January 5, 2026
From rebellious to role model: How FCA helped a struggling student become an influential leader for Christ
Rick Isaiah, FCA Chief Field Officer: ‘Dasean’s story is a testimony of God’s grace extended to a young man who was on the wrong path; God can use anyone to impact the kingdom’
DUBLIN, Ohio — For over 70 years, Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA,www.fca.org) has built vibrant communities around faith and sports.
Recently, the Central Ohio FCA teamwitnessed firsthand the transformative power of this unique model, watching a young man named Dasean grow from a rebellious, disruptive student into a leader and role model for his peers.
According to Rick Isaiah, FCA Chief Field Officer, “Dasean’s life was truly transformed by FCA and the power of God’s Word. Without a teacher, our Huddle Leader, leading FCA at his school, working together with the local church, you wouldn’t get youth like Dasean putting all of their trust and faith in the Lord. Dasean’s story is a testimony of God’s grace extended to a young man who was on the wrong path; God can use anyone to impact the kingdom.”
According to Dasean, “At the time, my life was a struggle. My family had their own problems, and I was suspended 50 days out of the school year.”
Benson Samuel, Rock City Pastor and FCA volunteer, remarked, “When I met Dasean, I could tell he was misunderstood, and seemed to be struggling with his identity.”
“One day, a teacher told us that a Christian group was coming in, which was FCA,” recalled Dasean. “For some reason, I wanted to give it a try. During my first time at their school event, the vibe was so awesome: seeing how much they care for each other, praying together, and going over the Bible during small groups. If you were going through something, you knew you could count on and talk to the FCA team.”
Alex Meilke, Dasean’s former teacher and Huddle leader, shared, “What I saw in Dasean was a hunger to know Jesus and learn things about the Bible. Later in the year, Benson, a youth pastor from Rock City Church, began attending our sessions and invited the students to Rock City’s youth nights. There were a lot of kids who attended those events and got to hear the Gospel. And one of those students was Dasean.”
“Youth nights were amazing,” enthused Dasean. “People were telling me how God had moved in their lives, and they helped me learn how to pray and talk to God. It was there that I made a decision to give my life to Christ.”
Soon, people around Dasean began to notice a marked change in his behavior and outlook.
“Before I gave my life to Christ,” acknowledged Dasean, “I was involved in things I had no business being involved in. I had no self-control, and I was all over the place.”
Alex noted, “I would hear him singing worship songs in the hallway that he had learned at Rock City. He eventually became a student leader with FCA and would help lead the Huddle.”
Not only was Dasean changing, he was also beginning to change the people around him.
“At first,” said Dasean, “I stepped away from the people I was sitting with at lunch who weren’t making the right decisions. But then I began to talk with them, listen to them, and share God’s Word with them. I realized that my peers also need to be connected with God and people who trust in God. Now we’re having conversations like, ‘What’s the scripture that you read today?’”
Alex observed, “It’s really cool to see how powerfully the Lord is working and moving through Dasean, and how the Holy Spirit is building him up to be a leader to the other students and reaching out to other students.”
The Fellowship of Christian Athletes’ vision is to see the world transformed by Jesus Christ through the influence of coaches and athletes. Its mission is to lead every coach and athlete into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ and His church. FCA’s guiding values are integrity, serving, teamwork and excellence.
Since 1954, FCA has used the powerful medium of sports and building relationships to reach the world for Jesus Christ. FCA is cultivating Christian principles by engaging, equipping and empowering coaches and athletes to know and grow in Christ and lead others to do the same so that lives are changed for current and future generations.
Visit Fellowship of Christian Athletes’ website at www.fca.org, its Facebook page at www.facebook.com/TheFCATeam, its Instagram page at https://www.instagram.com/thefcateam or its X/Twitter feed https://twitter.com/TheFCATeam.
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To interview a Fellowship of Christian Athletes representative, contact Media@HamiltonStrategies.com, Beth Bogucki, 610.584.1096, ext. 105, Dawn Foglein, ext. 100, or Jeff Tolson, ext. 108.
