On October 9, 2024, members of the Adel community gathered at ADM’s Tiger Stadium to celebrate family and faith. People brought blankets and chairs to sit comfortably and make it feel more like home. Throughout the night, there was worship music, a main speaker, student speakers representing FCA, and small prayer breakouts. The event had a shocking turnout; an estimated 600-700 people were on the field.
ADM High School football coach Doug Winkowitsch made Fields of Faith a reality. Winkowitsch has been an FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) leader at the previous school he worked at for 8 years. Winkowitsch said, “I was impressed with the program at ADM and I felt like it would be a great opportunity to build on the already incredible FCA group here.” He felt as though the evening was an incredible success. He was grateful to have “so many people worshipping our savior together.” Winkowitsch says he plans on making Fields of Faith an annual event. He believes any time we can have young students share their heart for Jesus it will end up impacting more students.
Students of the FCA group at ADM also helped this evening to be an absolute success. Many leaders of the program shared their favorite bible verses, and the why behind them. One student, Haley James felt as though there was a very good turnout, and the event overall was very fun and enjoyable. She shared that her favorite part of the night was being able to share her own bible verse and why it was special to her. She also enjoyed the worship.
Gabe Parker and Owen Rychnovsky took charge of leading the worship at the event. They held band practices and involved both students and adults from the Adel community to share their talents in the worship atmosphere. Whether they were playing instruments, singing, or running sound, all parts were vital. Many hands and hearts went into the overall success of the evening relating to worship.
Guest speaker Tim Agrmson invoked a powerful message through his short sermon. ADM alumni Aiden Flora took time out of his busy schedule as a D1 athlete at Iowa State University to share his testimony. Kurt Moyer also spoke during this event sharing his own details about faith and what it means to him.
When reflecting upon this night, it was a wonderful affirmation of the closely-knit relationships between people within the ADM school district. Giving friends and family a chance to connect, grow their faith, and unify together as one. On the evening of October 7, Adel was not just a town, but it was a community. Tiger Stadium was not simply a football field, but rather it became a home.
