From a Football Camp to a Calling: A Full-Circle Moment in Nebraska – by Jeff Goss

Jeff Goss ministering to a big group of students in Lincoln Nebraska

At the age of 13, a trip to a football camp at Sterling College in Sterling, Kansas, would become a defining moment in my life. The original draw was simple: an All-American player from the Nebraska Cornhuskers was there as a coach. But what seemed like an athletic opportunity quickly revealed itself to be something much deeper. The camp was largely centered on the Christian faith, with clear and compelling messages about salvation. It was there that I first heard how to be saved through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

That early encounter planted a seed—one that would come full circle years later.

Jeff Goss is sharing the Gospel with a group of FFA students in Lincoln, Nebraska

Decades after that camp experience, the opportunity arose to minister at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Nebraska, located just across from the very stadium where that Nebraska player once competed. Alongside John and Eileen Fethkenher, the message of the Gospel was shared with FFA students gathered from across the state.

While some attendees spoke about the devastating wildfires burning across western Nebraska, something very different was happening inside the arena. In eastern Nebraska, there was a different kind of fire, the fire of God convicting many students to give their lives   to Christ.

John and Eileen Fethkenher helping at the Nebraska FFA State Convention in Lincoln, Nebraska

One of the FFA students who helped us set up our booth happened to be from the same hometown as the Nebraska football player who I talked about earlier. Observing the ministry booth, he made the comment, “Your booth is the most important booth because you are talking about God.” While every booth at the convention served a purpose, the Bible does say, “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his own soul?”

Once again, we had many FFA students pray with us to receive Christ as I believe we are in the middle of a historic revival among young people.  Across Nebraska—and beyond—there are signs of a growing spiritual awakening and revival not only through this ministry but through many others across the United States.

John Fethkenher is sharing and praying with FFA Students at the Pinnacle arena on the Nebraska University Campus

  Please pray that this spiritual fire will continue to spread—reaching more lives, strengthening faith, and impacting communities across the nation and around the world as we finish out the FFA state conventions in 2026.