‘Ninja Warrior’ to keynote Fields of Faith event at Apache Field

Four-time American Ninja Warrior competitor Jared Greer will be the keynote speaker at this year’s Fields of Faith event at Apache Field in Gonzales.

Fields of Faith will kick off from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 23, with an actual American Ninja Warrior obstacle course on which students can test out their own skills.

Gates to the stadium will open at 5:30 p.m. and the main event begins at 6:30 p.m. There will be live Christian message, personal stories of God’s impact on the lives of local students and, of course, the inspirational message from Greer.

Greer will speak to the theme, “Overcoming Obstacles,” a topic that he is very familiar with as a multi-time American Ninja Warrior competitor.

“I have been involved in athletics my entire life,” Greer said. “In high school, I excelled in football, basketball, and baseball. I went to East Texas Baptist University to continue my athletic career, but instead, I felt called to be a youth pastor. After graduating college, I was searching for a new athletic outlet. My students encouraged me to try out for American Ninja Warrior.”

One week earlier, at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 16, the Nixon-Smiley Fellowship of Christian Athletes and the Nixon-Smiley Ministerial Alliance will welcome people to Fields of Faith at Mustang Stadium in Nixon.

Praise and worship will be led by Glory Road, the praise team for Nations Fellowship Church in Smiley. The guest speaker will be evangelist and motivational speaker Runks Runkles, who is a self-proclaimed “Jesus freak, evangelist, leather artisan, hunter, rancher and proud West Texan.” A former student minister at First Baptist Church Levelland, Runkles has been a traveling preacher for nearly three decades.

Fields of Faith is a Fellowship of Christian Athletes-certified ministry program where athletes gather at sport environments in their communities to challenge their peers to read the Bible daily and grow in their relationship with Jesus Christ and His church. 

In 2002, Oklahoma FCA Area Director Jeff Martin prayed about what to do with his heartfelt frustration regarding the temptations and spiritual battles facing the “spectator generation” youth. God led him to 2 Chronicles 34 for the answer. King Josiah, an influential teenager, gathered his people and challenged them to read God’s Word. As a result, they changed their culture. 

In 2004, the Josiah-influenced dream came true when more than 6,000 students gathered on school athletic fields throughout Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas for Fields of Faith. Through the student led events, more than 100 students made decisions for Christ. Since that day, hundreds of thousands of people have attended Fields of Faith and thousands have received Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

For more information about this event, go to fieldsoffaith.org.