Competitors for Christ Newsletter (December 2022)

Newsletter Volume I, Issue 2

December 2022

COMPETITORS FOR CHRIST ENJOY BLOCK PARTY

The Competitors for Christ (C4C) hosted a block party for all student-athletes on Tuesday, November 15. This event was paid for with proceeds from the kickball tournament fundraiser that the C4C conducted at the beginning of the semester. The block party featured food, fun and fellowship for all the attendees.
“The block party was aimed at being an intentional opportunity for athletes to have a time of fellowship and allow opportunities for student-athletes from different perspectives and experiences to come to together to share those perspectives and start having some conversations about faith,” Diego Rojas, Athletic Spiritual Growth coordinator, said.

Blistering cold temperatures moved the block party inside from the original outdoor plan, but that didn’t dampen the mood. Besides a menu of hamburgers, hot dogs, rice and beans, chips, drinks and desserts, the block party featured some intense corn hole and spike ball matches.
“We had C4C members cooking food, cleaning up, talking to everyone, just serving in a variety of ways. At the end of the night, we gave the leftover food to the Fire Department and enjoyed a wonderful conversation with them. Overall, it was a great night for the glory of God,” Rojas said.

GOD KNOWS ALL ABOUT ME

I was asked to tell you about a book or podcast that has challenged me recently. So, I will tell you about a book, and I know this may be a huge shock to you. Most of my reading these days is children's literature. We spend a lot of time reading in our house because our girls really like books.

Now, you may be thinking "Where is this going?" or "How can a children's book challenge you?". Let me tell you about God Knows All About Me by Kate Toms. I have probably read this book 1,000 times (not an exaggeration) in the last 3 years. The concepts are simple since they are directed towards children, but I feel as adults we often forget the simple. We try to make things more complicated than it really is. There are so many reminders to the adult reading this that God is all knowing and always present in our lives. We are the ones who try to distance ourselves or think we're isolated.

A couple of pages that have stood out to me this semester are

"When I'm good, when I'm bad, when I'm happy, when I'm sad, God knows all about me."
and

"From the beginning to the end, God will always be my friend: God knows all about me."

I don't know about you, but this semester has been an extremely busy one. It has had its share of success and failure. Because of all the busyness, it's sometimes hard to remember that we are not alone in this. This book has been a constant reminder and challenge for me to keep it simple and that God is with me all the time.

— by Dr. Jana Meninno, FHU Assistant Professor of Health and Human Performance

STUDENT-ATHLETE SPOTLIGHT

Name: Alex Huey

Sport: Baseball

Class: Graduated in December

Hometown: Chapel Hill, Tennessee

Major: Special Education

What I wanted to be when I grew up (as a kid): A major league baseball player

What I want to be when I grow up (now): Teacher/Coach/Real Estate Agent

Favorite food: Poppyseed chicken, mashed potatoes, mac n' cheese, green beans

Favorite movie: The Sandlot

Favorite TV show: Friends

Hobbies: Hunting, golf, anything outdoors

Favorite Scripture: Psalm 27

Why I chose to come to FHU: "Small Christian environment where I could grow spiritually."

A little-known fact about me: "I have been sleepwalking since I was a small child and still have episodes to this day. Ask my teammates if you want specific stories."

C4C HOSTS CAMPUS DEVOTIONAL 

The Competitors for Christ (C4C) hosted their first campus-wide devotional on Monday, November 28 in the Brewer Sports Center. All students, those that are members of intercollegiate athletic teams and those that are not, were invited to come together for a period of devotion and fellowship. Members of the C4C led the devotional. Alex Rush, a sophomore basketball player from Baxter, Tennessee led the devotional thoughts. Eli Combs, a junior cross country runner from Bowling Green, Kentucky led singing and Ryan Stark, a red-shirt sophomore baseball player from Corpus Christi, Texas led a prayer.

“Those who attended were edified and encouraged. We had an opportunity to meet new people while learning more about God’s plan and praising and glorifying Him,” Diego Rojas, Athletic Spiritual Growth Coordinator, said.
At the end of the devotional, senior baseball pitcher Alex Huey was presented with a certificate for being the first C4C graduate. Huey graduated Saturday, December 10, and will compete in his final year of eligibility this Spring while he gets a start on a master’s degree.

“Since day one, Alex has served the C4C in a tremendous way. He has represented us in chapel as a speaker, he comes to every meeting with his fiancée Catherine Crabb and they both participate and serve with dedication and love,” Rojas said.

Plans for more campus-wide devotionals are being planned for the Spring semester as the C4C continues to try to shine a spotlight on Christ and the love that He has for us.

“People are praising God. Faculty and staff frequently ask how things are going with C4C and comment on how they are praying for this ministry. Christians and non-Christians are being impacted. To God be the glory!”

ATHLETIC ALUMNI ARTICLE: MEGAN (THOMPSON) BURNETT

I was a member of the Lady Lion basketball team from 2004-2008. I was blessed to be a part of some great teams, from winning TranSouth Conference Championships to making it to the Final 4 in the NAIA National tournament. While the wins, and the awards, and the championships were all fun those aren’t what I cherish the most from my experience at Freed Hardeman. I am so thankful for all the opportunities I was awarded while getting to play a game that I love. I cherish the community, the spiritual growth, the relationships, and all the small things that led to the victories both on the court and off.

I moved to Henderson in the fall of 2004 from Livingston, a small town in middle Tennessee. Livingston was (and still is) a town that revolves around its local sports. The people I would see at the grocery store on Saturday were the same people sitting in the stands cheering for me on Friday night. And to my surprise, Henderson was no different. It was almost as if I had never left home. When I would go to church on Sundays, sometimes to Estes Church of Christ and sometimes to Henderson Church of Christ, the people sitting in the pews beside me were the same people who had been cheering for me on Saturday. When I would go to class on Mondays, my teachers would bring up the game from Saturday. Our teachers were also some of our biggest fans. Through basketball it allowed me to get to know my teachers on a more personal level which turned into a mutual respect one for another. I spent most Sunday afternoons at the Welch and Willis home, families that were involved at FHU and some of our biggest basketball fans. They took me in like I was one of their own. I found out very quickly that Henderson was much like my hometown of Livingston, a small community of people cheering each other on.

It was such a blessing to be able to play basketball in a Christian environment. To be surrounded by and encouraged by people of faith was something I’ll always treasure. From chapel to team devotionals, to Clayton Chapel singing, to lectureships, to bible classes, there was always a resource to grow in your walk with Christ. There was always someone to listen, to offer advice, or to open a bible and study with you. The gym was our mission field. Playing a sport while exemplifying Christ-like behaviors was a way to evangelize to others.

I consider the friendships I made while playing basketball at Freed one of life’s greatest blessings. I still talk to several of my teammates daily, some weekly, and some monthly. They became more than just teammates though. They became my best friends, my family. We grew into young women together. We learned together. We cried together. We celebrated together. We did life together. And we did it well. I believe being a Lady Lion a great honor. The relationships that I gained during my four years at FHU is a lifetime blessing.

Playing basketball at Freed Hardeman was and still is a great blessing. Without an athletic scholarship, I would not have been able to attend FHU. I’m so thankful to all that scholarship offered me in life. Freed- Hardeman will always hold a special place in my heart.

— by Megan Burnett, pictured with family

SITTING IN THE DARKNESS

Whenever I was about nine years old, my older sister wanted to have a Halloween party. At the time we were living at a house that had a farm and my parents decided that they wanted to do a haunted trail around our farm for this party. I was so excited about this because I would get to help scare my sister and her friends. One of my good friends also had an older sister who was friends with my sister, so it honestly just worked out perfectly that they would get to come to the party too! For our haunted trail that night, a couple of the girls’ dads, my friend, and I had the job of scaring this group of 12 and 13-year-old girls. I was so excited because my mom even told me I could dress up like a mummy. So, my friend and I are there on Halloween night, getting ready to scare these girls on the haunted trail. We were pretty young at the time, and we were only given one instruction-go straight to the barn to scare them and come straight back. The adults were going to scare them some more in the field, but we weren’t supposed to.

My friend and I were hiding out in our barn and ready for these girls to walk through so we could scare them! I was so excited to scare my sister and her friends. They finally arrived and when we tried to scare them, they laughed at us! Can you believe that?! They laughed at me and my friend. So we decided to do the one thing my parents told us not to do, which was to run into the field and try to scare them again. We took off into the field. It was pitch black and this field had grown up taller than I was, so I can assume you can see a few things wrong with our logic already. We had no idea what we were doing or where we were going.

We were running for what felt like forever and then-BAM-I absolutely busted it. I fell and sprained my ankle, but as if that's not bad enough, I fell right into a thorn bush. It cut up my skin and my mummy costume. It hurt so bad! I could barely walk and I was bleeding so I told my friend to go and get help while I stayed there laying on the ground. I remember that as soon as he was gone, I got really scared. It was pitch black and freezing cold. I kept hearing stuff moving in the grass around me and every once in a while, I could hear a scream from one of the girls that got scared. I sat there for what felt like forever until I finally saw this small light appear. I couldn't tell exactly what it was but it was moving in my direction and it kept getting bigger and bigger. Eventually, it got so close that I could see who it was and it was my dad! My dad had come and rescued me and helped me back to the house. My mom proceeded to chew me out for running off into the field.

This memorable episode of my childhood has some Spiritual applications.

First, whenever we run off on our own, we get hurt! We see this in the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15:11-16. This son went off on his own and lost his entire inheritance. He got down so bad that he thought about eating the food that they fed to the pigs. He turned his back on his father and left his house. He went off on his own. The same thing happens to us whenever we leave our Heavenly Father! Whenever we go off on our own, we get hurt.

Second, sometimes we all need a little help! Whenever I was laying there in the field not able to walk, I needed help. In Matthew 14, we see the story of Jesus walking on the water. Peter needed help, and Jesus was there to rescue Him! In my story, my father came and rescued me whenever I needed him. It says Jesus immediately reached out his hand and picked him up out of the water. Our Heavenly Father will always be there to pick us up and help us whenever we need him.

Lastly, be that light for someone else. I cannot tell you how excited I was whenever I saw that light coming toward me while I was sitting there alone in the field. Matthew 5:14-16 says that WE are the light of the world and WE must let our light shine so that people can see our lives and give glory to God! It’s a very, very dark world out there, so be the light for someone else. People need us. People need to see our lights. There are people that we encounter every day who are desperate for the love of Christ! People who are desperate for someone to show them the light!

That night I cannot describe how afraid I was sitting there in the darkness. I was hurt and afraid. How many of us does this describe? We are sitting in the darkness. We are afraid. We need someone to come in and save us because we went off on our own and we tried to do it on our own and we just got hurt? Sometimes we need help! The good thing is that we have a God who is reaching out to us to pull us back because He is that light in the darkness that we are seeking!

- by Alex Rush, men's basketball