My First Highschool Football Game

As I sit in the backseat of James’ car, I look around: there are way too many people here. Eventually, we find a parking space, and all of us get out; another car full of students makes its deposit, totaling to eight.

Eight beacons of light, in a dark, dark place.

Despite being a small town, Windsor has a huge public high school. We can hear the cheers of the fans and the sound of a game announcer; excitement fills the air. However, we are not here to see a football game.

Gathering into a circle, Aaron prays for us, and we enter the fray. After paying for tickets, we split off into two teams of four. I was in a group with Kelsey, Chelsea, and James. We decided to walk up the stands and find a place to watch the game. James spots someone he knows, and we go over and say hi.

Previous to this night, there was an Invisible Children’s event at Windsor High School (which was entirely humanistic, from what I hear). Some of the students went to it, and met a bunch of high schoolers. Miraculously, James spots this guy named Mitch who he met. We talked to him for a little while, watching the game thoughtlessly, whilst praying about what to do. During that time, James meets another young guy, and begins trying to speak the gospel into his life; Kelsey spots a girl in a wheelchair, and has the pressing desire to go pray for her, but loses sight of her as we stand there; and I feel incredibly awkward, never having evangelized, or been in such an evil environment, and wondering what in the world God wants me to do.

Halftime comes around, and we decide to walk around. James said that talking to that kid wasn’t what God wanted him to do. We stand against a fence, praying and asking the Spirit to lead us. James sees another person he knows – this time a girl – and says hi, but nothing comes of it.

Somewhat disappointed, and still very confused, I began looking at all the people in the stands, watching the game. My eyes scanned about, and saw multiple groups of guys and girls. I couldn’t help but feel a deep inner pain at the darkness that inhabits this place, and each one of these kids. What great chains do lie upon their souls! And they know nothing of them, but continue living their pointless existences, looking for love, meaning and life, but never finding it.

Suddenly, James spots two more guys he met, but he can’t remember their names. Nonetheless, we walk over and introduce ourselves. Along with the two guys he knew, there were about four other guys. Hayden, Sam, Brandon, Sam, Nick, and Jeff were their names.

After some small talk, James turned the conversation towards religion and beliefs. As he was talking, lo and behold, I see a girl in a wheelchair! I pull Kelsey aside and ask her if that is the girl she saw. She gasps, grabs Chelsea, and runs after her, talking with her. I return to the circle to find James asking what everyone believed. Hayden is entirely confused, because his dad is Catholic and his mom is Jewish (or the other way around; I can’t remember), but he does believe in a higher power. Sam wasn’t very verbal, but Jeff and the other Sam mentioned that they were Catholic, and Brandon used to go to an Assembly church.

Kelsey returns with a smile on her face, ready to fight the good fight in these young men now. Sam Catholic mentions how he wants to be more committed to Catholicism, but wants to live his life, and is entirely held down by it. Kelsey, who has many Catholic family members, jumps on the opportunity, asking questions like, “What if I told you that you didn’t have to go to confession every year in order to be saved? What if I told you that you don’t need to go to a priest to tell him your sins, you can go straight to Jesus Christ, who is the only way you are saved?” He responded, “I would probably believe that…”

James and Kelsey tag-team preached straight truth to them, all about heaven, hell, sin, death, and Christ. Chelsea chimed in a couple times, and I stood next to James, listening to them and watching the guys. God wasn’t going to let me remain silent the entire time though; He wanted to stretch me through this witnessing. An analogy came to mind, which I will admit, came from Ian Thomas, but it was a good analogy nonetheless. I said, “Imagine if you have a car, your favorite car. It looks nice; it has a good interior; it is really impressive. But, you have no gas, in your car, or around you. There is nothing inside of it, and it will not do what it is supposed to. In the same way, your life may look good on the outside to everyone around you, and it may feel good for a while, but without God in your life, your life is entirely pointless. It is entirely worthless, and is nothing more than a vapor of smoke.”

Content with what God had pressed me to say, I sat back and listened to James and Kelsey. We were nearing the end of our time there, and I felt the need to press one more point. “If you do end up deciding to follow Christ, and give Him everything, I am warning you, it will not be easy. People won’t like you anymore; you might lose your friends, or the love of your family. But let me tell you, it is all entirely worth it for the sake of Jesus Christ.”

As we finished our conversation, James handed his phone number to each of the guys, telling them to call him anytime. At that time, part of me wanted to jump on this, and see each of these guys saved right then and there, but that wasn’t what God had planned. We left them, trusting that God has them in His hand, and what He begins, He finishes. We have no way of contacting these guys; we have no way of knowing where they are, if they have accepted Christ, or anything, unless they call James. This is entirely in God’s hands, not ours.

As we left that night, I felt very happy and content. Not because I had just done some good deed, or done my duty as a Christian, but because God had given me a challenge and I rose up to it. He stretched me farther than I have ever known. But I loved every moment of it.

Now, we pray for these six young men. I can’t wait to see what God does in them, especially in Sam Catholic and Hayden. Those two were just eating up everything James, Kelsey and I said. Only God can do the work. We planted the seed; we may water them, or someone else may, but God will provide the increase and the fruit.