When You Say Yes
When Eric Suddoth first started attending One Life Henderson, his intention was to lay low for a while after being highly involved in a church he had grown up in. After a year of blending into the crowd, he was approached about leading a middle school boys group. He said yes, and jumped in with both feet right away.
It has now been 2 years since Eric has launched his group, and it has grown from 2 boys he meets with weekly to 8 guys who are consistently being invested in by their leader. Rather than breaking for the summer, Eric took advantage of time building community with the guys in his group by meeting each Wednesday evening to swim, play games, & watch Netflix. He said the coolest experience forhim this summer was seeing the boys come back sharing about their experience with Jesus through prayer or reading their Bible, as he left them with a small challenge/encouragement each week. Eric expressed, “It was nothing extravagant, but quality time.” Quality time is how his few see him being present in their life. It’s quality time weekly that encourages Jack, one of his middle school boys, to share with people that Eric is like his counselor that he can talk to about anything and walk away feeling better than he did before. It’s how they see an adult showing up and creating a safe environment where they can belong and become.
“Last night Eric picked up ALL the boys and took them to Cairo for group. His car was 1 seat short for the number of boys he had to pick up. He bent over backwards making calls and got it all figured out so that every boy had a ride to and from group. This is not an uncommon thing for him. He always goes out of his way to make sure they all are included and looked after. Each of the boys know how important they are to him. It makes a huge difference.”-Amanda Waggener, Middle School Mom