Bob Veroulis finds himself as a modern day Nehemiah. Cupbearer to the king, Nehemiah’s heart felt a burden for Jerusalem, to go and rebuild the temple walls and restore God’s place to one of glory and beauty. And so home he went.
Veroulis is following suit, home to the wide stretch of sky and land of Montana, taking on the dream to bring FCA back to communities that once heard of the ministry but now hears little of it.
More than twelve years ago, Veroulis moved his family to southern California to work in the golf world. After his course was purchased in 2008, he found himself out of a job, but surrounded by FCA staff. He was invited to help at a few camps, and Veroulis got his first up-close look at FCA.
One year later, God began to place a burden for home on his heart. Veroulis checked with then-Western Region VP Donnie Dee to see if there was anything moving in Montana. FCA had one staff member in Billings, but nothing in the rest of the vast state. So Veroulis continued to pray and kept coming to the vision of Nehemiah going home to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple walls.
In conversations with coaches and administrators, Veroulis found FCA existed in various programs 10-15 years ago but fizzled out. He caught clearer vision on a visit to neighbors of his parents. As he explained his thought for ministry, the couple admitted they had been praying for someone to bring faith back into their schools.
“That was really like, ‘Ok we are making the right move, we are going to move to Montana,’” Veroulis said.
By February 2010 Veroulis’ family was home. Bob operated a golf course in the summer and FCA in winter until he took over as the FCA state director full time.
At that point, Montana had six Huddles. It has now spread to 26 campuses. Veroulis is the only staff member in the state currently and has to heavily rely on volunteers—coaches, athletes and parents who also see a need on campus and are willing to sponsor Huddles.
One of those coaches is Grady Bennett, the head football coach at Glacier High School in Kalispell who has led this team to two back-to-back championship games, most recently capped with a Class AA state championship. The backbone of his team stems from its fundamental and spiritual leadership.
“In the midst of everything we do as a program there are really those strong, core biblical principles,” Bennett said. “Living life that has meaning, living life to serve others—everything we do as a program and build our foundation on are biblical in nature and based.”
For Bennett, FCA serves as a reminder of personal consistency.
“We have FCA every Friday—that’s game day,” he said. “So here I am at FCA, and we have a game coming up that evening. What am I going to be like on the sidelines tonight? It’s a great reminder for athletes and coaches.”
Bill Plegham, the girls’ basketball coach at Capital High School in Helena, is another of Veroulis’ volunteers. Capital’s Huddle is in its fourth year, and Plegham has helped expand the ministry to the coaches.
“This is definitely opening a new avenue,” he said. “We’re studying the 3D Coach book this year. It gives connection as a coaching staff to talk about the spiritual side of coaching outside of our practices. I’m really excited about the potential of that.”
Veroulis is praying for more coaches like Bennett and Plegham to step up and bolster FCA community around the state, including the Crow Reservation in Long Grass. But from where he started, these metaphorical walls around Montana have seen considerable reshaping.
“Every time I go to a campus and dig a little deeper, I find out they used to have an FCA program,” Veroulis said. “It’s like, ‘Ok God, You asked us to rebuild a wall; we’re rebuilding a wall.’ It’s reaffirming the dream that I had.”
The dream that keeps appearing, the one that won’t fade out until it comes to completion.
Photos courtesy of Montana FCA