Hippo Lending is a proud partner of Fellowship of Christian Athletes, a non-profit fellowship with a goal to connect athletes and coaches worldwide with Jesus. Since FCA was started in 1954, the organization has gained 2,400 employees and reached 107 countries. Fellowship of Christian Athletes spans across all ages, youth to professional level sports.
Hippo resonates strongly with their values of Integrity, Serving, Teamwork and Excellence. The majority support their mission to transform the world through empowering coaches and athletes to know and grow in Christ.
We had the opportunity to talk to Mark Newlen, the Assistant Regional International Advancement Coordinator. He has spent a majority of his career teaching and coaching at the highschool and college level, and has a passion for influencing young athletes. Mark specifically works in the Mid-Atlantic region, which is aligned internationally with Southeast Asia.
Mark felt a very strong connection to the Great Commission, which happened before Jesus left the Earth. The last thing he told his disciples was to “go into all the worlds and make disciples of all Nations”. This is what led Mark directly to working internationally with FCA.
“I want to pour myself into being an influencer for Christ in the sports world through camps clinics working with kids.”
In the athletic world, there is tremendous pressure to succeed, and it can become one’s identity. Wins and losses equate how athletes view their own worth. So FCA wants athletes to know that regardless of wins or losses, they are one of God’s children and will forever be loved.
“The goal of an athlete in my perspective,” says Newlen, “is to be the embodiment of Christ on the field or the court. Playing with joy, playing with enthusiasm, and playing with the athletic ability that God has blessed with us. There is such freedom in that.”
A large portion of the world has never been taught about Christianity or the message of Christ. Many of these people conform to their own culture and are shielded from any other.
“It’s transformational, when we are able to go and meet with athletes and coaches. It’s like the veil is lifted… the curtains are pulled back.”
Newlen goes on to share a story close to his heart about a young man who played professional basketball in Ukraine. A team from America handed a Bible to him, and as he begun to read it tears streamed down his face as he realized how much Jesus truly loved and cared for him regardless of how he played his sport. He went home to ask his mother why she had never introduced the Bible to him- it was because she never had access to one herself.
The Ukrainian basketball player felt as though he needed to do more with this newfound knowledge. He and a few others started the “Admiral Basketball Academy” outside of Kyiv, Ukraine, to train children in the sport but also in Bible study. They study scripture and learn about the Christian faith.
Because this one American team shared the Bible with another team who had never heard of it, the Ukrainian player has devoted his life to sharing the love of Jesus. With the current wars going on in Eastern Europe, he is able to help transport kids to safety and continue to run camps and clinics for these children.
Within each country, FCA is continuously reaching out to coaches and athletes with contacts that are already connected. In Southeast Asia, FCA is looking towards a short term goal of increasing the staff from 65 to 100 within the 11 countries involved. A larger vision is to create a global center where athletes and coaches all throughout SE Asia can have access to resources and trainings.
“We want to make Jesus famous in Southeast Asia.”
In the USA, Fellowship of Christian Athletes is working on expanding their Bible Study “huddles” which are groups within schools. FCA wants “every athlete on every team to be able to hear the good news.” FCA runs a global impact program that they are now expanding to four international regions. The organization takes college athletes through an internship program to both grow in their faith and also play their sport for Christ.
Overall, FCA is working on expanding so that countries and regions become connected and bonded through Christian athletes and coaches. Many want to be on the staff, but don’t have the resources to do so. Newlen looks forward to collecting the resources to make that happen.
How did Hippo and FCA connect?
Newlen and John McCauley, CEO of Hippo Lending, coached together for a few years awhile back. They became good friends, and Newlen was able to share the Fellowship of Christian Athletes vision with him. McCauley wanted to be a part of it, and shared that “Hippo is a company that’s very community-oriented and we want to make a difference in the world.” Newlen explained how he’d love for the staff of Hippo Lending to have the opportunity to work in one of these international basketball camps, to be able to make a change in the world and earn a greater perspective. Mark Newlen “wants Hippo to see the daily impact they can make in just their daily jobs.” He says that by being teammates, Hippo is “encouraging the FCA staff and coaches world-wide to stay true to their mission to create life-changing impacts.”
“A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.” –
Proverbs 11:25.