Debbie F. has been on staff with Athletes in Action for seventeen years, She presently serves as the Challenge Course Director at AIA Headquarters in Xenia, Ohio. Prior to joining staff, the Bartlesville, Oklahoma, native substitute taught in local schools while pursuing a job in the Health and Wellness industry.

Please describe what people can expect who participate in the AIA Challenge Course for the first time.

They can expect to have fun while learning something in the process.

What is the biggest challenge you face as the Challenge Course Director?

Recruiting people to help me facilitate for groups on the challenge course. Serving as the only full-time staff person assigned to work with the course, I constantly need to find people to work with me and help lead groups. Each time I schedule a group (especially large ones), I do so with fear and trembling that I will find enough staff to run the course. The hardest part of this is in the summers when most of the AIA staff members who have been trained to help me are away or busy with their summer ministry assignments.

How have you seen God provide for you during such challenges?

God deserves all the glory. He has faithfully provided me with a pool of people who have been trained on how to facilitate the course. This pool of people is comprised of some AIA staff members as well as some individuals from this area whom God has brought across my path (through churches, schools, word of mouth, etc.). So whenever I get a new booking, I can e-mail the pool of people to find out who is available and willing to help me. I have seen God’s consistency in providing the right number of people when I need them. In the summers, when some of my “pool people” are unavailable, He has often provided help through interns serving at AIA.

As a fan of the television show Survivor, what would your strategy be to win the competition?

Very funny! I would probably want to align myself with the person (or people) that I think will go farthest in the competition. I may also want to fly under the radar by mixing the appropriate amount of my resourcefulness along with being a good listener, a hard worker, a fair competitor, and speaking the truth when needed. I am not sure what the appropriate amount of each of those ingredients is yet, which is one reason I’ve never applied for the show.

Do you plan to ever apply for the show?

I will probably never apply for the show, because I don’t trust CBS with my reputation and they do not have a good track record for representing those who call themselves Christ-followers. However, it is always fun to imagine what it would like to be on the show since I’ve watched all but two seasons.

What has God taught you about yourself while serving as director of the Challenge Course?

How much I need to live, walk and serve in complete dependence upon Him. When I first took this role, I felt extremely overwhelmed, like I was diving in water way over my head. I wasn’t sure that I had what it took to fulfill this role well, especially because I never saw myself as a pioneer. Since the first couple of years in this role required a ton of pioneering, I often felt alone and weary. The cool thing about those feelings is that they literally forced me to be dependent on the Lord. Last year I was part of Women of Mission (a small group of AIA staff women from all over the U.S. who gather four times a year for intentional personal/spiritual growth with a leadership emphasis). Through that group, as well as going through the book, The Leader’s Journey, God began to breathe life and confidence into me. He has transformed my perspective by showing me that I have the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of my co-workers as well as those who use our challenge course. He has taught me that through Christ, I am competent and have everything I need to fulfill what He has called me to do. However, in order for me to accomplish this mission, I must rely on the power of the Holy Spirit as I use the gifts and abilities He has given me.

Name the last movie you watched recently and provide your "thumbs-up” or “thumbs-down" assessment.

You may laugh, but the truth is the last movie I watched was Veggie Tales: Pirates
Who Don’t Do Anything. The children’s ministry from my church coordinated a movie night for families and since I am involved in the children’s ministry, I went and took the 4-year-old son of one of my friends. I would definitely give the movie two thumbs up. I’ve never met anyone who doesn’t like Veggie Tales and like always (with all Veggie Tales productions), this movie was very creative and entertaining.

Full names of Athletes in Action staff members have been withheld to protect those serving in religious-sensitive countries.

Photos:

Top: Debbie (center) shared a reunion this past summer with two team leaders from her first AIA Softball project to Venezuela in 1989.

Center, left: A men's college golf team works together on the Nitro Crossing, an low course activity on AIA's challenge course (see feature story for further details about course).

Center, right: Debbie and challenge course facilitators during a recent challenge course training workshop.

Bottom: Debbie and the AIA Women of Mission group spend some time on the challenge course for some team-building activities.