Former Georgia Head Coach says FCA makes positive impact in schools
Mark Richt encouraged FCA leaders to continue standing for their faith on their mission fields
TUPELO, Miss. (WCBI) – He coached the Georgia Bulldogs for 15 years and was recently inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.
But Mark Richt said his greatest victory came one day when he was a coach at Florida State University under the legendary coach, Bobby Bowden.
“In 1986, Coach Bowden led me to Christ,” Richt said.
Richt and his wife have been supporters of FCA ever since. The coach shared that story and many others during FCA’s Night of Champions at Harrisburg Baptist Church.
Richt, whose teams won two SEC championships, five SEC division titles, and one Atlantic Coast Conference division title, said FCA and its student-led model, make a lasting difference on public school campuses.
“It is a minor miracle that FCA is able to be on campuses around the country. Something worth fighting for. We need to keep Christ in schools,” Richt said.
While many came to hear Richt, the real stars of the evening were students and sponsors, recognized for their leadership. Students organize weekly school meetings, known as “huddles”.
“I know a lot of kids don’t know God, wrong from right. FCA helps them,” said Asher Bass, a student at Shannon Middle School.
“FCA is a good time to get with your peers who believe the same things you believe and you can share those values and spread them to other people you go to school with,” said Haley Herring, a student at North Pontotoc Attendance Center.
District One Area Director Grant Smallwood said he sees firsthand the impact FCA is making.
“This past year we had over seven hundred decisions for Christ, we got to experience that in many different ways, it was really impactful,” Smallwood said.
FCA reaches more than 4,000 students weekly across Northeast Mississippi.
FCA is gearing up for its Summer Leadership Camp the first week in June.
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