Today You Are Entering Your Mission Field

I have had the honor and privilege of attending a Christian university to play field hockey for the last three years. When I committed to Messiah, I had no idea the impact that a faith based field hockey program would have on my collegiate athletic experience. 

I grew up in a Christian home. I played many sports through middle school and high school, including field hockey and track. I always thought I understood the idea of playing for a higher purpose and remember people telling me it was a great thing to be a Christian student athlete. However, the two were always very disjointed. I was an athlete, and then I was also a Christian but never a Christian athlete. 

My freshman year of college, my team's focus for the season was “today you are entering your mission field”. The idea of using field hockey, specifically the field I stepped on each day as a platform to glorify God and to spread His name was not something I had ever thought I could do or experienced before. I thought this only worked for professional athletes who had a large following and platform. But how could I, a field hockey player at a small division 3 school in Central Pennsylvania, spread Jesus’ name through sport? Two years later, as a junior, I feel like I am finally beginning to grasp this concept I was introduced to my freshman year.  

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving”.  Colossians 3:23-24

Work at it with all your heart. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Each day when we step on the field, we show up to serve the Lord. Our actions, our attitudes, our play, our interactions, our words should all be a reflection of who He is and a reflection of the unconditional love that he has shown us. Whether we actively say His name or not, the way we play the game, and the way we interact with our opponents should be for the glory of God. 

Something really special about Messiah field hockey and many Messiah athletics teams is that we pray after each game and ask our opponent to join us. To this day, my favorite memory of my field hockey career is praying with our opponent after we lost in the Elite Eight round of NCAA playoffs my freshman year. After praying, the girl standing next to me from the opposing team was blown away that after losing and ending our season, we would pray for their safety and success as they continued on in the playoffs. As I reflect back on that moment, I realized how impactful our teams actions are on the field. We wear Messiah across our chest and aim to live out our mission to be faithful daughters of Christ each day we step on the field.

So I challenge you, and myself, to be mindful of how you can work at your sport with all your heart, and how that work and faithfulness can be a reflection of Christ. I challenge you to work at all you do with all your heart, as if serving the Lord.

I challenge you to use your playing field as a mission field for Christ, no matter where you are in your journey or what your role is.

Jennie Young

I’m Jennie! I am a junior Public Relations major at Messiah University. Being apart of Messiah’s Field Hockey team has been one of my greatest experiences. I love all things Jesus, coffee, sugar, and family. And my forever fun fact, I have been skydiving!