Mark Foster
Rising Senior
From spiritual isolation . . . to Christian fellowship
"As a teen-ager in Northern Ireland, I was converted through a soccer camp conducted by missionaries from Christ Presbyterian Academy (CPA) in Nashville, but when those missionaries returned home, I went through a difficult period. I needed the spiritual support and community that I had found with the missionaries, and I could not find the spiritual answers that I sought.
"I had always dreamed of playing professional soccer after high school, but when that dream did not become a reality, I became a carpenter. I did not realize then that the failure of my dream to get into professional soccer would someday make me eligible to play collegiate soccer and gain a university education, something that I had never dreamed would be possible.
"I met Trevecca soccer coach Jeff Carr when I visited my CPA friends to help with a soccer program. Coach Carr asked me to enroll in Trevecca and play soccer there, but returning to school did not interest me.
"After I returned to Ireland, Coach Carr kept calling me and asking me to visit Trevecca—at least. I finally agreed to visit, and what I experienced on that visit made me decide that at Trevecca I could find the community and spiritual support that I had been seeking.
"At Trevecca I found professors who are willing to help students succeed—but they don’t accept excuses. With my learning disability, completing schoolwork has been a challenge for me, requiring me to spend much time, but I have completed my junior year and will graduate next year with a major in sports management. Because I found Christ through a soccer ministry, I want to use my soccer skills in a Christian ministry. Soccer will be my way to tell others about Jesus.
"At Trevecca I found the Christian fellowship that I had been seeking since I was first introduced to Christ."
Mark is from Belfast, Northern Ireland, and is a member of the Trevecca men’s soccer team. When he is not studying or working on campus, he accepts any opportunity to coach soccer. During the spring 2008 semester, he had an internship at a local private school, working with the coaching staff.
