 3-24-11

2011-03-29T07:13:00.000-07:00

Dear FAM supporters,
Thanks again for all of your prayers, time and effort. We had an amazing huddle, with the most kids we have ever had at the FAM meeting last Thursday. Shannon Laine, USC song girl, gave a passionate talk about her identity being in Christ and nothing else. She shared with the kids how awesome it is to be a part of God's family and encouraged them to find their own identity in God. She shared how amazing it is to be in the Coliseum and be a part of the trojan family, but far more important to her will always be being God's daughter. She reminded the kids how much God loves each one of them and to think of Jesus actually dying for each one of them. It was an incredibly inspiring time to see a young woman so sold out for the Lord.

Thanks to all of you, especially Stacey, Elisa, and Juliet for bringing food, water and the ever-needed helping hands. As always, thanks to Jared and Kathleen for all they continually do for FAM. We have a month long break now, and look forward to seeing you all next month for our one huddle April 28th.

Have a wonderful spring break,
Lucy and Paula

Huddle Recap Foothill High School 3-23-11

2011-03-28T07:20:00.000-07:00

Dear FCA Parents, Youth Leaders, and Supporters,
Your prayers are so key to each Huddle!

Thank you for keeping our two student speakers, Erin Hendry and Katie Buckner, in your prayers this week. They did a great job!

Both girls talked about the importance of giving to others. Erin used the story of the Good Samaritan as her text, and spoke about a meaningful trip to Mexico she was able to go on with her church group. Katie talked about using loose change to bless others through a World Vision project. She tied this into honoring Christ by referring to Matthew 25:34-40; "whatever you do for one of the least of these...you did for [Jesus]."

The kids obviously enjoyed hearing the girls speak, so thank you, Erin and Katie, for being brave enough to share with 400+ of your peers!
Thank you, parents and youth leaders, for your continued support of FCA at Foothill! God continues to work on this campus!

Enjoy viewing the pictures of the March 23rd Huddle at this link: http://webmail.ca.rr.com/do/redirect?url=https%253A%252F%252Fpicasaweb.google.com%252Flh%252Fsredir%253Funame%253Dmduffy%2526target%253DALBUM%2526id%253D5588535738734065969%2526authkey%253DGv1sRgCMjD_K-Xy8z4eQ%2526feat%253Demail

Blessings,
Linda and Cherie

Huddle Recap Northwood High School 3-15-11

2011-03-22T08:01:00.001-07:00

Dear FCA Parents,

Our students had the awesome privilege of hearing from an FCA favorite, Egypt McKee at this week’s Huddle. Egypt is an author, speaker and television personality that knows how to inspire teenagers with his quick wit and no nonsense message of faith. Egypt captivated our students’ attention by touching on his rage filled high school years as he resented not having a father figure in his life and praised single mothers for the tough job they have raising teenagers. He also addressed the importance of making right choices before you find yourself in a compromising predicament and referred to the scripture verse 1Corinthians 15:33 Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.” It was great to hear the kids laughing and receiving his encouragement to not be STUPID! We love you Egypt…keep up the good work!!

Our next Huddle is Tuesday, April 5^th and our guest speaker is another Huddle favorite USC song girl Shannon Laine. Please join us if you can!! Thank you again parents for funding our Huddles as it allows us to focus on praying and recruiting godly inspirational speakers. If you feel led to support FCA please make donations payable to: Monica Younger (26 Rincon 92620) if you do not require a formal tax receipt from FCA. If you do need a receipt, make checks payable to NHS FCA Huddle.

A BIG thank you to the following families for your donations of money and sweet treats:

Teltcher

Asciuto

Roeske

Skelly

Nagel

Lee

Picture Link:

Northwood FCA Huddle Feb 15th - Egypt

Many thanks & blessings....

Kate Gisch

Torre Murray

Rosalyn Reasor

Monica Younger

Huddle Recap Irvine 3-17-11

2011-03-21T14:30:00.000-07:00

Good Afternoon FCA Families!!

Here is a quick recap from our last huddle on Thursday, March 17th. Once again, We had a great turnout, in spite of it being an extended lunch. I have attached a few pictures, check them out!! Also, check out our face book page = “IHS Fellowship of Christian Athletes”.
Our speaker this week was Greg Seneca (youth pastor from The River Church)...Here is a quick recap from Jared Hall....
"Last Thursday we had Pastor Greg from the "River" Church come out and share his very powerful testimony with the students. Greg grew up going to Church but explained that he didn't have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. His passion was music and began playing drums at the age of 5, and his number one goal was to be a rock-star. Well that dream became reality as his band made it big, but with a secular career comes temptation from the devil. Greg began to use drugs at a very young age and the party scene was a part of his youth. His lead singer asked Greg the question "What is the meaning of life?" Greg answered, "To make it big as a band and party hard." A month later, the lead singer died from a freak accident of a spider bite. This accident along with many other trials changed Greg's life forever. He gave his life to Christ at the age of 30 and has been in ministry ever since. Greg's testimony is a reminder to us all that ANYONE can be used by Jesus. The lonely kid on the verge of suicide at the high school can be changed by the Holy Spirit and used by Jesus. Thank you Greg for taking the time out of your busy schedule to come and share the truth!"

We had several youth pastors join us on Thursday, Steven Johnson from Good Sheppard and Doug Brown, who was accompanied by two of his fellow youth pastors, came from Calvary church in Santa Ana. Please don’t forget to extend an invite to your youth pastor come to our huddles.

Of course, our huddles could not happen with out your help....here is who stepped up to the plate this week:

Pizza – No sponsor for this weeks huddle.

Baked Goods were lovingly prepared by the these families:

          Hobbs
            Kenney
            Carter

Water bottles were provided by the Dossett Family

Your continued generosity will make it possible for us to be continue to provide the students with hot pizza, homemade treats and a drink... all while hearing an inspirational message. If you are interested in sponsoring a Huddle, please contact me via email –jmnordy@cox.net  As you can see this club is growing and will only stay afloat with all of our help!   (Your financial donations are tax deductible!!)
If you are able to donate waters or baked good on the day of the Huddle, please email me. You can either drop them off at the school gym the day of the huddle or beforehand at my house. If you are able to help serve these hungry students, please show up at the gym at 11:30 on the day of the Huddle.   And most of all, we ask that everyone please pray for this ministry as kids continue to come with a curiosity and a hunger for meaningful inspiration!

THANK YOU PARENTS for your support!!!
Our next Huddle is Thursday, March 31st!!   Here are the dates for the rest of our huddles for this year.....

4/14/11,      5/5/11,        5/26/11,      6/2/11
Blessings.......

Jodi Nordstrom
Michelle Carter

Huddle Recap Northwood High School 3-7-11

2011-03-11T14:45:00.000-08:00

Dear FCA Parents,

We are at a loss for words as to how to adequately thank you for your prompt and generous response to our last email. You have increased our faith as this ministry relies solely on NHS parents for financial support. All of your encouraging notes were shared with MIT (Mom’s in Touch) as they faithfully pray for FCA and all of our FCA families. Thank you again for believing in the work of this ministry through your prayers, financial donations and baked goods!

Our guest speaker last week was Danny Campbell; he is the cousin of student leader Sara Campbell. Danny is a graduate of Biola University where he earned a basketball scholarship and met his soon to be bride in July. He has a real passion to share his faith and an energy that draws you to his message of hope. The scripture Danny referred to was Psalm 34:8.... Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in Him. He encouraged our students to commit to a weekly Bible study to mature in their walk with God.

A BIG thank you to the following families:

Gusikoski Griffith Skelly

Swerdfeger Glorioso Dougherty

Perkins Harper Adams

Seidler Brown Holder

Villaflor Curvero

Langdon MacDonald

Rutland Hartshorne

Lee McSunas

Weyand Christ

Tuesday, March 15 is our next Huddle and a student favorite, Egypt, will be sharing his message.

Thank you again for your generous contributions in faithfully supporting this ministry!!

In Him....

Kate Gisch

Torre Murray

Rosalyn Reasor

Monica Younger

Huddle Recap Foothill High School 3-9-11

2011-03-11T14:40:00.001-08:00

Dear FCA Parents, Youth Leaders, and Supporters;

What an incredible Huddle we had on Foothill's campus!

You just never know what God is going to do with the resources He provides! No gym...no problem! We'll pack 225 kids or more into Mrs. Dehn's choir room! (Check out the picture link!)https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=mduffy&target=ALBUM&id=5582291639941406273&authkey=Gv1sRgCO3cqPPMz9m-lAE&feat=email

It was a cozy and more intimate alternative to the gym, and the kids really focused as Danny Campbell shared his passion for Christ with them! Gleaning from Revelation 3:20, Danny told our high schoolers about a God who knocks at their heart's door because He wants to know them intimately--a God who sees their worry, their desperation and longs to "sup with them." The Truth struck a chord with these kids, and seven raised their hands to renew their commitment to Christ or become new Believers!
Please pray for our new believers--that they would find Christians to connect with and a local church/Bible study group where they will grow in their faith.
Thank you, parents, for all your prayers and support! Foothill is certainly a mission field in our own backyard, and you are having a direct impact on so many lives!

Blessings,
Linda and Cherie

Huddle Recap Irvine High School 3-3-11

2011-03-09T06:43:00.000-08:00

Good Afternoon FCA Families!!

Here is a quick recap from our last huddle on Thursday, March 3rd. We had a great turnout....more than 130 kids!! I have attached a few pictures, check them out!! Also, check out our facebook page = “IHS Fellowship of Christian Athletes”.
Our speaker this week was Josh Sheau. He is a break-dancer and works for a ministry called "break free."http://www.breakn4christ.com/index.php/about-us. Josh, along with two other break-dancers, performed some of their ‘dance moves’ for the kids. Afterwards, Josh shared with the kids his personal story and how without Christ as his Savior, he had no direction or purpose in life. Josh then very simply shared how to accept Christ into your life and invited kids to raise their hands (and stand up) if they were interested in making that decision.

Brianne Searl shared with me how that moment felt to her...
This weeks huddle was very powerful. Four students stood up and gave their lives to Christ. We also passed out flyers with the cell phone numbers and churches of some of the FCA student leaders, so that the students can more easily get plugged into a church.
Greg Seneca (youth pastor from The River Church) also attended the huddle last week. Please don’t forget to extend an invite to your youth pastor come to our huddles.

Of course, our huddles could not happen with out your help....here is who stepped up to the plate this week:

Pizza – Proehl Family for donating funds to help with the cost of Pizza

Baked Goods were lovingly prepared by the these families:

Hobbs
Kenney

Water bottles were provided by the Lee Families...6 cases worth!!

GOD IS SO GOOD!!
Your continued generosity will make it possible for us to be continue to provide the students with hot pizza, homemade treats and a drink... all while hearing an inspirational message. If you are interested in sponsoring a Huddle, please contact me via email –jmnordy@cox.net  As you can see this club is growing and will only stay afloat with all of our help!   (Your financial donations are tax deductible!!)
If you are able to donate waters or baked good on the day of the Huddle, please email me. You can either drop them off at the school gym the day of the huddle or beforehand at my house. If you are able to help serve these hungry students, please show up at the gym at 11:30 on the day of the Huddle.   And most of all, we ask that everyone please pray for this ministry as kids continue to come with a curiosity and a hunger for meaningful inspiration!

THANK YOU PARENTS for your support!!!
Our next Huddle is Thursday, March 17th!!   Here are the dates for the rest of our huddles for this year.....
3/31/11,      4/14/11,      5/5/11,        5/26/11,      6/2/11
Blessings.......

Jodi Nordstrom
Michelle Carter

Huddle Recap Foothill: 2-23-11

2011-02-25T09:40:00.001-08:00

Dear Foothill FCA Families,
Thank you for your great support in pulling together the behind-the-scenes details for this past Wednesday's Huddle. The kids always appreciate the food, and when we run out of pizza, they appreciate the cookies. When we run out of cookies, they are just glad to have a place to sit with their friends. The conversation I overheard between two girls as they walked into the gym yesterday was very revealing. One turned to the other and asked, "So why do you come here all the time?" Her friend answered "I don't know, I just like hearing what they have to say."
Bit by bit, Foothill kids are hearing the Good News, and bit by bit God is working in their lives! Keep praying for them!

Yesterday's Huddle started with a crazy game of blindfolded musical chairs! Three brave girls were eliminated, and it was down to two guys who turned the game into a wild elimination dance! We may have discovered a new extreme sport! View their antics at the link below:
https://picasaweb.google.com/mduffy/FCAHuddleFeb232011?authkey=Gv1sRgCML1rcHItp31-gE&feat=directlink

Katie Quesada from Trinity then spoke about her amazing encounter with President Obama. (Ask your kids to explain what her birthday hat had to do with it!) She then linked her response to the president with the main point of her message--where do you put your hope and who or what do you truly worship? She is a great storyteller, and the kids were not only entertained, but given plenty to think about this week! Thank you, Katie, for your willingness to share with our high schoolers!
Thank you again, parents, for your prayers and support.

We look forward to another great Huddle in two weeks!

Blessings,

Linda and Cherie

Huddle Recap Northwood High School 2-15-11

2011-02-23T09:52:00.000-08:00

Dear FCA Parents,

We hope this three day weekend finds you all well. We're going to start this recap with a financial update as uncomfortable as it is to ask for donations, we just want everyone to know where we stand financially for our next Huddle scheduled for March 1st. First, we want to emphasize how thankful this ministry is for all of you faithful givers as the past year we have always been two Huddles ahead financially! This year we are cutting it close with each Huddle. We know many families are struggling in this economy and it really is a miracle we are able to purchase $500 worth of food, water and paper products bi-monthly. Recently, we set up an FCA account so that ALL donations are now tax deductable. If you own your own business or know of a company that would like to help sponsor a Huddle we would love to acknowledge their generosity in some small way. If you have a student(s) who regularly attends and haven’t supported us in the past just know it costs about $40 to feed a student a year if they attend all of the Huddles. We have always been of the belief that where God guides, He provides as this Ministry belongs to Him. Please continue to lift this need in prayer.

In the meantime..... thank you to all of you parents who were able to serve at last week’s Huddle. As always we never tire of seeing hundreds of students flock to the gym to hear an inspirational message from our guest speaker. Last week we had the privilege of hearing from Youth Pastor Joey Fiktarz from Voyagers Church. Joey spoke of the rough start he and his wife had as honeymooners as his new bride expressed to Joey that she would rather be with anyone, but him on their romantic honeymoon cruise. Not exactly the kind of start you’d expect from honeymooners. Joey went on to explain that the two years that followed, he and his wife were counseled and they committed to make their marriage a Christ centered marriage. Today, Joey and his wife are deeply in love and are committed to sharing their story to encourage others to lean on Christ during difficult times.

FCA Huddle Pictures

http://s1131.photobucket.com/albums/m542/jounger/FCA%20-%20Ryan%20-%20Voyagers/

A BIG thank you to the following families:

Pizza:

Fox

Bowers

Baked Goods:

Skelley

Bowers

Dougherty

Nagel

Remember that our next Huddle is Tuesday, March 1st! If you can donate money, please send a check made out to FCA NHS Huddle to: Monica Younger, 26 Rincon, Irvine, 92620.

Thank you in advance for your incredible generosity!!

Blessings.....

Kate Gisch

Torre Murray

Rosalyn Reasor

Monica Younger

Huddle Recap Irvine High School 2-17-11

2011-02-23T09:48:00.000-08:00

Good Evening FCA Families!!

Hope you all enjoyed the long Presidents Day weekend!!

I wanted to send out a quick recap from our last huddle on Thursday. We had an awesome turnout....more than 140 kids!!

Once everyone had a chance to get pizza and eat, Josh and Sara Nordstrom introduced the game/activity....check out the attached pictures to see some of the action. It had something to do with passing a bagel from person to person with out using your hands....

I had Hayley Deklotz, one of our FCA student leaders write a short description of our speaker, Casey Page;
At the FCA huddle last Thursday, Casey Page stood up and spoke in front of her peers about her walk with God. As many of you know Casey is a part of the FCA leadership team and we’re very thankful for the courage she displayed while talking about her struggle with anxiety. To give a brief summary, Casey struggled through anxiety and panic attacks after her mother's hospitalization and her own hospitalization that happened shortly after. During this time she fought to find God and feel his presence. She went to counseling for a period of time to help with her anxiety and deal with the affects of her mother’s illness and her own health problems. In the end, it was her recommitment to God at Hume Lake summer camp that truly gave her peace and calmed her anxiety. Casey did an amazing job inspiring her peers to trust God and give all their worries and struggles to Him. As her best friend, I am so proud of her and the incredible testimony she presented.
We also had Greg Seneca (youth pastor from The River Church) and Steven Johnson (youth pastor from Good Shepherd) at our huddle last week. Both guys just came to hang out with the kids. It is so awesome to see the kids approach these youth pastors to ask questions or even just visit with them. We would love to have your youth pastor come to our huddles, so please extend them an invitation.

Of course, our huddles could not happen with out your help....here is who stepped up to the plate this week:

Pizza – Thanks so much to the Torrey Family for donating all of the funds to provide 29 XL pizzas. Wow!! Our group is growing

Baked Goods were lovingly prepared by the these families:

          Hobbs
            Krolick
            Kenney

Water bottles were provided by the Searl and Dossett families...8 cases worth!!

Our amazing sound system is provided by the Alayra family.

GOD IS SO GOOD!!
Your continued generosity will make it possible for us to be continue to provide the students with hot pizza, homemade treats and a drink... all while hearing an inspirational message. If you are interested in sponsoring a Huddle, please contact me via email –jmnordy@cox.net  As you can see this club is growing and will only stay afloat with all of our help!   (Your financial donations are tax deductible!!)
If you are able to donate waters or baked good on the day of the Huddle, please email me. You can either drop them off at the school gym the day of the huddle or beforehand at my house. If you are able to help serve these hungry students, please show up at the gym at 11:30 on the day of the Huddle.   And most of all, we ask that everyone please pray for this ministry as kids continue to come with a curiosity and a hunger for meaningful inspiration!

THANK YOU PARENTS for your support!!!
Our next Huddle is Thursday, March 3rd!!   Here are the dates for the rest of our huddles for this year.....
3/3/11,      3/17/11,      3/31/11,      4/14/11,      5/5/11,        5/26/11,      6/2/11
Blessings.......

Jodi Nordstrom
Michelle Carter

Night of Champions Recap~Feb 11th

2011-02-14T14:41:00.000-08:00

WOW! Night of Champions 2011 was an amazing night of fun, food, and worship! Over 1,000 students from all over Orange County joined together to honor and give glory to Jesus!

Held at the amazing Mariners Church facilities, the students were treated to free In-N-Out burger, 2 live DJ's, professional break-dancers. Also available to the students to use was a volleyball court, 2 basketball courts, ping pong, and video games!

Once program started inside everyone went nuts! The band was rocking, a beat boxer was doing his thing, and the comedy group O' Manna was hilarious. We were treated to 3 testimonies from a professional boxer, Jodie Nelson a former professional surfer, and USC QB Matt Barkley. The students were then treated to a moving message about God's love for us by FCA Director of Ministries Barry Martinez! He then gave everyone the opportunity to accept the Lord or rededicate their lives, which over 150 students did! Praise God, for He is good!

The night ended with all of the nominees for the FCA Character & Influence Award coming on stage to be recognized as great leaders on there campuses. The finalists for the award were then brought forward and Clark Cashion from Corona Del Mar High School was the 2011 winner. Congrats to Clark and all the other students who were recognized for the impact they are making on their campuses.

The night was a huge success and would not have been possible with out all the support and help of our wonderful volunteers and parents! Thank You!

Huddle Recap Foothill: 2-9-11

2011-02-14T10:15:00.001-08:00

Dear FCA Parents;
Wednesday's Huddle was incredible! Even with the lunchtime activities, we had a full-house!
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=mduffy&target=ALBUM&id=5572465363493339073&authkey=Gv1sRgCPy1r-GOhLCsQw&feat=email

Thank you to our faithful prayer warriors for covering the day in prayer. We know that all good things come from God, and Wednesday was another one of His blessings!

Thank you to the Browne, Hughes, Snyder, Barcelona, McNamara, Hohman, Gilchrist, and McBride families who covered our pizza costs. Thank you to our baking moms, Cathie James, Janice Furniss, Christina Zilkow, Andrea Fredericks, Robyn Geis, Cindy Marano, Shirley Lee, Sandy Hughes, Karen Haltman, Lisa Purcell, Kristin McNamara, and Lis Hohman who made sure the kids had plenty of treats. Thanks also to the Sains, Haltman, Yates, Purcell, and Hohman families for supplying water, which was very much needed on Wednesday! And another big thanks to Carrie Pihl, Rudy Sains, Heidi Andrews, Lis Hohman, Sabrina Pendergast (who snagged a friend from work to help), Dianna Rountree, Shawna Howard, Kim Stauffer, Scott Browne, and Lise Flannery who so graciously gave their lunch hour to feed hungry high schoolers!

We were also blessed to have six local youth leaders from Trinity and Calvary, Katie Quesada, Evan Amo, Melissa Brosch, Doug Brown, Ben Harris, and Kristin Gackle, come minister and connect with the kids.
Every Huddle is truly a community effort!

If you have been unable to get your high-schooler to tell you about the Huddle, ask if they raised their hand at the end of Greg's talk. Greg Sengel, high school pastor from The River in Irvine, had quite a testimony! Having come from a background of drugs, sex, and rock and roll (literally), his life was shaken up when a band member died unexpectantly. (Ask your kids what caused the lead singer's death--hint: Greg smashed one of these before the Huddle started!) Greg is passionate about not living for yourself, but choosing to glorify God in your life--he challenged the kids to not only raise their hands, but to verbally make the pledge to do what gives God glory! So many hands went up! So many voices confirmed the desire to live for God!

Every speaker's message is unique, and God uses each one to encourage and challenge our high schoolers. Please continue to pray for these kids at Foothill. Pray for spiritual growth and connection for those who are new Christians. Pray for those who have a personal relationship with Christ to be given the strength, courage, and wisdom each day to do only what honors and glorifies the Lord!
To Christ be the glory for ever and ever! Amen!

Humbly,
Linda and Cher

Huddle Recap Irvine High School 2-3-11

2011-02-09T10:22:00.001-08:00

Good Evening FCA Families!!

Hope you all enjoyed the Super Bowl weekend!!

I wanted to send out a quick recap from our last huddle on Thursday and a quick reminder about the Night of Champions event happening this Friday....go to the website to check in out... http://ocfca.org/night-of-champions

We had a great turnout of at least 140 kids!

After eating pizza, the kids played a quick game .... Pass the fruit. The kids broke up in groups and competed in a fun relay...passing fruit to each other not using any hands, just chin to chin....ha ha. Lots of fun!!

I had Josh Nordstrom, the FCA leadership president write a short description of our speaker, Egypt McKee;
Hello fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. We had another great huddle this past Thursday at Irvine high school. The speaker, Egypt McKee spoke on stillness and what it means to focus your life on Christ. He talked about how sometimes in our hectic lives that we need to take time and be still and refocus our lives on Jesus Christ. He captured everybody's attention and kept it light with a little humor. Over all, this was another successful huddle. Thanks for all your support and God bless.For more information on Egypt, check out his website.... http://www.egyptmckee.com/Please don’t forget to extend an invitation to your youth Pastors. We would love to have them come to our huddles and join in the fun and get to meet the kids.

Of course, our huddles could not happen with out your help....here is who stepped up to the plate this week:

Pizza – Provided by the Andraos and Alayra families. Thanks so much to both of these families for donating the funds to provide 26 XL pizzas.

Baked Goods were lovingly prepared by the these families:

Hobbs
Kenney

Water bottles were provided by the Garmin family...4 cases worth!!

Our amazing sound system is provided by the Alayra family.

GOD IS SO GOOD!!

Your continued generosity will make it possible for us to be continue to provide the students with hot pizza, homemade treats and a drink... all while hearing an inspirational message. If you are interested in sponsoring a Huddle, please contact me via email –jmnordy@cox.net  As you can see this club is growing and will only stay afloat with all of our help!   (Your financial donations are tax deductible!!)
If you are able to donate waters or baked good on the day of the Huddle, please email me. You can either drop them off at the school gym the day of the huddle or beforehand at my house. If you are able to help serve these hungry students, please show up at the gym at 11:30 on the day of the Huddle.   And most of all, we ask that everyone please pray for this ministry as kids continue to come with a curiosity and a hunger for meaningful inspiration!

THANK YOU PARENTS for your support!!!
Our next Huddle is Thursday, February 17th!!!   Here are the dates for the rest of our huddles for this year.....
2/17/11,      3/3/11,      3/17/11,      3/31/11,      4/14/11,      5/5/11,        5/26/11,      6/2/11
Blessings.......

Jodi Nordstrom
Michelle Carter

Huddle Recap 2-1-11

2011-02-08T08:06:00.000-08:00

FCA Huddle Pictures Tuesday, February 1, 2011

http://s1131.photobucket.com/albums/m542/jounger/FCA%20Huddle%202-1-2011/

Dearest FCA Parents,

We must start by saying you have amazing kids!! Last Tuesday three students from our FCA Leadership team courageously stood before their peers of approximately 550 plus students and shared from their hearts of 3 very different life altering challenges they have each faced in the last two years. Please read the following 3 re-caps as each is unique and powerful:

Sarah Campbell (Junior): Spoke of the day she received the news that her mother was diagnosed with Breast Cancer her sophomore year of high school. Sarah candidly expressed the fear she felt and anger toward God she was battling as she witnessed her mother endure harsh medical treatments. Although Sarah didn’t understand why this was happening to her family, she relied on her faith, the love and support of Christian friends, family and the Northwood community as her family was provided with meals and endless support during this very difficult time. In closing, Sarah, emphasized the importance of owning your own faith and knowing what you believe. She received a loud applause as she happily shared her mother is now cancer free. Praise God!!!

Emma Adams (Junior): Emma shared of the extreme confidence she had in herself as a young child. She believed she was smart, beautiful, and felt she was in touch with her inner- princess. In Junior high she felt her confidence was shattered by a very uncomfortable awkward stage. Emma was bullied and lost confidence in herself and what she knew to be true. As she battled self-worth issues she was wise enough to draw from Biblical truth and realized inner beauty and Christ confidence is unfading and more attractive. She referred to several Scripture versus to encourage other girls to do the same. Emma is a godly young lady that exudes inner and outer beauty. Thank you, Emma!!!

Michelle Stukenberg (Senior): As Michelle faced her peers she paused with panic, but to all of the parents’ surprise, the Huddle of students began cheering her on with a loud applause. Parents, this was a beautiful display of compassion from our students that will never be forgotten. Michelle immediately gained her composure and confidently shared of her battle with an eating disorder that took her down a very destructive path. She bravely spoke of the all consuming power Anorexia once had on her and the loving concern and support she received from Christian friends, dedicated coaches and teachers, youth leaders and the power of God in her life. You’re an inspiration to all, Michelle!!

A big thanks to the following:

Glorioso

Ascuito

Tol

Gisch

Murray

May

Weyand

Baked good and water:

Skelly

Hartshorne

Nagel

Dougherty

And all of you I have forgotten, the Lord knows!! :)

Well, we hope you have all been blessed by the testimonies of our amazing students and will continue to give generously to this Christ-centered club. We meet again next week and currently have $250 for pizza when we need at least $500. If your student is benefitting from the Huddles please consider supporting us with bottled water, baked goods, or pizza donations. All DONATIONS are now tax deductable. Please make checks payable to FCA NHS Huddle and mail to: Monica Younger at 26 Rincon 92620.

Thanks also for continuing to pray for all the students' hearts that are touched every other Tuesday at FCA!!

Blessings.....

Kate Gisch

Torre Murray

Rosalyn Reasor

Monica Younger

Huddle Update Mater Dei Feb 2nd 2011

2011-02-08T08:01:00.000-08:00

February 2, 2011

Dear FAM Families:

We had an inspiring FAM last week with about 150 students listening to
interviews about mission trips taken over Christmas. Since the pool
is still being repaired, we met around the corner in a different venue
which was a nice location. We had the family mission trip to Nigeria
told by Lainy Barkley as she was interviewed by Sarah Greene and
Jordan Hollingsworth. Then the other lunch heard Grace and Alexa
Boyer being interviewed by Sarah Vale on their family mission trip to
the Dominican Republic. Sure appreciate their great stories of
serving, and inspiring fellow students....and parents! They did a
great job!

Thank you to the pizza underwriters: Mari Frome and Tracy McMahon.
So appreciate it! Also, the treats and waters were provided by Karen
Vale, Lauri Root, Paula Boyer and Cathy Sullivan. Super fun to have
Paula and Bev's parents there to help. Thanks to all who served also!

We will see you at the next FAM: Thursday, February 17th.

So appreciate you all!

Northwood Huddle Recap 1-18-11

2011-01-24T07:34:00.000-08:00

Dearest FCA Parents,

We started our first Huddle of the year with a wake-up call to our students and FCA parents in attendance at Tuesday’s Huddle. Please take just a minute to read Ernesto’s story in full as you may gain insight from his tragedy as it has been rumored that some NHS students in ALL grades are engaging is this very dangerous and deadly behavior.

Northwood High School students had the privilege of hearing from guest speaker Ernesto DePalma as he shared about the tragic loss of his 18 year old son, Devan, to an accidental drug overdose. Ernesto shared how his son Devan struggled with substance abuse throughout his teen years. The gateway drug of choice for him was Marijuana. As his addiction worsened Devan graduated to more dangerous drug activity to achieve the same rush, thinking he was young and invincible. Unfortunately, Devan attended a current trendy party that kids refer to as a Skittle party or Trail mix party. Essentially, teenagers bring random prescription drugs taken from their parents’ medicine cabinet or even donate their own ADD and ADHD medication to be randomly selected from a bowl to experience a surprise rush that can sometimes lead to an emergency room visit or death as in Devan’s case. Ernesto proceeded to give some sobering drug statistics and gave a stern warning to our students to avoid this behavior at all cost. You could have heard a pin drop as the students were hanging on to every word Ernesto spoke. He ended his message with a beautiful song his mother wrote which received a loud applause as it was a song of the hope we have in Jesus.

Please be in prayer for Ernesto as he finds comfort and purpose in sharing his story to educate students of the dangers of drug use. We have attached pictures from the day.

Lastly, NHS is hosting an FCA movie night tonight, Saturday, January 22^nd in the school theater. We sent out the flyer for this event this morning, hopefully you got it. Please click on the website below to see the trailer for this movie. We hope after reading Ernesto’s story you will encourage and support our efforts to show this movie. It addresses so many relevant teenage issues that will give our students hope and constructive tools to handle peer pressure and addiction.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1o56pazEh-Q

A BIG thank you to the following families:

Pizza donations:

Baldwin

Pierce

Aicher

Holder

Locklear

Baked goods:

Skelly

MacDonald

Aviles

Bowers

May

Please forgive us if we’ve forgotten anyone!!

Our next Huddle is Tuesday, February 1st. If you would like to send a donation to help pay for this Huddle, please make your check out to FCA and send it to Monica Younger, 26 Rincon, Irvine, 92620.

Thank you again and again for supporting this incredible ministry at NHS!!!! See you at the movie tonight!!

Blessings.....

Kate Gisch

Torre Murray

Rosalyn Reasor

Monica Younger

Irvine Huddle Recap- 1-20-11

2011-01-24T07:26:00.000-08:00

Good afternoon FCA parents,

Here is a quick recap about our huddle on Thursday....

We had an awesome turn out, especially for our first Huddle after the long break. We had over 150 kids show up.

Before listening to the speaker, there was a quick ‘peanut butter sandwich eating’ contest. Check out the video on our Facebook page... “Fellowship of Christian Athletes”
I had one of our FCA student leaders, Brittany Carter, write a short description of our speaker’s, Paul Roh, message: (Paul is also a student leader in FCA)
This week, IHS senior Paul Roh spoke. He told everyone his testimony. In middle school and through the beginning of high school, he made some bad choices and got into partying. But, through the influence of his pastor and his girlfriend his life has changed completely and he can now not only call himself a Christian but a disciple of God. I really think that his story resonated with other kids because he is our age and his story is so similar to many that were there today. I was very impressed because I’m sure he must have been really nervous to get up in front of everyone but he did a really great job.
We also had Greg Seneca, who is the youth pastor from The River Church at our huddle. Greg came to just hang with the kids. It is so awesome to see the kids approach these youth pastors to ask questions or even just visit with them. We would love to have your youth pastor come to our huddles, so please extend them an invitation.

Of course, our huddles could not happen with out your help....here is who stepped up to the plate this week:

Pizza – Several families pitched in this week to sponsor our Huddle....Alayra family, Harker family, Hobbs family and the Deklotz family. They helped provide over 25 pizzas to feed all the kids!

Baked Goods were lovingly prepared by the the Hobbs and Kenney families.

Water bottles were provided by the Carter family.

Our amazing sound system is provided by the Alayra family.

Your continued generosity will make it possible for us to be continue to provide the students with hot pizza, homemade treats and a drink... all while hearing an inspirational message. If you are interested in sponsoring a Huddle, please contact me via email – jmnordy@cox.net  As you can see this club is growing and will only stay afloat with all of our help!   (Your financial donations are tax deductible!!)
If you are able to donate waters or baked good on the day of the Huddle, please email me. You can either drop them off at the school gym the day of the huddle or beforehand at my house. If you are able to help serve these hungry students, please show up at the gym at 11:30 on the day of the Huddle.   And most of all, we ask that everyone please pray for this ministry as kids continue to come with a curiosity and a hunger for meaningful inspiration!

THANK YOU PARENTS for your support!!!    Attached are some fun pictures from the day!
Our next Huddle is Thursday, November 18th!!!   Here are the dates of all of our huddles for the rest of the year.....
2/3/11,      2/17/11,      3/3/11,      3/17/11,      3/31/11,      4/14/11,      5/5/11,        5/26/11,      6/2/11
Have a wonderful weekend.

Jodi Nordstrom
Michelle Carter

January-events (2011)

2011-01-18T11:08:00.001-08:00

Dear FCA Parents,

We hope the New Year finds you and your family doing well!! We have much to be excited about as FCA is starting the New Year off with a BANG!!

First, A BIG thank you to Tim Lukei as he was our guest Huddle speaker for December. Tim is a High School Pastor at Mariners Church in Irvine and has a great reputation with a lot of our students. Tim spoke of some of the struggles he faced in high school and encouraged our students to not make the same mistakes. His message was very engaging as 3 students stayed after to speak with Tim about their similar struggles. Thank you, Tim, for being so committed and available to our students at all hours of the day and night.

Secondly, this coming Tuesday, Jan. 18^th, we have our first Huddle of the year. Our guest speaker is going to share about the tragic loss of his 18 year old son to an accidental drug overdose. Please be in prayer for our students and speaker as this is sure to be an emotional Huddle. Ernesto’s message will follow with the movie trailer “To Save a Life”.

Northwood‘s FCA Leadership is hosting another movie night on Saturday, January 22^nd at 6:00 p.m. in the NHS Theater. NHS is partnering with neighboring FCA Huddles from the following high schools to show this very provocative movie: Beckman, Irvine, University, Woodbridge and Mater Dei (Please see movie trailer). We are working on getting a local eatery to sponsor food for the evening. If we are successful at getting a sponsor we will start at 5:00 p.m. to ensure the movie starts on time.

"To Save A Life" trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1o56pazEh-Q

Lastly, we need your help, parents, to encourage your students and their friends to attend this “FCA movie night” as it is a “FREE” event. Our NHS Theater has the capacity to hold 650 students and our goal is to meet that capacity with a lot of prayer from you and word of mouth from our students. FCA plans to make this a safe alternative and memorable evening for all of those in attendance. If you are interested in helping in some small way to help fund this event see the following:

n Donate any amount to pay for our tech guy $100

n Raffle items for our movie night in $5.00 -10.00 increments (McDonald’s, Chipotle, In-n-out, Costco, movie tickets, ITunes, gift cards your kids don’t want from Christmas, etc.)

With the Huddle coming up next week, we are asking for donations of desserts, waters and money. Please make all future check donations out to: FCA, as we now have non-profit status which allows your donation to be a tax write off!! Thank you to Jeff Younger for making this possible!! Please continue to send all donations to: Monica Younger at 26 Rincon, 92620.

Thank you as always for continuing to pray for this incredible ministry at NHS!!!

In Him,

Kate Gisch

Torre Murray

Rosalyn Reasor

Monica Younger

TO SAVE A LIFE- Event January 22nd (Northwood High School)

2011-01-12T15:05:00.000-08:00

This is a community wide event for the 7 schools that are covered by me for FCA! We will be eating free In-N-Out Burgers before the movie, then a little after 6 we will be showing the movie "To Save a life." A few of my leaders have already seen this movie and we keep talking about how important we feel it is for everyone to see it.

Anyone is invited! My prayer is for students, coaches, parents, youth pastors, etc to all be in attendance.

We will be watching the movie inside Northwoods theater. It holds around 600.

Praying for Big Miracles!!

I am second-Rookie Quarterback Sam Bradford

2011-01-11T08:38:00.000-08:00

Huddle Recap 12/16/10 Beckman High School

2011-01-03T08:25:00.000-08:00

The last huddle of the year at Beckman High is one to be remembered. We had our famous breakdancer come in and steal the show, not only with his moves, but with his heart! Over 150 students showed up for the huddle in the cafeteria and 7 students raised their hands to accept Christ into their hearts. Josh spoke on the importance of knowing Jesus as our true savior and gave kids the opportunity to accept Christ....I was moved by all the students that stood up, and more impacted by the conversations I had after lunch was over. All the students accepted their very first FCA Bible!

Thank you for all your prayers! God continues to move through our lunch time huddles...I can't wait to see what he has in-store for us in 2011!

Huddle Recap 12/15/10 Foothill High School

2011-01-03T08:18:00.001-08:00

Dear FCA Families;
This has been a wonderful and exciting year for FCA at Foothill!
Because of your prayers and support, our kids have a place where they can both be encouraged in Christ and bring their unsaved friends to hear the Gospel. The shear numbers of students coming to these Huddles testify to the need for this ministry at FHS!

Egypt McKee, our December Huddle guest, spoke to a packed house right before Christmas break. The kids enjoyed his great sense of humor and creative visual aids (i.e. sky diving outfits) as he shared the importance of God's decree that we "be still and know that [He] is GOD." Enjoy the pictures at this link:http://picasaweb.google.com/mduffy/LastFCAHuddle2010?authkey=Gv1sRgCODc1PiTl-mHfw&feat=email#

How much longer Christian groups will be able to have a presence on public school campuses is unknown to us, but we thank you for being determined to take advantage of the opportunity given to share that Jesus alone is the Way, the Truth, and the Life!

May your New Year be blessed by the One Who Gives us Hope,
Linda and Cherie

Fellowship of Christian Athletes

Foothill: Ariele Challenges students to "Really Know" their peers

FCA Huddle Recap- Katie Coleman and Josh- Break Dancer Pictures and Video Included

Irvine Huddle Recap 2/2/12

Huddle Recap Irvine High School 1/19/12

Movie and Pictures for the second Beckman FCA gathering - Kids say yes

Foothill FCA: Katie Quesada Challenges Students Not to Worry about the Wrong Things

*** FCA Huddle Recap *** Irvine High School

FCA Huddle Re-cap Egypt McKee - PICTURES/ HUDDLE TOMORROW- BRITT LANGDON SPEAKER

Foothill FCA: Erin Hendry Shares that God Loves the "Perfectly Imperfect!"

FCA Huddle Recap-Mater Dei 11/10/2011

Huddle Recap Irvine HS 11/3/11

Foothill FCA: Josh "Breaks" and Challenges at the Nov 2nd Huddle

Mater Dei Huddle Recap 10/27/11

Northwood Huddle Recap 10/18/11

Foothill FCA: Crag Darby shares the Most Important Miracle at October 19th Huddle!

Huddle Recap- Irvine High 10/20/2011

Huddle Recap-Woodbridge High School 10/24/11

FCA Huddle Recap! Irvine High School October 6th 2011

Foothill FCA: Rain Brings 'Em in Droves to October 5th Huddle 2011

FCA Football Power Camp 2011

FCA Camp 2011 UCLA

Northwood Prayer Vigil

Huddle Recap Northwood High School 5-24-11

Huddle Recap Foothill High School 5-25-11

Huddle Recap Northwood High School 5-10-11

Huddle Recap Foothill High School 5-11-11

Huddle Recap Northwood High School April

Huddle Recap Mater Dei High School 4-29-11

Huddle Recap Foothill High School 4-6-11

Huddle Recap Irvine High School 3-31-11

Huddle Recap Mater Dei High School 3-24-11

Huddle Recap Foothill High School 3-23-11

Huddle Recap Northwood High School 3-15-11

Huddle Recap Irvine 3-17-11

Huddle Recap Northwood High School 3-7-11

Huddle Recap Foothill High School 3-9-11

Huddle Recap Irvine High School 3-3-11

Huddle Recap Foothill: 2-23-11

Huddle Recap Northwood High School 2-15-11

Huddle Recap Irvine High School 2-17-11

Night of Champions Recap~Feb 11th

Huddle Recap Foothill: 2-9-11

Huddle Recap Irvine High School 2-3-11

Huddle Recap 2-1-11

Huddle Update Mater Dei Feb 2nd 2011

Northwood Huddle Recap 1-18-11

Bowers

Irvine Huddle Recap- 1-20-11

January-events (2011)

TO SAVE A LIFE- Event January 22nd (Northwood High School)

I am second-Rookie Quarterback Sam Bradford

Huddle Recap 12/16/10 Beckman High School

Huddle Recap 12/15/10 Foothill High School

* FCA Huddle Recap * Irvine High School