From the Summer 2024 edition of The Journey

Written by Eric Henderson with Caroline McCrorey

I was born and raised in Boone, I am a Watauga County native. In 1970 my parents, Buck and Marcella Henderson, had their third child, me. Both of my parents were also born and raised in Watauga County; we come from a deep heritage on both sides of my family where faith, family, and community were woven into the fabric of our character from the time I can remember.

Growing up my family went to Mount Ephraim Baptist Church. I was a 5th generation member there before moving to Mount Vernon Baptist Church, where I currently serve as one of the pastors on staff.

Fearing the Lord

As a young child I recall attending a “singing” at Mount Ephraim. If I remember correctly, they were called the Singing Echoes. It was a big deal to have a group arriving in a huge bus to sing at our little church. What I did not know is God had great things in store for my soul that evening. One of the singers was sharing the gospel and gave an invitation to anyone who needed Jesus to rescue them from their sins. God put the fear of the Lord in my heart that night and I could do nothing else but respond in faith.

I was young, but for the first time in my life I felt the Holy Spirit working in my heart. Shortly after that night I was baptized in Elk Creek, just across the road from the church. I will never forget that day for as long as I live. Like I said, I was young and didn’t really know a lot about ‘religion’ or true saving faith, but, I knew God was speaking to me through His Spirit like never before.

From that moment on my life really didn’t change for me because I was so young and as a part of a family of faith, life just went on as usual. Yes, I truly believed but there was no real call for repentance for such a young believing child. Growing up I was in a culture that professed you’re truly a ‘man’ at 12 years old. Meaning, you could be married at 18 with a full time career and children. This culture caused me to grow up fast and fearless in independence. With all that independence, freewill grew more dangerous; whatever my selfish heart desired, especially pleasure of any kind, I chased.

Not all the things were inherently bad, but as I look back now it is and was a very dangerous lifestyle. It was a mentality of whatever you want, whenever you want it without truly seeking God’s will for my life. I will spare the details of my sinful past, but I will say that the bible is correct, sin is fun for a season but in the end it leads to destruction and pain (Hebrews 11:25).

He is Faithful To His Children

Learning and living through many difficult experiences, God has never left my side no matter how far I have drifted. Thirty plus years removed from this lifestyle and it brings great assurance to me that as the scripture teaches, our security of salvation is through Jesus Christ. According to Deuteronomy 31:8, He promises to never leave you or forsake you! God is and has been faithful to me no matter what I did and that is a promise to all of His children.

As I grew up, despite many of my bone-headed decisions, God continued to bless me. He gave me a wife, Kimberly, and we have been married for 27 years. God called and gifted her to teach. She currently teaches at Cove Creek Elementary. We have experienced a lot of life together and God has used each and every one of those moments to shape us for His glory.

My wife and I started attending Mount Vernon in 2002. At this time God really started working in our lives as we grew as young parents. God has called me to ministry and affirmed that calling during our early years at Mount Vernon. We have been serving at Mount Vernon for 17 years now. To say the least, a lot of life has happened from 2002 to now.

We cannot share our testimonies apart from how God used problem pregnancies to reveal His miraculous power to us. God did things that doctors could not explain; as the faith community knows, it’s just God being God. God has blessed us with three beautiful children in which we are very proud of: Hayes, 24, Angela Clarie, 19, and Jake, 18. There were problem pregnancies, but God got us through them all and our children are healthy, vibrant young adults serving God as they do life. Everyday Kimberly and I are humbled by His amazing grace.

I know now that God had a call on my life to serve Him at a very young age post-salvation. I, like many who serve in ministry, ran from that ‘call’ originally. I truly had no clue how or why He would choose me to do anything. I didn't have confidence in myself and didn’t trust myself. God continuously reminded me that it was not my talents or abilities He was after; He was after a willing heart. God handled the rest once I fully surrendered to the call on my life to do whatever He wanted me to do. It was then that He revealed the vision of birthing a sports ministry.

Answering the Call to Equip Ministries

In the winter of 2006, God woke me up in the middle of the night with the revelation that His will for my life was to use sports to reach kids and families for Christ in the High Country. We had no money, no field, no nothing! All we had was a burning desire to see it through – we relied completely on prayer and God showed up in big and mighty ways. We needed a backstop for the little field and days later one was donated. Then we needed brick dust and days later a load of brick dust showed up. Bats, balls, helmets, field hands, you name it, we prayed for it, and God provided it.

Chuck Cassada, the youth pastor of Mount Vernon at the time, had a great hand in helping us get Equip Ministries off the ground. A few weeks in, he asked me, “what are you going to call this thing?” My wife and I turned to the scriptures to search for the answer. The act of equipping people came up over and over again, and thus we landed on the name Equip Sports Ministry.

God had everything He needed in place to birth Equip Ministries at Mount Vernon that summer. As we say, the rest is HiStory!

Fruit, Purpose, and Opportunities of Equip

It is all God’s and all for His glory. Equip Sports now has 4 baseball fields with sports lighting and an outdoor pavilion on church property. God has blessed us to have a partnership with our area Optimist Club and we have been leasing two fields and facilities for over 4 years now. All of these facilities allow us to reach more families in this area of the world for Christ. Behind each one of these facilities is a huge move of God to accomplish His will. In all this we are humbled to see Him provide all our needs. Keep in mind God answers prayer and sees His plans through for His Glory!

Now that God has shaped recreation ministry here at Mount Vernon, we see and believe that He has a promise for Christian discipleship through sports if we are obedient to His word. I explain it like this: Jesus chose 12 and turned the world upside down; He chose a team, invested in them and they were transformed into His image through discipleship. As followers of Christ the ultimate goal is to become His image barriers. In most everything in life – whether it’s sports or not – there is an opportunity for discipleship to happen. The world wants us to choose someone or something to be like or become – we are all disciples of something. We as members of the body of Christ are commanded to make disciples of Christ.

At Equip Sports this is our heart’s desire: to display the love of God by openly sharing the Gospel and investing in our coaches, players, and families. Young or old, we know that God has a plan and a purpose for everyone. It is God’s will that no one should perish but all have eternal life in Christ. Sports have a great way of pulling all walks of life together and we use this to point all to Christ.

Over the past 18 years, Equip Sports has provided a variety of sports and ministry opportunities. It is amazing to see the different facets of the High Country we have been able to reach.

Currently Equip Ministries offers youth football and baseball. Equip Baseball offers what we call “Challenge” baseball, single age based teams that compete in tournaments. These teams are based on commitment level, skill, and tryout. Our Challenge program gives us a greater opportunity to invest in our players and families. This is where we have seen the greatest growth in relationships and in our Christian discipleship.

When our teams travel we use a tool called the God Glove to share the good news of Jesus with the opposing teams after the games are played. Our coaches ask the opposing teams if we can have a moment at home plate or the pitcher mound. One of our players or a coach will then share the glove with them. This glove is multi color and each colored helps tell the story of the Gospel (gloves4god.org).

For over 14 years we have been a part of the “Coaches Outreach” ministry. It is a non-denominational ministry with the desire to reach coaches for the gospel. The ministry was started by legendary football coach, Tommy Mackwell of Texas A&M. After coaching he felt God leading him to start a ministry to serve high school coaches. In his retirement years Tommy went to seminary and started this ministry that we and many are blessed by today. The study material is written from coaches for coaches.

One reason we are passionate about this ministry is because coaches have one of the highest divorce rates in our country due to the demand and strain placed on families. In light of this, Coaches Outreach offers couples retreats. We do believe that Godly coaches are on the front lines of ministry – it is a calling for sure! Even the great Billy Graham is quoted saying, “a coach will impact more people in one year than the average person in an entire lifetime.” We have seen God use this area of our sports ministry to greatly bless and grow us to be more like Christ.

Our recreation ministry at Mount Vernon has been a part of the county wide church basketball league since its existence, over 45 years! This league consists of participating churches in Watauga County for high school boys and girls. This is one of the most beautiful secrets in the High Country. We see churches of all denominations coming together for one purpose. That common purpose is to reach the youth in this county for Christ! Kinda sounds like “the great commission” (Matthew 28:16-20), right?

We live and serve God in one of the most amazing communities in the world. We are so blessed to have such amazing people who love God and want to make a difference in the lives of the folks around them. We have certainly not completed the task God has given us and there is no place for pride in the body of Christ. If we boast we boast of Christ and we pray that we are living exactly in the center of God's will. Answer the “Call” on your life, God will not disappoint! It will not be easy and you will get discouraged but in the end it's all for Him anyway. Just Do it, you and those around you will be blessed.

God Bless,

Eric