What is love? On February 9th, 2016, Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) held a special Valentine’s day rally highlighting what true love is. Students received a heart-shaped lollipop or a colored candy stick with a Bible verse on it and were invited by their peers to come to the weekly FCA meeting. Like always, the meeting was held in the big gym at lunch on Tuesday, February 9th, with free food and an inspirational Gospel message on what true love actually looks like.

At the Valentine rally, each student was able to hear the salvation message and was given pizza, cookies, drinks, Bibles and candy as they left the huddle. Pastor Mike Swanson, from Calvary Chapel East Anaheim, had the honor of explaining and going into depth of what the Gospel message is and also led the invitation of salvation, as well as welcoming each student who accepted Christ into their heart, to the family of God. With weeks of preparation, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA), leadership team had prayed, prepared candies and had discussed how they could make this rally a success and glorify God.

In honor of the special topic, Will Bickford (12) and Deborah You (12) started the rally off with prayer, an opportunity drawing and an introduction, but ended it differently than normal, leading the follow-up table at the exit with Bibles and prayer, so that students would be able to take part in learning more about their decision and future.

Nicole Espinoza (12) says that “[she] loved how more people stood up to accept Christ as their personal Lord and Savior as the time went on during the message. Mike Swanson’s story about not knowing when one’s time is up really caught everyone’s attention and made them realize how temporary this life is.”

Without a doubt, FCA has made an impact on the Yorba Linda High School campus and has invited each student to take part in this mission to spread the love of Christ and accept Him as their personal Lord and Savior. With the blessing of donations for pizza each week and the help of supportive guardians, pastors and coaches within the community, FCA has been able to grow and prosper as a team in numbers as well as spiritually.

Thank you to all those who were able to attend the 2/9 FCA Valentines day rally and were able to hear about the definition of true love. God bless and stay strong Mustangs!