Broad Run High School in Ashburn, Va., is growing in their fervor for shining light into the dark.
“The ministry is real new here in Loudoun County,” Derrick Ellison, Eastern Loudoun Area Director, explained. “They had some young ladies that kind of caught fire with the vision of FCA, and really wanted to go beyond what they had done and tried to grow it through loving kids for the Kingdom.”
Washington Redskins safety Reed Doughty spoke to the Huddle earlier this year.
A newly acquired leadership team turned to the direction of two full-time FCA staff members, two outside volunteers, and the football and boys’ basketball coaches as Huddle sponsors to cultivate an official Huddle that began in the 2013-14 school year.
“It’s been real encouraging for the kids to have a solid foundation in the school, and even in the athletic department with people who step out in their faith and come out and support these kids,” said Ellison.
“We have some really awesome students who love Jesus, and I’ve seen them grow so much in their willingness to share their faith and their own personal walk with God,” Katherine Watson, Associate Director of Rock Student Ministries at McLean Bible Church Loudoun, said. “It’s been really cool seeing them develop as leaders.”
Earlier this year, Washington Redskins safety Reed Doughty spoke to the Huddle about his faith and what a relationship with Christ personally means to him.
“Hearing what Mr. Doughty had to say was very inspirational for me by how he talked and expressed his faith, how he wasn’t afraid of it and how, like me, he didn’t understand until a much older age what it meant to be a believer,” Will Yancey, junior Huddle member, acknowledged. “It spoke to me and fed my fire to learn more about God and pursue Him in my everyday life. It really changed my attitude toward knowing and loving and understanding God.”
For Yancey, this was his first year involved in FCA, and it stretched him to vocalize what he’s put into practice. “It really has changed my outlook on how I believe and how I feel about God,” he said. “I wasn’t practicing, I wasn’t actively going to church. FCA really opened me up and opened my eyes toward God and really changed my attitude.
“Faith was never put upon me in my family and it wasn’t ever preached in my house, so it wasn’t that I wasn’t a believer, I just wasn’t very active in my faith until now,” Yancey, who is a nose guard on the football team, admitted. “I’ve matured and grown closer to God through FCA. I feel more comfortable expressing my faith.”
The Huddle draws a varied crowd of students seeking peace and acceptance knowing discussions are not judged and time is honored. Said Watson, one of the Huddle volunteers, “This is a place where non-believing people can come and feel absolutely loved. It’s a safe place to ask questions.”
Students and Huddle leaders pray before class as part of the Daniel Challenge to pray for their school three times a day.
Watson added that the community places a heavy emphasis on material success, which piles pressure on students to consistently perform. Huddle time, however, is a safe haven that provides a soothing environment from demands. “Our Huddle is in the morning, so they get in and start the day off right and feel at peace going into their day, which is frequently very stressful. There’s a lot of community at Broad Run. At the same time, spiritually it’s just a very dark place. It feels heavy when you walk in. I know the students-the ones who are believers-they are a light in a dark place.”
Yancey believes the Huddle is not only necessary, but instrumental, in sharing Jesus with their school. “It’s our mission to go out and spread the Word of God,” he explained. “Sports speak to people. If you can show God and His teaching through your sport, how you act and play and respond to different situations on the field, I believe we can not only gain believers, but be able to spread the Word and understand more of God.”
Watson summarized: “They want to see their whole school to know Jesus.”