Colby Keefer , AIA Staff

God has used AIA to change my life—period.  I am not sure how many areas in my life are left unchanged because God used AIA to open the door of my heart to Him.

I grew up in a small Michigan town where I attended church and Sunday school fairly regularly. I was not really interested in God and did not think He was very relevant to my life. I was focused on school and football. Upon graduation from high school, I attended the University of Michigan where I began to live out a childhood dream of playing college football for the Wolverines. I felt as though I was on top of the world and received much of my identity and self-worth from football and school. 

Soon after reporting to football my freshman year, I learned that an old knee injury from high school would have to be repaired and that I could not play that year. I was crushed. So much of my worth was in football. I had ACL reconstruction on my knee and began classes on crutches. School was tougher than I had anticipated, too, so the things I had always counted on for worth and satisfaction were not supplying what I thought they would.  I began wondering what life was all about.

Around that time, Bruce Dishnow (AIA staff at the University of Michigan) came and spoke to the football freshmen during our study table time. He talked about becoming the best players we could by developing ourselves physically, mentally and spiritually. I was still not too interested in spiritual things, but I was very interested in being the best player I could be so I began to meet with Bruce. Through time with him, I began to put the pieces together and understand the willing sacrifice Christ made for me and that I could know God personally through faith in Jesus. I made a decision to give my life to Christ.

Since that day, God has been faithful beyond my comprehension and has patiently guided me through struggles and trials to a point where He is using me to impact the lives of men who were—and are—as lost as I once was. God has used AIA to transform and challenge me in so many ways, and it is all to His glory. Along with using AIA to bring me the message of how I could know God personally, He used AIA to teach me personal spiritual growth skills. AIA has also provided me with men who modeled faith and challenged me to trust God to impact His Kingdom and be a minister for a lifetime!

In addition, the greatest blessing aside from salvation is that God used AIA to provide my wife Sarah, whom I met through the ministry. I could not have dreamed of a better partner, lover and friend with whom to pursue Jesus and do ministry.

Colby Keefer serves at the AIA Campus Director at the University of Dayton. He and his wife Sarah have two children—Mikayla (3) and Jackson (15 months)—with one on the way (due in April).

Each month you will be introduced to a life changed through Athletes in Action. If your life (or someone you know) has been greatly touched through your involvement with AIA, please send an e-mail to communications@aia.com. 

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