FCA Huddle Recap! Irvine High School October 6th 2011

                                  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

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

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

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

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

Huddle Recap Northwood High School 5-24-11

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

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