Toronto Argonauts host Faith Night
TORONTO, ON—The Toronto Argonauts are partnering with Athletes in Action (AIA) to hold a Faith Night during their last game of the season. Following the November 1 game against the Montreal Alouettes, several Argonaut teammates will share their faith stories with the audience.
Faith Night has become a staple event during the Argos' season and the event has grown into an all day affair.
"Several years ago the Argonauts approached me about putting together a Faith Night for churches in the Toronto area," says Bob Johnston, a Sports Ministry Consultant with AIA. "Three years ago we wanted to do something different, so we put together a flag football tournament in cooperation with www.whychristianschools.ca."
The morning tournament, held at the Rogers Centre, is for Grade 7 and 8 students from more than 20 Roman Catholic and Christian schools. In the afternoon, students participate in a leadership summit with "high energy" seminars from Argo alumni, managers and a faith message from AIA. Before the game, AIA holds a tailgate party for students and churches attending the event.
"Right after the game we announce that there is going to be a presentation by three or four players," Johnston says. "Last year we had close to 2,000 people. It's not very often a professional organization wants a Christian organization to partner with them and host an event like this."
Argonaut quarterback Trevor Harris says, if anything, being in the public eye has strengthened his faith.
"Christianity is downplayed and laughed at sometimes, but I think it's cool to love God," he says. "Being in the public eye has allowed me to talk to [others] about my relationship with Christ, because we have a platform where we can reach out to people and people will listen to us."
Harris says although a lot of things have been handed to him in life, being released from the NFL was very difficult. But he explains that trusting God through that experience helped his faith grow.
"It has truly been a stepping stone for me, where I can tell kids, 'I've had a big dream taken away from me and this is how you deal with it. You need to realize that God's plan is better than any plan you could possibly have for yourself.' I didn't know it at the time, but God wanted me to travel around the world, meet new people and spread His Word."
Defensive end David Lee says people often have preconceived ideas about football players, but Faith Night gives him the opportunity to tell them why he plays and who he's playing for.
"When I was in college I didn't have the CFL on my radar," he says. "Close to the end of the year people started telling me, 'you might have a shot to play professionally.' I was invited to the CFL Combine and I did pretty well. My ego started to build and all of a sudden I had teams telling me, 'We really hope we can pick you up in this draft.' I had all my friends and family at the house for a draft party and I didn't get picked up."
Lee says he realized he had been getting his identity from football. The experience taught him to find his identity in Christ, a lesson he says has been invaluable as an athlete.
"With any professional sports league, everything is performance driven," he explains. "You are really only as good as you played last week. But my God is not a performance-driven God and He is there for you no matter what. So my faith has really helped me not feel overwhelmed by the pressure to perform.
"When it comes down to it, I know I have a Father in heaven who loves me. I know He has a plan for my life and if I can identify myself in Him I know I am going to be okay."
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