Members
Athletics: Emery never really considered himself an athlete. He avoided the football team in high school because he needed to work after school to save for college. At an early age he developed a passion for cycling and long distance trekking.
By the time he graduated from high school he had earned the both the Boy Scouts of America National Historic Trail Award and 50-miler several times. By the time he finished college, he had camped nearly 240 days in a four-year period. He always felt at home in wilderness and in the hills of West Virginia, Kentucky and Virginia.
He is a member of the corporate board of the Volusia Flagler YMCA which recently expanded merging with another organization. It now has a $11 million annual budget. He is branch board chairman of the DeBary-Orange City YMCA.
Special events of note:
Personal: Emery lives in Orange City, Florida with his wife, Nancy, also a member of the Orlando huddle. They have one grandchild, Riley Patrick Jeffreys, who is destined to become a world-famous something. riley's parents are active runners and have participated in 5Ks and marathons.
Professional: Emery is Senior Producer at Central Flordia News 13, writer, editor and Internet strategist for Bright House Networks. He began tinkering with the Web before it was cool (1994) and as managing editor/online, he built the first online newspaper in Florida for the Daytona Beach News-Journal. At the time, the newspaper had the largest Gallacticomm BBS in the U.S. with thousands of users.
Prior to joining the News-Journal, he was a reporter and editor for United Press International. His beats included national defense, business, politics, Atlantic Coast Conference basketball. He also covered part of the first Persian Gulf war. He also reported about the invasion of Panama.
About FCA-E: I was led to the group by my wife when we attended the group's first huddle at the National Training Center in Clermont. I was stuck by the devotion of the group by their devotion to the Lord and staying fit as a witness to the Lord. I'm not sure I'm a real athlete yet, but like loving the Lord, it's never too late to try.
About my personal mission: I want to plant the seed for a relationship with Christ with anyone I can. I do it in a quiet way trying to be an example of Christ's love. I try to live my faith and keep my spiritual life as simple as possible. An important aspect of my faith is doing most everything abut faith and fitness hand-in-hand with my wife, Nancy. Some days I lead, others days she leads, depending on the opportunity Christ presents us. And when the going gets real tough, we're side-by-side.
How I came to Christ: I made a committment to Christ at an early age, but fell away the same way as many young people. When Nancy and I began our relationship, we wanted our faith to be at the middle of our relationship. It's not always been easy, but God and his Son have always been there for us.
Athletics: Robb began to train for endurance events after he began to undo the years of damage caused by a sedentary lifestyle and poor nutritional choices. In addition to having completed almost two dozen 5k Road Races over the past 18 months, Robb’s most significant events have been:
- The 2007 OUC Half Marathon where he finished last – dead last – but still did do knowing that he had attempted what few morbidly obese persons ever would.
- 2008 Central Florida Triathlon (UCF) where Robb was injured during the swim (concussion). Despite this temporary setback, he intends to “get back on the horse” in 2009.
- Placing Third in the 2008 Men’s 40-45 Age Group at the Fall Tri-Du at Moss Park.
Personal: Robb lives in Casselberry and has been married to Terri for more than 16 years. They have an 11-year old daughter named Samantha. Robb and Terri are also the proud owners of a Siberian Husky (Sparky) and a white house cat (Sagwa). In addition to competing in endurance events, Robb is an avid photographer and has had a few of his images published.
Professional: Robb is a Process Management professional who works within the Operations and Technology Division of Wachovia Bank (soon to be Wells Fargo). His job often requires significant travel and focuses on identifying ways of performing critical functions more effectively, at lower costs, and with higher quality. Prior to that, he was a Fixed Income Trader for two of the nation’s largest commercial banks. Besides his work at Wachovia, Robb also serves on the Leadership Council of the Central Florida Chapter of the American Diabetes Association.
About FCA-E: As I began my journey to repair my health after almost two decades of destroying it, I knew that I wanted to do so within the context of my faith. I wasn’t really sure what I wanted or needed – but knew that I wanted to be part of something larger than myself. One day, I just happened to be throwing in some phrases into a well known search engine and came across FCA-Endurance. Having previously supported the Fellowship of Christian Athletes in the past, I knew a little something about them and started to explore the FCA-E team. Long story short, sharing my witness with the team and then putting my faith into action through some of our efforts has been one of the best things I’ve ever done. I am incredibly blessed to be part of this team and ministry.
About my personal mission: If I had to sum up what I think my life has been about, it would boil down to one word: service. I love to serve others. In fact, two of my favorite “competition” memories are from when I served other competitors. The first one was at the 2006 OUC 5k. There was a gentlemen who was completely distraught at not being able to run and who had all sorts of negative thoughts going through his head. As I passed him, I felt called to stop and see if he was okay. I ended up walking with him for the last two miles of the event – until he sprinted away from me the last 100 yards (which was perfectly fine with me). The second time I got to serve while competing was at this year’s Fall Duathlon. As a diabetic, I have to make sure that I have adequate carbohydrates with me at all times. After having checked my blood sugars at T1, I knew that I had more than enough nutrition in my Bento Box – so as I caught up with other cyclists who were clearly depleted, I gave them whatever supplies I had on me. The fact that I was able to finish that race and, more importantly, to help and encourage others sums up my feelings about who I am very nicely.
How I came to Christ: I was raised by my mother and grandmother in a very religious house. At some point in my early twenties, I rebelled against the church after some unsettling events happened and tried to find my own way. During that time, I experimented with some other spiritual paths (primarily Buddhist). I started to come back to the church when our daughter was born in 1997. However, I was what you might call a cultural Christian. After we moved to Florida in 2002, we were attending a local Methodist Church. It was much of the same old experience for me and I was largely unmoved. But, on Palm Sunday of 2003, I literally was brought to my knees in my own Damascus Road moment. I can’t explain it other than to say that I was overwhelmed that day by the Holy Spirit. From that moment on, I knew that I was His. I still struggle in my walk everyday – but I now understand that it is exactly because I am so flawed that I need Christ in my life.
Athletics: Steve took up long distance running in 1982. His most notable achievement was qualifying for the Boston Marathon in Dallas in December 1986 and running the 91st Boston Marathon on April 20, 1987.
Special events of note are:
- Quitting smoking after many failed attempts and racing in the top 3 percent of his class.
- Racing in his first sprint triathlon in 1986 at The Presidents Triathlon, Lake Lavon, Texas.
Personal: Steve lives in Orlando Florida. He is married to Sheryl and has three grown daughters, Amanda, Stephanie and Lauren who are also runners. They are empty nesters now but are kept company by their 2 standard poodles, Dallas and Walker.
Professional: Steve owns a small rep firm with his twin brother, Stu. They represent primarily office furniture manufacturers and travel the state of Florida. They have been partners for over 22 years and employ his daughter Amanda, who works with the Architect and Design community. Amanda is also an accomplished marathoner.
About FCA-E: I was lead to join FCA-E by my good friend Roy McConnell who started the Orlando huddle. I’ve always enjoyed racing because of the competitive lure. However, I enjoyed running because of the alone quiet time I had with just me and God. I have nearly been brought to my knees while running at 5:30 am in the morning because of the closeness I felt to God and his awesome presence. It wasn’t until I ran into the FCA-E group that I realized, “Why I race”. So after being away from racing for 21 years, I am back to competing, but for a different reason and that reason is for Christ.
About my personal mission: My personal mission is to bring as many people to Christ as I can. I do that in several ways. The most important way is by setting the best example I can by being the best husband and father as possible. Many people are watching. Beware! The other way is by serving my church in Oviedo as Lay Leader and playing percussion with an awesome praise team on Saturday night and Sunday morning.
How I came to Christ: In 1983, I was staying at my in-laws lake house one Wednesday night deep in the piney woods of east Texas. I was working the Tyler/Lonvgview area so I was alone. I turned on the rabbit ears TV while fixing some dinner and the only channel I could get was a local Tyler station with a Billy Graham Crusade on. Yea, you guest it; the rest is history. I prayed with the good folks on the other end of the phone, committed my life to Christ and met with my pastor when I got home. God is so mysterious and great!
Athletics: Chris is a Clermont-based runner and could also be called a mountaineer, adventurer and triathlete. He has competed in running events since 1995. He considers his most notable athletic achievements as completing the last Western States 100-mile endurance run, two other 100-mile races, numerous other ultras and marathons, and most recently qualifying for the 2009 Boston Marathon.
Personal: Chris lives in Clermont. He is married to Deborah who is a much more talented runner. He has two sons, Cole and Austin, and one daughter, Kenna.
Professional: Chris is a regional sales manager for Aacer Flooring, a manufacturer of athletic surfacing based near Green Bay, WI.
About FCA-E: I was involved in “traditional” FCA in high school and college through football. I recognize FCA as “the heart and soul of sports” and when I discovered FCA Endurance ministries in early 2006, this was a perfect fit for my growing faith. I realize how much more my faith can grow! It is a natural expression to wear the colors and be an example to promote and challenge folks as to “why do they race”?
About my personal mission: It grows and morphs to the Lord (almost) every day but I’d summarize it to say: “to glorify God and enjoy Him thoroughly through obedience”
How I came to Christ: I have been a Christian as long as I can remember, having been raised in a church-going family though I never really connected to the messages of my youth. I was saved in college through Campus Crusade and from college through about 2003 lived a highly “cultural” Christian lifestyle. Due to extremely real and humbling events in my life, and mostly due to my sinful life choices of my past, my faith has grown since 2004 and in particular on my 36th birthday, May 22, 2007, I truly surrendered to the Lord in what I think most would describe as “born again”. The results have been well – EVERYTHING! Pain, joy, success, setback – BUT all with a much closer walk with the Lord.
Athletics: Roy is an Orlando area raclette and has competed for 5 years. He considers his most notable athletic achievements as qualifying and competing in the USAT nationals and finishing on the podium for his group in many Florida competitions.
Events of note are:
- 1st MiamiMan International, Clermont super sprint and UCF sprint.
- 3rd in the Florida regional championships, St Anthony’s Olympic and Clermont triathlon series.
Based on the Lord’s prompting and circumstances, going from flailing at attempts to gain health while being 275, eating a worldly diet, and working out in a worldly way to a competitive age group athlete that is in the best fitness of his life – at 50! It was 100 percent the Lord's thing – and I will tell you about it if you ask.
Personal: Roy lives in Orlando. He is married to Amy who is also a CPA and works as the Internal Audit Director at UCF and has three sons Roy III, Nathan and Kelly.
Professional: Roy is a financial consultant who owns the business iCFO which provides interim financial services to businesses; such as CFO, controller, audit, and fraud analysis services. He is a Certified Public Accountant and Internal Auditor. He has been in the finance, accounting, and audit business for more than 20 years.
About FCA-E: I felt a calling to encourage men to be more open about their faith. I also felt a need for a venue for people caught in the diet and workout industry profit machine, trying to figure out how to be healthy. I struggled for a venue to further this calling and while at St Anthony’s triathlon in April 2007, the Tampa huddle was there with a booth. I instantly realized FCA was the platform to move these callings to action and do much more. I joined FCA-E as soon as I returned to Orlando and started the Orlando huddle. I now see 2009 as being a huge year for the Orlando huddle to implement many of the experimental training (athletic and biblical), service, and group competition ideas we have had over the past years. This web site is a major communication tool for that effort.
My personal mission: My mission in life is diverse. I am a drummer in my church praise band and am about to help launch the endowment committee. I am also a teammate in Orlando FCA-E huddle that will help encourage open but individualistic displays of faith, growth in faith of the FCA-E athletes, and “soft” evangelism to other athletes, family members, and friends. I am also in the UCF TriKnight triathlon club and I am a father/husband as well as a business man and consider those missions for the Lord.
How I came to Christ: I decided I would investigate various faiths to determine what this life was all about. Which was “right”? I started by reading a Bible my wife bought for me from cover to cover every Saturday at a local Jewish bagel shop. Totally ironic. Somewhere in there, I am pretty sure it was Isaiah where there is one of many prophesies about the coming of Christ, and a study guide reference to the new testament where this prophesies was played out, I got it …. I was overwhelmed with knowledge, understanding, emotion, and the wisdom of what I had read and what had actually happened. I was blind … and then I could see. I learned later that was the moment that the Spirit was turned loose in me. And the rest is history.