Despite rain moving the venue next door to the Poplar Bluff High School gymnasium, the Fields of Faith organization hosted students at its annual event Wednesday evening.
The Fields of Faith event is an annual conference for Christian students organized by the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Josh Mills, one of the organizers of the event, began the conference by welcoming the students and their adult counselors.
Mills began the evening with a prayer for the adult counselors and faith leaders attending the conference.
“Y’all are in the trenches, you do all the dirty work because you love them and you spent as much time with them as you do your kids and so I wanted to say in front of all of them,” he said. “I thank you and I want you guys (students) to get super loud for all of them because they care so much about you, you have no idea. They lose sleep.”
After the initial invocation, the band FRSH WATR performed under the leadership of Zach McAnulty. McAnulty said the band was part of a ministry that uses music as part of their faith-based service.
He said the crowd of students “could expect to be uplifted and encouraged as they joined in worship together.”
After a few songs by the band, students went back to their seats for a student panel session. The panel was led by Cody Morgesen and consisted of four panelists: Twin Rivers softball assistant coach Summer Shockley, and PBHS students Preston Moore, Cameron Settle and Malachi Curnutt.
Shockley said during her high school years, she didn’t pursue a relationship with God, but she did eventually change that fact.
“Once I got into college, thankfully, we had a ministry on campus that brought me back to God and helped me grow our relationship, through injuries and isolation and feeling alone in the world of sports whenever you’re not performing like you think you should,” she told audience members.
Her testimony was followed by Settle’s story. He shared a story from when he was 7 years old and attending a vacation bible school.
“I was changed; I knew I was missing something,” he said. “And I can remember my parents just kind of telling me how my life had changed. I acted differently at home, I felt fulfilled and I was baptized with my brother. It was one of the greatest moments of my life. And it was fantastic.”
Moore went on to share his experiences with the crowd as well. He recalled how typical high school stressors had impacted his life and how his shyness had prevented him from having a relationship with God.
“Being up here speaking right now is a testament to how God has worked because a year ago I couldn’t get up in class and give a presentation,” Moore said. “So God has completely changed my confidence and my mindset and how I approach things.”
The last testimony of the evening was given by Curnutt, who shared that he had suffered from addictions.
“So I went through a lot of addictions, porn addiction,” he said. “I’ve gone through depression, suicidal thoughts, condemnation, guilt.”
Curnutt also said the power of God helped him tremendously.
“The power of God is real,” he said. “I was praying to him, and I remember vividly him taking the breath out of my lungs. And when I say taking a breath, there is nothing. There is nothing there. I remember him putting it back in. And he told me ‘I want to use your breath.’”
Pastor Nathan Smith, formerly of the Boys & Girls Club of the Heartland, gave the last address of the evening. He shared that his spouse, Megan, was in the audience and the couple was expecting their first child.
Smith shared he has an extremely competitive nature and he noted it was difficult for him to cultivate his relationship with God due to this character flaw. But he did manage to overcome his competitiveness.
“I worry that we have this try-hard attitude, to seek the attention from peers and try to fill a void in our soul that can only be filled by one person, and that is God,” he told students. “Those things that you’re doing, that you’re trying very hard to achieve, being a great athlete, performing posts, are good things. But compared to knowing Christ, those things are worthless. Those things hold no value. No value. We spend our lives chasing achievement after achievement.”
Smith encouraged students to build a relationship with God and to speak to a youth worship counselor if they needed to.
More information on Fields of Faith can be found at www.fieldsoffaith.com.