Isaiah thought he would have to choose between his faith in Christ and his passion for football—either go to a university that would equip him for ministry or one that would allow him to continue to play football. Then he stepped onto the campus of Point University and realized that was where his faith and football would collide.
Isaiah Ross, biblical studies and preaching major, believes that God is calling him to sports ministry: “Because that is where God has allowed me to have the most influence. There are people around me—the football team and other athletes—that he has allowed me to have a common ground where we can all relate.”
At first, Isaiah saw ministry and football as separate passions, but God opened his eyes to see his team and other athletes as his mission field. After participating and leading in Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) in high school, Isaiah Ross arrived at Point to find that there was no ministry specifically directed towards student-athletes. As a freshman, he set out to start an extension of the ministry that had guided him spiritually throughout his teenage years.
“God used FCA to impact my life,” Isaiah remembers, “And I know how much God could use FCA in other athletes’ lives.”
Isaiah worked with Point Student Life staff and head women’s basketball coach Tory Wooley ’12 to start the ministry on Point’s campus. As a senior, Isaiah still leads the group, and last year, he and Coach Wooley were recognized by the national FCA organization for their service during the 2016-17 season. Coach Wooley was named College Coach of the Year, and Isaiah received the College Student Athlete of the Year Award. Isaiah was honored to receive the award and encouraged by all the men and women who supported the impactful ministry and, in turn, supported him.
In elementary school, Isaiah was separated from his mother and siblings and put into foster care. It was through the leadership of Christian mentors, coaches and other athletes that Isaiah was able to find the love of Christ in his difficult situation and see God as his Father—comforting him, guiding him and calling him to share the love that he had found.
“He has put that love in me,” Isaiah says. “And it is only because he has put that love in me that I can do things like FCA.”
With a strong foundation in ministry provided for him by the faculty at Point, Isaiah intends to continue to serve in sports ministry after graduation in May.