Athletes in Action "makes disciples" across campus

Athletes in Action is an international, gospel centered organization with a focus on athletics. An offshoot of the Cru Ministry, A.I.A. seeks to spread the name of Jesus Christ through fellowship in sports and sports related activities. Under the leadership of Clayton Slemmons and Luke Couchman, the MVNU branch offers students fellowship, friendship, entertainment and aid in building character.

Once a week, athletes from sports teams all across campus get together to be in fellowship with one another. "We're not trying to do anything fancy," said Slemmons. "We're just trying to do what Jesus told us to do. He told us to go and make disciples, that's what the entire organization is built around." This sports-team-centered model has clearly brought a measure of success to the MVNU branch. According to Emma Warkall, “Every week there's always new people coming in, and our goal is to get at least one athlete for every team there."

Slemmons said that there are a number of ambitions for the group in the next few years. "We talked about in the future reaching out to the high school, trying to get in touch with them and maybe work with some of the teams a little bit… We've even been thinking about going out to Kenyon and sharing Jesus with some people down there."

Athletes in Action meets every other Thursday in the practice gym at Ariel Arena. The next meeting will be Thursday, Jan. 30 at 9:00 p.m.