Athletic rivalries aside, students in all four high schools in Warren County came together under a common banner last Thursday night. The Fields of Faith gathering at St. Aloysius High School’s Balzli Stadium drew hundreds, and one organizer said 96 students were brought to Christ.

Fields of Faith, sponsored by the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, is a peer-to-peer ministry movement. On football fields across the country students and guest speakers shared their testimonials and challenged each other to read the Bible and come to faith in Jesus.

The vision for the program can be found in 2 Chronicles 34, where Josiah, the young king of Judah, fathered the people and challenged them to live by God’s word resulting in a change of culture.

Fields of Faith began the Josiah Challenge, which has four parts:

• Read the Bible.

• Share the personal impact of the Bible.

• Challenge each other to read the Bible.

• Challenge each other to commit to Christ.

This activity was not mandatory and each participant came via free will. Most importantly, the gathering was of students from different schools, wearing different school colors and different skin colors and from diverse economic, social and spiritual backgrounds.

Students should feel pride in being able to gather, putting aside differences, for a common and just cause.