(PHOTO BY JESSE DAVIS, THE VILLAGE REPORTER)
STUDENT ATHLETES HONORED … Buckeye Border Fellowship of Christian Athletes Area Director Rex Stump recognizes the 2025 Champions Celebration honorees Sunday night in Archbold.
A SHARED BELIEF … Buckeye Border Fellowship of Christian Athletes Area Director Rex Stump (right) stands with guest speaker, comedian Kenn Kington (left) after the BBFCA’s 2025 Champions Celebration at Founder’s Hall in Archbold Sunday night. Kington was an FCA member when he was in high school and college.
By: Jesse Davis
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
jesse@thevillagereporter.com
Residents from five area counties gathered in Archbold Sunday night to recognize 118 members of the Buckeye Border chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA).
The students, hailing from schools in Williams, Fulton, Defiance, Henry, and Paulding Counties, represented only a small portion of the 1,300 students attending FCA campus huddles in the 2024-2025 school year, themselves more than 10 percent of the just over 10,000 total students attending grades seven through 12.
At the end of the event, each student honoree received a certificate, a McDonald’s gift card, and a small wooden cross in recognition of their efforts.
The highlight of the evening was a group interview with seven of the students and one adult leader, led by Buckeye Border FCA Area Director Rex Stump.
Speaking about their experiences in FCA, their personal relationship with God, and how the program had helped drive or grow their faith, each gave thoughtful, heartfelt responses.
Ayersville High School junior Levi McConnell, in response to a question from Stump about a time they were bold in their faith, told a story about a time before a football team meal last year.
“I didn’t have anything to do, and a lot of the other guys were just messing around, so I started sharing Christ with them,” McConnell said.
“It took a lot of courage, not from me but it was from the Holy Spirit guiding me through that. But in sharing Christ they proceeded to make a lot of offensive jokes and say a lot of really nasty things.”
He said he was very angry in the moment and had to unclench his fists, but that he thought about Jesus’ persecution and that it says in the Bible that we should be representatives for Christ.
“It just took a lot of courage and boldness to let it happen, and I still defended my faith, I still tried sharing,” McConnell said.
Pettisville High School junior Ava Genter spoke about how the FCA provided her with the growth she was looking for.
“FCA has always made a major impact in my own life. From the start of my life, I’ve always had Christ at the center of my life, walking that journey with him along every step of the way.”
“But it kind of came to a point in junior high and high school where how was I going to take that next step, how was I going to grow deeper in my faith and my understanding while getting to that,” Genter said.
She said she saw those opportunities through FCA as she heard other participants preaching and sharing their testimony. In her sophomore year, after prodding from supportive friends, she became a leader as well and said she now tries to help in any way she can.
Each of the students on the panel were also asked for brief advice to other students looking to be leaders in the future.
Among their words of wisdom were to cherish the people in your life, remember God stays and never leaves you, to trust in his plan, and to pray continuously.
“Whether you’re an adult in this room or a student here tonight, I would 100 percent say if an opportunity presents itself in your life, God has placed that opportunity in your life for a reason, and utilize that to the best of your ability and put all of your work and all of your determination towards that to achieve your goals and dreams, because at the end of the day, again, God has that plan and doors will open and connections will present themselves beyond anything you could have ever imagined,” Genter said.
After the event, Stump said he was blown away by the depth and quality of responses from the students and that he wondered where that spirit was when he was younger or even in the last 10 to 15 years.
“I was never like that. I was a youth pastor before this for 15 years, and I know students were mature in their faith, but it seems like today these students are hungrier than ever before, more passionate, more serious about their faith. They’re just driven,” he said.
“Whether if it’s that the world’s changed, whether it’s a post-COVID thing I don’t know, but what I do know is that these kids have a greater passion and genuineness and are really seeking, they just really want to express their faith.”
Stump credited the whole Buckeye Border FCA staff along with volunteers and everyone involved for the success of the program in its five-county area, making a reference, unsurprisingly, to sports.
He said great teams are never the result of just a stellar coach, but of a stellar program and support staff enabling the success of the coach and the team.
“God brings along the most incredible people to help with the camp and our huddles, so I’m just very excited and thankful that it’s a team effort,” Stump said.
The event also included a silent auction benefiting the 2025 FCA Leadership Camp, as well as a performance by comedian Kenn Kington.
Kington, who has been performing for more than 30 years and has filmed multiple specials including one with Dry Bar Comedy, was himself an FCA member in his high school and college days.
For more information on the Buckeye Border FCA, visit www.bbfca.org.