In the six months that we have been in Southeast Minnesota, one of our main concerns has been to establish the ministry in the three high schools in Rochester, which is the population center of our area. Without the critical mass of kids or enough adult advisors at any one school, we have struggled to see significant progress.

Being a fairly new ministry in the area, we have been spending a lot of time just letting people know we are here and what we are here for: to give every athlete and coach an opportunity to know and grow in Christ through FCA.

JD has been meeting youth pastors through a Youth Ministry Network, and has been able to build partnership relationships with several of them, which is very important as we establish ourselves here. The Broomball Tournament is a result of our partnership with one of the churches in Rochester.

We hope that this will attract athletes who have not heard of FCA and will result in an interest to get more involved with FCA on their campuses.

Beginning with a Broomball Tournament this month, we are kicking off quarterly activity nights that feature something most athletes love: competition. In addition to the competition, there will be other fun activities, food and a speaker. For the Broomball Tournament a couple of University of Minnesota athletes will share tips on being successful in college and how to combine faith and sports—an important topic for highly competitive athletes. 

We are praying that, in addition to having partnerships with churches, God would raise up the coaches, parents, key volunteers and donors we need to establish a strong youth ministry here in Rochester.