The Fellowship of Christian Athletes reports that the group distributed nearly 200,000 Bibles to student-athletes in 2022.
The FCA also celebrated its 68th anniversary this year.
According to CBN News, since its launch, the ministry has given out three million Bibles with the "commitment to utilizing Scripture."
"I believe one of the reasons God continues to bless the Fellowship of Christian Athletes is our focus on growing our Bible ministry," said FCA President and CEO Shane Williamson. "We are committed to God's Word and biblical truth, and we continue to be amazed at what God is doing to get His Word into the hands of coaches and athletes around the world."
The 2022 theme for FCA was "Every," based on Ephesians 1:3, which says, "All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ."
"For 67 years, it has been FCA's priority to make Jesus known throughout the world," Williamson said. "We have a wonderful gift to give to our coaches and athletes, the hope and truth of Christ through His everlasting Word!"
In 1956, the FCA printed its first "Athlete's Bible" for its annual camp. Each year the cover and theme changed, but the Bible quickly became a popular resource.
In 2003, along with other FCA resources, the ministry introduced a Sports New Testament, which included testimonies from professional athletes and coaches. Some one million of these materials have been printed.
Later that year, the Coach's Bible was launched, which included 365 devotions written by and for coaches.
In 2006, FCA printed its first Spanish language New Testament. The resource has since been translated into other languages and expanded to other materials offered by the FCA, including the Athlete devotional in Spanish and Chinese, the Chinese Sports Devotional Bible, the Japanese Baseball New Testament and the Russian Coach's Bible.
Most recently, in 2013, FCA joined with YouVersion to release electronic versions of the Athletes' Bible. Today, FCA offers over 50 Bible reading plans through its app, all available in multiple languages.
Photo courtesy: Tim Wildsmith/Unsplash
Amanda Casanova is a writer living in Dallas, Texas. She has covered news for ChristianHeadlines.com since 2014. She has also contributed to The Houston Chronicle, U.S. News and World Report and IBelieve.com. She blogs at The Migraine Runner.
