Christian sports organization branching out

James Oilar had a plan. He was going to graduate from college, get a job in the health club industry and eventually own a sports club.

Living in Colombia wasn?t part of the plan ? and yet, that?s where he ended up.

Oilar, who grew up just outside of Farmington and graduated from Harmony, has now returned to the area for a Fellowship of Christian Athletes fundraiser in Keokuk tomorrow night ? but it was a long journey that took him back here.

?When I graduated from college, I was going to own my very own sports club,? Oilar said. ?I got a degree from Truman State University in Missouri in exercise physiology and sports management, and had a job waiting for me in personal training before I graduated.?

It didn?t take long for him to climb the ladder.

?I worked my way up, and worked for some pretty (big) sports companies,? he said.

He ended up in Chicago.

?I was happy, in the sense that I was doing something I enjoyed,? Oilar said. ?But I didn?t really like the business. I didn?t ever work for a corporation that I thought was operating in a Godly manner.?

Soon, his pastor in Chicago suggested that he try working in sports ministry.

Oilar scoffed at the suggestion at first, but eventually began to give it some serious consideration.

He interviewed for a position serving at a missionary school in Bogota, Colombia, called El Camino Academy. He was a basketball coach there, and he taught anatomy and physiology. He made a nine-month commitment to the school.

That was in 2002.

?Nine months turned into a year, then two years, and I?m still there (in Colombia),? Oilar said.

While at ECA, Oilar discovered that two coaches he worked with had come to Christ through the FCA, an organization Oilar had been involved with during college and while he was working in Houston, Texas.

?Since I used to volunteer there, I was wondering what they were doing internationally,? Oilar said. ?So I got on the phone with Dan Britton, the executive vice president for the FCA, and asked where they were in Colombia. He told me that they were not anywhere internationally.

?I said, ?Do you want to be???

And that?s the short story of how the FCA got started overseas.

Oilar met with Britton and a few others in 2004. In 2006, they launched FCA International in Colombia ? and it?s still growing.

?It?s really exploded in the last three to four years,? Oilar said. ?We?re in at least 30 different countries now.?

He lists South Africa, Israel, the Philippines, Vietnam and Korea as examples, and notes that the list also includes about 15 Central and South American countries.

And while the FCA is doing well in many places, one place where it isn?t doing much of anything is this area.

Southeast Iowa is tough ? it?s not close enough to a big city to draw a lot of attention, Oilar said.

But since he calls this area home, it?s certainly caught his attention.

?Dan Pearson is the (FCA?s) southeast Iowa representative, but he works out of the Quad Cities,? Oilar said. ?Since I?m from around here, I wanted to help him facilitate something.?

Oilar came back to the United States with his wife, Sandra, who is from Colombia, on a home assignment. For part of that time, he was doing training, and now he is focused on the fundraiser.

?Our goal is (awareness),? Oilar said. ?We want people to know who we are.?

One person who knows who they are, Winfield native and Mount Pleasant resident Jess Settles, will be a speaker at the banquet.

?I?ve done work for (the FCA) in the past,? Settles said. ?Christian athlete organizations like the FCA and Athletes in Action have had an impact on my life ? I?m a big believer in those organizations and the message that they bring. With the platform that so many athletes have, it?s important that they use their gifts and talents to honor the Lord.?

Eventually, he?d like to see some faces from home visit his current home in Colombia.

?My goal ? what I envision and hope for ? is that I can bring down a local group of athletes and coaches to serve on a mission trip (in Colombia).?

But first comes tomorrow night?s fundraiser ? the first FCA event in the area since the 1970s, Oilar said.

For information on the FCA or FCA International, or to get a ticket for Friday?s banquet at the Keokuk Country Club, contact Oilar at joilar@fca.org or call him at (660) 948-3777.