Fellowship of Christian Athletes Distributes Over 219,000 Bibles in 2024

While goal posts, baseball diamonds, hockey sticks and soccer balls may be the main "tools" for athletes around the world, Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA, www.fca.org) is devoted to ensuring that one resource remains above all others - the Bible. 

FCA is one of the most committed Bible distributors in the world, printing about 200,000 Bibles every year and distributing nearly 3 million Bibles around the world in the past 15 years. In fact, FCA has engaged in Bible ministry since its first Camp in 1956. FCA's partners at Biblica have even said, "When you think about FCA, you think about a sports ministry, but what's incredible is their commitment to utilizing Scripture."

"I believe one of the reasons God continues to bless the Fellowship of Christian Athletes is our focus on growing our Bible ministry," said FCA President and CEO Shane Williamson. "We are committed to God's Word and biblical truth, and we continue to be amazed at what God is doing to get His Word into the hands of coaches and athletes around the world."

FCA distributed 219,444 Bibles in 2024 alone, as it marked 70 years of staying true to the mission of leading every coach and athlete into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ and His church.

Below is a brief overview of FCA's Bible distribution history:

1956

The Athlete's Bible

The first FCA Bibles were printed for Camp in 1956 with the FCA logo on the cover. As FCA Camps grew, new Bible covers were designed with each year's theme, camp curriculum was added. The Bible became a key resource for those leading Huddles and other ministry events. Today, this resource is referred to as the FCA Athlete's Bible and it continues to be the cornerstone of the Bible ministry and FCA's most requested Bible resource.

2003

More Bible Resources

FCA's Bible distribution exploded when FCA introduced a Sports New Testament that included testimonies from pro athletes and coaches. Today, FCA has printed more than 1 million of these resources. Staff in Mississippi dreamed up the concept of a Coach's Bible that included 365 devotions written by and for coaches. The resource was a hit! Due to the Coach's Bible popularity, other devotional Bibles were released. Today FCA prints, distributes and engages coaches and athletes with more than 10 varieties of Bible resources.

2006

Language Translations

FCA printed its first Spanish New Testament in 2006. Since then, multiple resources have been translated and printed, such as FCA's Heart of an Athlete devotional in Chinese and Spanish, Japanese Baseball New Testament, Chinese Sports Devotional Bible and Russian Coach's Bible. In 2017, FCA began distributing 50,000 Thai Sports New Testaments and 10,000 Vietnamese Sports New Testaments. In 2018, FCA Sports Bible Handbooks were printed in Korean, Mandarin, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Ukrainian, Russian and Urdu. Today, FCA prints New Testaments, Sports Bibles, Sports Bible Handbooks and more in Arabic, Thai, Indonesian, Vietnamese, Mandarin, Korean, Urdu, French, Russian, Ukrainian, Spanish, Japanese and Portuguese.

2013

Going Digital

A 2013 partnership with YouVersion offered FCA reading plans to engage coaches and athletes in God's Word. FCA began releasing e-Bible versions of all Camp Bibles in 2015. Today, FCA has more than 100 Bible reading plans in numerous languages on YouVersion, including Spanish, Ukrainian, Russian, Chinese and Korean. More than 2 million users have subscribed to FCA's digital Bible reading plans, with over 1 million completions.

FCA's theme for 2024 is "24/7," based on Romans 15:13 CSB: "Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." FCA reminds Christian coaches and athletes that their identity and value is in Christ rather than their sport.

Visit Fellowship of Christian Athletes' website at fca.org, its Facebook page at facebook.com/TheFCATeam, its Instagram page at instagram.com/thefcateam or its X (formerly Twitter) feed, x.com/TheFCATeam. 

 

 

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