Vulnerability opens doors to growth
When Jax Hudson first appeared at Chapman University in 2023, he was coming off an injury and looking to restart his football career in a new environment far from home. Meanwhile, McKenna Nolasco was on her own journey, one that had detoured onto an unexpected path that didn’t include the sport she loved and had grown up playing.
Hudson transferred to the Orange, California, university after playing at Tiffin University in his home state of Ohio as a freshman. The kicker said his dad is an atheist, and his mom grew up attending church “but didn’t really practice.” As a high school student, Hudson was introduced to God and started attending church with friends.
He enrolled at Tiffin and was a member of the football team, but after an injury, he knew his life had veered off course.
Jax Hudson
“I realized I wasn’t being the Christian guy I thought I was,” Hudson said. “Everything that mattered to me was wrapped up in my sport. I needed to change the scenery; being in that place wasn’t good for me mentally, spiritually or physically.”
So, he took a gap semester and then made the move to Chapman. There, he says, “God humbled me in a lot of ways.” It was also where he first became involved in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
By then, Nolasco was a fixture in Chapman’s FCA Huddle. A decorated athlete who played on both the boy's and girl's soccer teams at her high school and won team and league MVP honors in soccer, basketball and volleyball, sports weren’t all she knew about when she came to Chapman. Unlike Hudson, Nolasco doesn’t remember a time when she wasn’t a part of a church. Plus, she attended a Christian school from preschool until she graduated from high school. Being around the Christian faith was normal for her.
“It was routine,” she said. “I definitely believed (in God). I served on the worship team at school and was involved in different clubs. But, I’ll say that I feel like I just got attuned to that routine and didn’t go out of my way to work on and practice my faith. I didn’t know what it looked like to really practice my faith.”
Finding a deeper connection through FCA
But when Hudson and Nolasco were invited to the FCA Huddle by teammates, their lives changed.
McKenna Nolasco
“Coming here (to Chapman) and to FCA, I was able to, for the first time, take charge of my faith and be independent,” Nolasco said. “I’ve seen God work through my life where I never thought I would.”
God was even there when Nolasco made the unexpected decision to hang up her cleats. Following her sophomore season, she stopped playing the sport she loved.
“I thought for sure I was going to play college soccer for four years,” she said. “Soccer was everything. Then I realized that it’s not.”
Like Nolasco, Hudson’s faith and involvement in FCA and a local church changed his outlook on life and his relationship with God.
“I just kind of took off with my faith,” he said. “Now I feel like God’s really blessed me with a lot of opportunities and gifts.”
One of those gifts is the ability to lead, which he exercises as the co-president of Chapman’s FCA Huddle. The other co-president? Nolasco.
Vulnerability in fellowship
Together with several other student leaders and Orange County FCA College Representative Christine Dickerson, Hudson and Nolasco help Chapman students of many backgrounds and experiences encounter God’s love. And those encounters happen in part because of others’ vulnerability.
“FCA provides a place where you can dig in and be vulnerable,” Nolasco said. “I think that’s the hardest part. You have to be super vulnerable when you are talking and developing a relationship with God because you have to be humble enough to recognize how broken you are and then come to God from that place.
“So, being in FCA is the first time I have felt that I can be vulnerable and relate to people in ways I wouldn’t have known otherwise,” she continued. “There’s an extra level that you get to in the Huddles. I’ve seen a lot of people come to FCA and open up about their faith journey. And we’re all in different places. I’ve never been exposed to that kind of environment before. It’s so powerful. I can’t say that I’ve ever had a group of people to whom I’ve been able to talk like that and have that fellowship on a deep spiritual level.”
Building a transparent, supportive community
That relational depth has helped Chapman’s FCA grow as students from all walks of life become involved. There were some students Hudson was surprised to see at a Huddle gathering. He’s excited that they feel comfortable enough to be a part of it.
“We’re very transparent,” he said. “It’s come as you are. There are no prerequisites. We’re not saying you have to be a believer. We want to see how many people we can get here so we can let them know (about God’s love) and they can be exposed to God, His word and things they wouldn’t know otherwise. It’s awesome to get to develop a relationship with them on a deeper level than just as teammates.”
Dickerson said that mentality counters societal norms, which makes Chapman’s FCA Huddle an attractive group for students to get to know.
“We’re taught at such a young age not to be vulnerable and to have it all together,” she said. “Don’t show your emotions. That gets brought into the room. Christianity can be intimidating because of that. So, I encourage our leaders to think about what it looks like to allow others into that space. What is God doing in the midst of that vulnerability? How can they be the salt and light on campus, love others who are different than us and show them that we might have different beliefs or theologies — but also show I can still love you, and we can still do this life together? And through that, we can also share the gospel.”
Bridging faith across campuses
The Chapman students see that reflected in their love for each other and in their worship alongside Huddles from other local colleges and universities. A few times each semester, they meet with FCA members from Vanguard University, Cal State Fullerton, UC Irvine and Biola University for a night of worship, testimony sharing and Scripture study. The gatherings make a large world seem smaller.
“Even if their story wasn’t exactly like yours, you could see how we all have our own story and how God works through all of us in different ways,” Nolasco said. “It connected us because we can relate to each other on a certain level. In those moments, I felt God’s presence.”
Hudson has been a featured speaker at a few of the gatherings with the other schools. The events are reminders of how God works beyond his campus’ borders.
“Everyone has gone through ups and downs,” he said. “And the only way out of it is through Christ.”
As co-presidents of Chapman’s Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Hudson and Nolasco embody the impact of choosing faith and fellowship. They have helped create a space where students can come as they are, share their stories and encounter God’s love amid their challenges. Once marked by doubt and detours, their paths have led them to a place where they can inspire others to find meaning and connection in their lives.
Together, they’ve shown that life's detours often lead not away from purpose but straight toward it.
Article originally appeared on FCA.org, the official website of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes
