Rodeo and Faith - Brit Ellerman

Brit Ellerman

Team Roper and Tie-down Roper for the University of Wyoming

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"You are a once in all history event."

Brit Ellerman is firmly convinced that each person has something unique, and if we don't show it that, then that is a piece of God that the world will never see. He lives this message each day by making the most of the opportunities that God puts in front of him.

Brit was introduced to roping at an early age. Born into a rodeo family, he was blessed to have a 5-time National Finals Rodeo qualifier for a dad, as well as a mother and sister who rope and love to rodeo. His early exposure to the sport has grown into a love and desire to turn pro.

He first competed in Junior Rodeo at age 5 and continued practicing and improving as he grew. Brit earned an invitation to a Young Pros roping camp when he was 12. There he met Jeff and Carol Hogner, and his life was forever changed. Not only did they provide excellent roping instruction, they shared the love of Jesus with the participants. Thanks to their faithfulness, Brit began his personal relationship with Christ which has had a domino effect to his family and all he meets.

The next summer, Brit as Hogners if he could travel with them. They said yes, and he joined their team of young ropers who loved Jesus in ministering to kids wherever they went. This opened the door for Brit to become comfortable sharing his faith publicly and the important skill of building relationships.

He continued traveling with Young Pros throughout high school as well as competing (and winning) roping competitions and playing basketball. He earned a roping scholarship to the University of Wyoming and is currently in his junior year there. Life was very good and he was sure of the direction he was taking.

During his sophomore year of college, Brit found that not everything came to him easily. His courses were difficult, he wasn't winning at roping like he was used to, and he found himself questioning the path he was on. His relationships were suffering too as his thoughts circled around himself and about what he was going to do.

\He was getting down on himself and becoming depressed. As he continued to wonder if he should drop out of college and leave roping, Brit finally sought advice from a Godly friend. He was challenged to consider that just because things were hard, that was not a reason to quit. IF God was calling him into something different, that was fine, but giving up because things weren't going his way? There was more to life and God's purpose for him than how he was feeling in the struggles of the moment.

As he continued to search out God and His plans for his life, Brit realized that his identity and purpose were not based on how well he did in the arena or in his classes. He was able to overcome the frustrations and uncertainty through focusing on using the gifts and talents that God had given him to reach out to others. When he took the focus off himself, he regained perspective on people and the world around him.

Brit's competitive nature and discipline has driven him to train and excel whatever he puts his hand to, but he has an additional motivator: doing everything to honor God. On the days when his is tempted to slack off schooling or cut corners in training, he is reminded that he is not doing these things only for himself. He has learned that being ReMade isn't necessarily a one-time thing. We wake up new each day, with all we need to go through that day.

1 Timothy 4:12 "Get the word out. Teach all these things. And don't let anyone put you down because you're young. Teach believers with your life: by word, by demeanor, by love, by faith, by integrity. Stay at your post reading scripture, giving counsel, teaching." Brit Ellerman personifies this verse. He may be young, but he is bold and lets no one and nothing hold him back. He is ReMade every day, and sharing the unique parts of God in him with the world.

 

 

SPONSORED BY: ReMade Apparel

Rodeo and Faith - Dale Hirschman

When was the first time you heard about Christ? When did you receive him as your personal Lord and Savior?
I grew up in church but didn't hear about the salvation message until I was 13 or 14 yrs old. I thought it was a no-brainer to receive Jesus, so I did. While in college I really committed my life to Jesus and started living for Him. I had high morals but no relationship with Him until I got involved in FCA at college. When I became a real Christian it was long enough ago that being a Christian and being a cowboy wasn't hardly heard of. It was at the start of the Christian movement in the rodeo world. At that time a "Cowboy Church" was unheard of.


You accepted Christ early in your career, how did you apply him to your rodeo effort? (Especially throughout high school, college, and all your rodeo travels)
As I was saying earlier being a Christian and a rodeo cowboy was very rare when I started so, I had a tough time at 1st with the two going together. In Eph. 4:1 it says to "walk worthy of the vocation wherein you were called" I figured I was a PRCA bareback rider (not that I was making much of a living at it, but I was trying) so I started to let my light shine at the rodeos I was at and acknowledge Him in all my ways, plus God was moving in other Cowboys' hearts and that's when my 2 worlds started combining. Being a Christian and a cowboy became more common.


Throughout your career, you have had many qualifications to the Prairie Circuit Finals and have won many other events how do you feel Christ has played a role in this?
Any success I've obtain in rodeo was really affected by Col. 3:23 becoming real in my life. My worldly success in rodeo hasn't been as much as I wanted but to pull into a rodeo and compete as an act of worship to my Heavenly Father is a phenomenal feeling and became my goal every time I "nodded my head".


Tell us about your Ultimate Challenge Ministries and what inspired you to start this ministry?
The name "Ultimate Challenge Ministries" came to me once when I saw an add for the WNFR and they called it the "Ultimate Challenge". I thought, "No, it's not because it's limited by physical abilities, demographics, age, etc. However, following Jesus daily is the "Ultimate Challenge" because it's open to everyone, everywhere, at any time and it never runs out. And that became the name of our ministry when we became a registered ministry. I never set out to start a ministry. Another student while I was in college started holding church services at the college rodeos in the Central Plains Region where we were competing and he left the season early so I stepped in and did the last cowboy church service and the ministry started from that. That was in the spring of 1980 and we've been holding them ever since.


Through your ministry, you have the opportunity to share Christ to others, what does this mean to you?
Through my life I've had the opportunity to share Jesus with others. I've got GREAT NEWS to share... I have the love and acceptance of the Greatest Father, the forgiveness of the Greatest Savior, and the help of the Greatest Helper, and the Greatest Purpose to live everyday! I love to encourage people and in that process point them towards a relationship with Jesus.


Can you explain to us the book you wrote The Cowboy Call.
The book I wrote was fulfilling of a life long dream I had to write and illustrate a book. "The Cowboy Call" is a book of short stories/ testimonies about God's faithfulness in everyday life. They are events that I've been a part of or that I've seen. It was written to encourage people in their everyday walk with Jesus. We've gotten quite a few good reports from people about it and I believe everyone in the western world should read it. (just sayin' c: )


How do you and your family stay so connected in the word?
My family and I stayed connected in the Word through nightly family devotions and going to our home church. I personally have committed to read God's Word every day. Some days I read a lot, a lot I read a little, but, I try to read some everyday.


What is your favorite Bible story/verse and why?
My favorite Bible verses: For everyday living I really like Pro. 3; for my Father's heart towards us I love Luke 15 the prodigal son story. I believe it's more about our Father's heart towards us than it is about the son''s failures. The scriptures for tough times I like II Corin 4:8-9 & II Corin. 5:14 (KJV).

There are many young athletes who are just starting their rodeo career, what are some encouraging thoughts you have for them?
For young contestants starting out; Jesus is not a "good-luck charm" He is a real and loving God who wants an intimate everyday relationship with you! And the greatest thing you can do is compete as an act of worship to Him, fellowship with Him in every area of your life, and stand strong for Him allowing your warrior heart to show forth in everything you do.

Faith and Rodeo - Chuck Swisher

 

How did you get started bullfighting? 

My father rode Bulls and retired before I was born and I just got the idea in my head that I wanted to be a rodeo cowboy. I was a skateboarder until the age of 14ish. I made a transition from vans to boots and flat bill caps to cowboy hats. I thought I wanted to ride bulls like my dad but I was to scared. There was a cowboy/bullfighter that was a senior my freshman year of high school and I looked up to him and wanted to be like him. So I followed him around and my parents took me to a bullfighting school and the rest is history.

 

 

Can you share with us your testimony?

 I've "known" who God is my entire life, but I didn't really "know" Him. Grew up going to a Baptist church and as a young kid I was just excited for it to end and lunch to get here. I went to Fallscreek(church camp) when I was about 13 and one night at revival they did an alter call. I wasn't exactly sure what that was but a buddy(a kid I thought was cool) came up and said "chuck you should go down there, heck I'll go with you". So I thought if he's doing it I might as well, plus I wanted to be cool in front of my friends. I walked down to the front and was "saved" said the prayer and cried. But being a 13 yr old kid I didn't really know exactly what that meant. Few years pass and now I'm 21-22 and had some friends ask if I wanted to go to the Riding on Faith bullriding and bible camp. Once again these Friends of mine were the cool guys I wanted to hang out with. So I figured I'll go get to hang out with them, get to fight Bulls which I love and it'll be a great time. Needless to say when I got there it was a bible camp that just so happened to have Bulls at it. Went to church breakfast lunch and dinner and each night was a big sermon. One night we were praising and worshipping and the preacher said "now is the time if you haven't before and you really want to live for the Lord, now is the time." I hit my knees and I knew this time what I was saying. I ask God into my heart I confessed with my mouth and believed it in my heart. Iv never had such a peace come over me like that before. Laughed so hard, cried so hard all on my knees. Ever since, Swish is a Jesus Freak!!

 

How do you stay so connect in the word, especially since you are on the road?

Being on the road as much as we are is hard to have a set pattern of things to do. The good thing is there's a handful of rodeos that will have bible study each night after or church on Sunday's we get to go attend, such as Rodeo Houston. Ted and Linda Weise do bible study every night so it's hard not to stay connected that way. And I challenged myself as I challenged all of you. If God is the most important thing in your life like He should be, then He deserves our first. Which means when you wake up in the morning make facebook, Instagram and social media wait!! God deserves that moment. So the first thing I do is roll over grab my bible and give God my first. I thank Him for the day and read what He has for me that day. I know some days are harder than the others, but what's 5-10 minutes of your morning actually going to hurt? And if you have to be somewhere early set your alarm early and give that 5-10 minutes to God.

 

You have led bible studies and have had other opportunities to share Christ to others, what does this mean to you?

Getting to share my story and getting to share Gods story to people is one of the greatest things ever. I love being able to help people and love people like Jesus did for us. I plan on becoming a preacher some day, not sure when but I have a feeling that God is going to put me with a microphone in front of people to spread His word.

 

Do you have any crazy experiences bull fighting that you would like to share with us?

Every day is a crazy experience in my book. The group of guys we hang out with are all the best and that's because we push each other harder than anyone else. We are always goofing around and making each other better. The craziest or scariest bullfighting experience Iv ever had was probably walking 30 feet down the tunnel of the Thomas and Mack for the NFR. I was so nervous I stood close to the trash can the entire time I was warming up. But once I stepped foot in that dirt it was game on.

 

What is your favorite Bible story/verse and why?

Man this is a hard question. There are so many good stories in the bible, but the one that sticks out to me the most is probably David vs Goliath. David being a young kid having the amount of faith he had to fight Goliath being a 10 ft monster and he wins. It relates to my life just as me in this world. We all have hurdles to jump and hills to climb but we have to keep the faith and believe that God has our back because He does. My favorite bible verse is Romans 1:16. I'm a 11sixer all the way. It says "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile." I am unashamed and that's how we should all be I believe.

 

Throughout your career, you have won many bull fighting events how do you feel Christ has played a role in this?

I'm smiling big at this question. God has played such a huge roll in my life and my career. If it weren't for Him I wouldn't have done anything. He deserves all the glory. I was dead broke and it was the same time as the Riding on Faith camp and I had a bullfight in Cody, WYO the next week. Barely had enough money to get there and then had to fly to Vegas and drive to Utah after that. I went to the bullfight and my cup literally overfloweth. In my round of the bullfight the kid before me was 90 points and that's pretty huge. I knew I had to do my best to make any money. Needless to say I went 92. Ended up winning the bullfight and making enough money to get me to the next one. That was all God there. So He plays a roll in my everyday.

 

For those who are aspiring to have a career as a bullfighter, what encouraging thoughts do you have for them?

When I started I watched film everyday all day and still do. I had an old VHS tape that I watched so much you couldn't see what was happening because of the grey lines in the screen. Always give your best and if you have a true passion for something and God has your back you can do anything.

 

 

Faith and Rodeo - Candace Lostroh

Can you share with us your testimony? When did you start living all out for Christ?

Well, I always grew up in church.  You could say that I had “religion” but not a “relationship” with Jesus.  I really came to know God and started living for Him in high school.  At our high school rodeos we had some amazing men of God preach on Sunday mornings so I got hear about the real Jesus and how He did everything on the Cross to make me worthy for His love and I didn’t have a bunch of sacraments to complete to be worthy of His love I just had to accept Him into my heart.  What a relief!

 

Could you touch a little bit on the testimony of your marriage.

Kody and I started dating when we were 16 years old and we got married when we were 20 years old. Kody came to Jesus when he was about 14 years old so he kind of helped me along when I decided to leave the religion that I had grown up in and to just focus on what the Bible says.  That’s what I loved about him the most right from the beginning is that he loved Jesus more than he loved me and he saw to it that I grew in my faith.  He is always so encouraging to me in everything that I do.  If Jesus wasn’t at the center of our marriage I’m not sure we’d be happily married today.  Marriage is hard!  Jesus has to be at the center of it to make it work successfully.  We’re also really good at forgiving quickly.

 

What is it that pushes you and your family to dig deeper into His word on a daily basis?

I’ll be honest that sometimes life gets away from us.  I’ll be having a rough week and I’ll stop to realize that I seriously have not picked up my Bible in a few days.  That’s when I’ll try to and get in the Word and pray.  Kody and I love praying with our girls and teaching them about Jesus.  Also, worship music really ministers to me.  If I’m having a bad day or just stressed I’ll start up my worship playlist and my girls and me will get lost to Bethel or Jesus Culture.  Sheridan always has to point out that they’re singing about Jesus.  I love watching God shape their little hearts.  There’s also nothing better than starting and ending your day in prayer.  No matter what God always welcomes me back with open arms when I’ve wandered away from Him or messed up.  He’s so forgiving.

How do you and your family stay so connected in the word, especially since your husband is on the road often?

I’m really involved in our church at Northern Colorado Cowboy Church, so when he’s away traveling I still feel like I have a family around me.  Kody’s always reading books so when he’s on the road he’ll share with me what he’s reading and what it’s ministering to him about.  I wish we were better about praying over the phone, but a lot of times he’s calling me late at night after he’s rode and I’m half asleep.  The question I get asked more than anything is, “how do you deal with him riding bulls?  Don’t you get scared?”  If I stopped to think about what “could” happen for more than a nanosecond, yes, I do get scared.  But God’s Word says to take every thought
into captivity to the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5).  I pray for him a lot and I know that no matter what as long as we have God in our lives we have everything we need no matter what comes our way.  I also know that I’m doing my husband a disservice of I’m nervous and anxious for him as he rides because we are one flesh and if he’s not focusing on that then I shouldn’t be either.

 

 

Candace and her family

What is it like for you to share Christ to your children?

My girls are one year old and almost 3 years old and even though they’re both pretty young to fully understand a lot about Jesus and what He did for them, they’re not too young to learn about how much He loves them.  They know that mommy and daddy love them and they can feel that love from us, so we just share with them that Jesus loves them so much and even more than mommy and daddy do.  Our church has an amazing children’s ministry and I love hearing from Sheridan about what she learned in her class after church.  In Odessa’s class they put on worship music for the babies and all I hear about is how much she rocks out when she hears the music, haha! I think that’s just about the sweetest thing to watch is your babies praising Jesus!

 

 

What would you tell other wives of athletes who would their marriage to be more about Him but experience their husband gone often due to rodeo/ bull riding travels?

My ultimate advice is to prayer for your husband. Lift him up to God in his workplace, his faith, his health and just pray that in every area in his life that he will have favor with man and with God.  I also pray to God to change my heart if there’s a particular thing that I want changed in my husband.  I need to look at myself first and see if there’s something that I’m lacking in my walk with God before I start putting my finger on something in my husband’s walk.

 

Tell me about your blog 'Cooped Up Cowboy's Wife' and what inspired you to start it.

I’ve always loved to write and I love getting to share my interests and my faith with others and blogging is a perfect platform to do that.  My good friend, Kirste Wegele and I started Cooped Up Cowboy’s Wife about a year ago and it’s been so much fun.  We write posts on anything from our kiddos, to catching cows, to refinishing furniture, to fashion, and my personal favorite is getting to interview other women out there that live the same kind of life that we do.  We are so blessed that we get to meet some amazing women through this little blog and we’ve become friends with people all over the world who we would have never have come in contact with if it weren’t for our blog.  I also just love getting to encourage other woman.  I’ve seen that so many people in the blogging world think that it’s a competition against other bloggers to get readers or to get the most “likes” but to us it’s not.  We just love getting to help other people get started in pursuing their dreams and it just makes what we’re doing so rewarding! Just go for it and do what God tells you to do!