Deyo didn’t say much as he walked the grounds with Legacy board member Bob Hartenstein, but he returned unannounced for several days in a row after that to pray for guidance about the decision.
“On a Sunday afternoon, (Hartenstein) saw me walking the property,” said Deyo, a longtime chaplain for the Cincinnati Reds and Bengals. “I said, ‘From what I understand based on what I heard you say, God wants you to build a ministry mall here. And this may be a bit presumptuous on our part, but I believe God wants us to be your anchor store.’ ”
Although the facilities were in disrepair, Deyo could see the potential and accepted Legacy’s offer to take over seven of the 40 buildings for $1 a year and some minimal utility costs, making it the ministry’s World Training and Resource Center.
Seven other Christian-based organizations also have offices on the grounds, but Athletes in Action is the Macy’s of the bunch. With the help of an anonymous $12 million donation, AIA has refurbished four dormitories and a conference and retreat center and turned 60 acres into a state-of-the-art sports complex with plush synthetic turf.
There are two soccer fields and two softball fields with natural amphitheater seating in the grass, a baseball stadium with bullpens and batting cages on both sides, a football field surrounded by an all-weather track and a volleyball court.
There’s also a nerve-rattling challenge course with elements set as high as 40 feet in the air.
Deyo left AIA in 2000 and now runs the King’s Domain camp ministry near Lebanon, but he is amazed by what has sprouted from his original vision on that scenic, campus-like setting.
“They’ve done a phenomenal job of doing it with excellence, which is one of the values Athletes in Action has embraced from the beginning,” he said.
Athletic tradition
AIA officials view their athletic complex as a way to train their own teams and minister to others. But while the facilities may be new to the property, sports always were seen as a healthy outlet by the inhabitants of those grounds down through the ages.
According to information posted on the Greene County Public Library’s Web site, seeing the plight of many families of fallen soldiers from the Civil War, a group of veterans known as the Grand Army of the Republic financed a home for orphans in Xenia in 1869. A year later, the home was moved to its present location on farmland purchased south of town and became known as the Ohio Soldiers and Sailers Orphans Home, which eventually housed 13,500 children and fielded some powerhouse athletic teams through the 1960s.
“Everybody hated to play them,” said Terri Bullman, the director of conferences and the retreat center for Athletes in Action. “If you were a boy and lived on this campus, you were required to train like you were part of the Air Force. Every boy who was here was fit and in shape.
“They had an incredible football team — for years they were undefeated. Their basketball team was phenomenal. Wrestling was unbeatable. People were afraid to play these guys.”
But the numbers at the state-owned facility — which in 1978 changed its name to the Ohio Veterans Children’s Home — dwindled with the rise of foster care, and the last tenants left in 1997.
With minimal upkeep taking place over its final years, some of the buildings were in dire shape. But Legacy Ministries International President Bud Schindler wanted to buy the facility for Xenia Christian School and began negotiating with Greene County, which had taken ownership of the property.
He offered $1.3 million for three buildings and 20 acres, but the county didn’t want to parcel out the land. He eventually purchased all 40 structures and the wooded grounds for $1.8 million and began mapping out plans to house the school and create a ministry center and retirement village.
Samaritan’s Purse, which is headed by Franklin Graham, the son of renowned evangelist Billy Graham, is among those that moved in. And Legacy currently has 36 homes for retirees with other applicants on a waiting list.
“One of my passions from the very beginning with bringing Xenia Christian here and from years ago was to show the world that Christians can work together,” Schindler said. “We may not dot the I’s the same way, but we all have the same goal.”
No loans needed
Athletes in Action, which is affiliated with Campus Crusade for Christ, is unique among ministries in its use of sports as a platform to share the Christian message.
AIA has about 40 teams with roughly 600 athletes and coaches who compete around the globe in various sports. And with revamped dormitories and an athletic complex to call its own, AIA can give its squads ample practice time and nurture them spiritually before sending them out.
“We really saw this as a place where lives could be changed,” said Jason Lester, director of the sports complex and conference center. “That’s our motto. It was definitely a faith-oriented process, trusting God to provide the funds to do so. We knew it would take phases to accomplish that. A lot of friends of the ministry have been very gracious to us. I think they saw the vision of it, too.”
After moving in seven years ago and completing its administrative offices and dorms, AIA erected the stadiums and fields at a dizzying pace — all without taking out a single loan.
In addition to the $12 million donation, AIA has raised more than $3 million for facilities, including $1.7 million to complete the baseball stadium — known as Grady’s Field — with permanent stands and club seats for 550.
“There are a few bells and whistles that still need to be done, some black-topping and some pavers, but for the most part this has just been an incredible experience to see God’s work being done in the midst of the economy being the way it is,” Bullman said.
Because of the top-of-the-line artificial surfaces and reasonable rental fees, the complex has become a popular destination for teams of all levels.
The Ohio High School Athletic Association staged its state girls soccer semifinals here two years ago when rain turned all other sites into mud pits. The baseball teams from Wright State and the University of Dayton traditionally hold their February practices at the lighted stadium, which can handle extreme weather since even the basepaths have a layer of synthetic turf. And local high school football teams and marching bands routinely rent the facilities for overnight camps.
“They’re very good people to work with,” said Mike Raiff, Chaminade Julienne High School’s athletic director. “They’re not giving anything away, that’s for sure, but for baseball in the spring when it’s 29 degrees, you can still play your games. And they’ve done an incredible job of subtly reminding you that the benefits of this place are driven off people of faith.”
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