Meet Our Student Leaders: Joshua Ramos

As the Fall 2022 semester began for students at Concord University just over a month ago, Concord’s FCA returned as well to greet a multitude of faces—new and old.

Following the graduation of several leadership members from last spring, FCA is excited to introduce several new members to the leadership team at Concord University. In this article, you’ll get a closer look at offensive lineman Joshua Ramos, his journey with FCA, the positive impact the organization has made on his life, and what a typical FCA meeting looks like at Concord.

Josh is a fifth-year senior from Fontana, California. He received his associate degree from Chaffey College in Rancho Cucamonga, CA, and transferred to Concord University to continue his football career with the Mountain Lions in Fall 2020. He has been here since then and is scheduled to graduate this semester with a bachelor’s degree in ­­health science with an emphasis in exercise science.

Josh heard about FCA through one of his teammates on the football team (who joined as an FCA leader this year as well) during his first semester and continued to show up each week.

He went on to explain what transpires at a Concord FCA meeting.

“We come in, greet everybody, and do fellowship, then we play an icebreaker game to help get to know everyone and make [them] a little more comfortable, especially if it’s their first time being there. After that, we’ll do two songs of worship, and then we’ll have the word brought to us from one of the leaders. At the end, we’ll take prayer requests and close and a lot of us will stay after and talk for a bit.”

The meetings usually last about an hour and allow students to have an enjoyable bible study and socialize with each other. In our one-on-one session, Josh discussed how FCA has served as a great catalyst for his spiritual growth and deepening his relationship with Christ.

“Before FCA, I really didn’t have a relationship with God. I’ve always believed in him and went to church, but I didn’t realize what it meant to have a relationship with him before I started coming to FCA. I never realized how low my faith really was. I never knew how much more there was to being a Christian than just believing.”

Later, Josh expanded this thought and described the lasting impact FCA has had on his life.

“I hadn’t really read the Bible until I came here to Concord. FCA really helped with developing my relationship with the Lord and having more faith, and just [recognizing] that he's always there for me in every situation. And that this is something that won't stop when I leave here, it's just going to continue and my relationship with him will just keep getting better.”

As it has done for countless individuals in the past, FCA operated as the facilitator for discipleship in Josh’s life and remains an important part of spreading the gospel. Josh’s favorite message from FCA was Jesus’s sermon on the mount in Matthew 5-7 and the seriousness of sin and how we’re held to higher standard as Christians.

“It really brought my attention to how much more [is expected of us], how much better we’re supposed to be than what we think, and how there are more ways to sin than I thought.”

Following that strong message in Matthew and progressing in scripture reading and comprehension, Josh felt drawn to leadership.

“Toward the end of this last semester, I knew that there were a lot of seniors that were leaving and felt like it was my time to step up and be a leader and try and fill the shoes that they left behind.”

Currently, Josh is unsure of his plans beyond graduation this December, but he believes FCA is the first step and “whatever [God] calls him to do, he’ll do.”

As Josh’s favorite verse Proverbs 19:21 says, “Many plans are in a person’s heart, but the Lord’s decree will prevail” (CSB).

We are excited to see what God has in store for Josh and the rest of the FCA Leadership team at Concord University for the 2022-23 school year. This school year, we hope Concord’s FCA impacts not just athletes, but the entire student body.