Central & Western Massachusetts FCA Blog

Henri Nouwen said, "Labors of love build community". Here is an amazing example how an FCA donor, Charbel Najem, served two young athletes within the FCA community. Charbel Najem is a Worcester developer and real estate investor. He is a man of God who has a genuine heart for helping, especially our youth, learn fundamental skills of serving others through networking and building wealth that can be used for the Kingdom of God. The two athletes are Tom Barnes (Left) and Emi Pastorino (right). Tom and Emi are both 17 years-old and entering their senior year of high school. Tom is active in the Monday night athlete huddle on Zoom and is a varsity basketball player who has a desire to build his own clothing brand called, Delve, to encourage his peers to dig deeper beneath the surface of life and to share the message of God. Emi is the FCA Huddle leader at Fitchburg High School and a varsity football player. Emi is growing a successful sneaker resale business and also wants to grow his brand. One day, after our Monday night athlete's huddle, I started to think about ways to empower two entrepreneurial minded kids. I immediately thought of Charbel and asked him if he would be willing to let two teenagers shadow him for a week. He didn't hesitate to respond with a resounding, "YES!" I then pitched it to Tom and Emi and they loved the idea. So, o n Monday, July 12th, I drove two rather groggy teenagers to Worcester for their first day with Charbel. On the first day, they spent a couple of hours getting to know each other as Charbel interviewed them to understand what their life ambitions where at this stage in life. He spoke to them about investing, the life of investing, the heart of investing and how it can be used to get you to where you want to go in life and to honor God. From there, Charbel took them to an investor open house he had already put together to show potential flippers and investors a multi-family that they could purchase. With notebooks and pens in hand, Emi and Tom shadowed Charbel, watched, listened and learned. After the open-house, everyone who came to the open-house went out to lunch together. As Charbel texted me pictures of the boys interacting with people at lunch, I knew something special was happening. After lunch they came back to the office and Charbel spent a couple of hours white boarding some processes regarding practical ways to build their credit as teenagers and the importance of good credit in this life. Then he spoke to them about fear. He encouraged them that if their heart is in the right place and their intentions are good, they have nothing and nobody to fear. On the way home from their first day, I asked them what stood out to them. Tom really liked learning the process of investing and he saw it as a tool to get him to where he really wants to be. Emi saw that, even though they were all investors together, they all wanted to see each other succeed. As Emi put it, "everybody eats". That was just the first day and they were all excited for the rest of the week. Day after day, Charbel took them wherever he went and included them in everything he did. He even took them to help someone negotiate and buy a car. The kids really enjoyed having the practical side of life explained to them and then being given real life examples of how to reinforce what they were learning. For example, Charbel took a couple of hours to teach them about "body language". What their body language is communicating and how to read other people's body languages. All the while, the guys are taking notes and soaking in the wisdom. Afterward, Charbel took them to meet with an investor from Boston. The guys started reading the body language right away. When they got back to the office, Charbel reviewed their observations with them about that person's body language and discussed how to apply what they are reading about people. Charbel also talked with them the importance of tithing and using your riches for the Kingdom. That giving of your time, talent and treasure are the greatest networking tools available. In the car driving to Worcester on the morning of their last day with Charbel, Tom and Emi asked, "are we going to keep going next week too?" Emi said, "I learned more in one week with Charbel than I did my entire school year last year". They are hungry for more and I know so many other kids who are desiring acknowledgement, affirmation and wisdom right now. These two boys are motivated to accomplish something, make a difference and to honor God. It dawned on me, as much as we wonder what is going on in the minds of our stressed out, video game, phone addicted youth, they are wondering "how do I make a difference?". Charbel answered that question for them in one week. There is one very powerful thing that will flip a young person's sense of entitlement to a sense of empowerment, and that is love. For one week an FCA donor spent time with two student-athletes and potentially changed the whole trajectory of their future simply by giving of his time and wisdom. They now trust that there truly are people who are in it for them. I know there are many people who would love to do something like this for the youth, if even for one day, but they don't know where to look for those kids. FCA is becoming the pool for those who want to pour into our youth to wade in. Come to our functions. Engage in conversation with me. The first step is to just engage. I will learn your heart, learn your gifts and talents and then we can come up with a plan together. As we continue to build the foundations of the FCA community, I pray for God to raise up people to engage in the mission of using sports to share the message of Jesus Christ. People can engage as donors, coaches, board members, join the staff or be a powerful volunteer to lend their gifts, talents, homes and/or facilities to the mission of leading every coach and athlete into a relationships with Jesus Christ and His Church. Lastly, I would love to hear your ideas on how we can continue to build community by serving our youth. Please shoot me an email if you have any thoughts, dbarnes@fca.org. I feel so privileged to be a part of an organization such as FCA. Thank you for making it possible through your prayer, financial support and genuine concern for the Kingdom of God. God bless you.