As a student at St. Paul’s Episcopal High School in Mobile, Ala., Jake Peavy participated in the school’s FCA Huddle, and he hasn’t forgotten his roots. Now at the big league level, Peavy lends a hand to FCA Area Representative Cary Lowery at the annual South Alabama FCA Winter Baseball Clinic. There he teams up with other major leaguers, both active and retired, to teach kids about two important topics: Christ and baseball.
“He’s such a natural fit for the clinic,” said Lowery, who first met Peavy when the pitcher was a sophomore in high school and Lowery was a local student pastor who helped with FCA. “He’s the kind of guy the kids respond to. And he’s really receptive to this kind of event because he really wants to give back to the community.”
Being around the group of fellow Christian ballplayers also is a blessing to Peavy, who sees Christian fellowship as one of the main benefits of FCA.
“If you didn’t have FCA in the schools and in the community, it would be tough for the athletes in the high schools and colleges to become one and really build friendships,” he said. “When you build friendships, you can go out and start making a difference in your school and community, and I think that’s what FCA brings to the table.”
Peavy’s fellowship with Christian athletes extends through FCA in the offseason and into another activity he enjoys: hunting. Each year, a group of former and current ballplayers goes on a hunting trip with the purpose of both experiencing fellowship and growing together in the Word of God.
Included in that group is former major league outfielder Turner Ward, now the manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Class A State College Spikes, who expressed how much he has seen God working in Peavy’s life.
“Knowing Jake personally and how he handles success, you would never guess that he’s one of the top pitchers in baseball,” said Ward. “And one of the things that sticks out to me about Jake is how he uses failures as life lessons. I think people see Christians on platforms and think they don’t make mistakes, but that’s where Christianity is. Even when we’re failing, it is so that Christ can display His strength in our weakness—not that we accept failure, but that when we do experience it, we know where to turn.” 
