What is FCA? FCA stands for Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and in South Carolina in the spring, FCA hosts a big camp at Garden City Beach where teenagers from all over the state, who are members of their high school FCA, come to grow a closer relationship to Jesus and worship the Lord. It is a weekend camp where college students give up their time to spend with high schoolers to do competitions and read the Bible.
FCA Camp was a camp that made me grow a closer relationship with my Lord and Savior as well as forming a relationship with a young lady who became such a big part in my life.
At these events, there are numerous small groups where each college student is assigned approximately 10-12 youth members. Throughout the weekend, the college students are called huddle leaders. Various times during the weekend the high schoolers and huddle leaders spend one on one quality time together and they grow unbreakable bonds.
In the spring of 2014, I attend the South Carolina High School Fellowship of Christian Athletes camp at Garden City. I was on the edge of going, and had decided I was not going to attend, so I didn’t turn in any of the documentation or payment until the day of camp. My high school FCA Leader caught me in the hallway during a class change and told me that someone had dropped out of going for personal reasons and the bus was leaving at 3:30 p.m. and I needed to be on that bus. So without hesitation, I went to Spanish and shot my mom a text to ask for permission to attend. My mom said, “I guess you can Kaitlynne, but you need to pack your clothes.” At lunch, I went to the main office and called my mom so I could ask if she would pack my clothes for me and bring them to school. I knew I would not have time after school to go home, pack, and be back in 25 minutes to head to Garden City. So, mom packed my clothes and brought them to me at school.
At 3:30 p.m. we loaded the bus and headed towards Garden City. Little did I know, that night I was going to gain such an amazing young lady in my life and in my family. I got to camp and we sat in this group while some man talked to my school, so we would know what was happening throughout the weekend. Then we were sent to the chapel to find our huddles. My nametag said “Huddle 23” so when we made it into the chapel, I had to find the girl holding the Huddle 23 sign so I could break away from my school and be with my huddle.
At first I was a little skeptical of the girls who were in my huddle, and especially my huddle leader, because I was not sure we were going to get along. We looked different – and it seemed as if we had different personalities.
That night ended and the next day began. We did numerous competitions on the beach, on the basketball court, individually and in groups. As a huddle, we bonded so much in one day it was unrealistic. At the end of the night, we had a huddle time, where we debriefed about the day and was getting ready for bed. Then something magical happened. My huddle leader, Briana, informed us that she wanted to do individual prayers with us before lights out. Everyone was stoked! We went out one by one and sat on the rocking chairs on the balcony/porch thing and had a 5-10 minute talk/prayer with Briana. I was in the middle of the line to go and finally my turn arrived. I couldn’t be more nervous to sit with a young adult and pray with them. Like, really pray to God. The 5-10 minutes turned into 15-20 minutes because we found out we had a little more in common than we thought. Which of course grew our bond even stronger.
At the end of the chat, it was time for a prayer. We closed our eyes and oh did Briana pray. She prayed long and hard for me and the other girls in our huddle. It was something magical. I will never forget the feeling I felt after we prayed together.
At the end of everybody praying, we were all closer as a group of girls, and exchanged cell numbers, Instagram usernames, snapchats, etc. We were Huddle 23, and we weren’t letting anyone stop the power of Christ in our group. We were strong girls, and we wanted to use our faith in a good way to impact others the same way Briana impacted our lives. The next morning, we all went on different paths back to high schools and colleges.
Briana and I stayed in contact, and found out she was going to college about 30 minutes away from me, so we were going to be able to stay in contact more than we thought - not only over texting. We would text numerous times throughout the month and meet up to see each other randomly.
Within a few years, Briana moved to Maryland to be with her husband, Preston. That never stopped us from communicating. We talked all the time. April of 2015, she sent me a long message that informed me I was going to be an aunt. I was overjoyed. December of 2015, she and Preston came to South Carolina for a baby shower, which is the first time I had met him, and the first time I had actually seen her in a handful of months. You can only imagine how excited and overjoyed I was. Preston was such a nice guy, and I approved of him. I knew they were going to be wonderful parents.
A few days later, they had a gorgeous baby girl who is loved by wonderful parents, her Aunt Kaitlynne, and her Father in Heaven.
FCA is the reason I have a big sister. FCA not only allowed me to gain a stronger faith base and relationship with my Lord, but it also allowed me to gain someone who has become dear to me and my family. FCA touches millions of lives one heart at time. 2014 happened to be the year I was touched.
