At Work

Advancing God’s Kingdom with Surfboards and Wheelchairs

LinkedIn Email Print

When Rod Sudbeck’s surfboard business jumped from making one board to fifty boards to nearly five hundred, he knew he had an opportunity to use his business assets as an opportunity for ministry.

His still-growing surfboard business helps support Free Wheelchair Mission. Rod, who also owns and operates a market in Newport Beach, CA, tells his story of how – and why – he got involved in business and ministry in the latest episode of Drive By Conversations from Bryan Feller.

After filming the episode, Feller had this to say about Rod’s testimony:

It’s an inspiring story about how, like the story of Moses and his staff, God invites us to use the things we have in our hands to advance his Kingdom.

Asked where he sees his business and ministry ten to fifteen years down the road, Rod replies,

With this model I have, the goal was to be able to make a surfboard, and somebody gets a wheelchair. The impact is exponentially greater than that. I’m thinking I am going to do my very best for this wheelchair recipient when I make this surfboard, because I feel like I’m lifting a child into a wheelchair when I’m making a surfboard. But the thing is, anyone who sees it, they feel it too, and they want to contribute. That’s where the compounding effect happens. I would hope that a lot of people can just see what’s happening here and the light bulb will go off.

Watch Rod’s full story of faith and work below.

Surfboards and Wheelchairs with Rod Sudbeck from Bryan Feller on Vimeo.

Leave your comments here

Have our latest content delivered right to your inbox!

Further readings on At Work

  • At Work
  • Theology 101
Continuing God’s Work of Creation

By: Russell Gehrlein

7 minute read

Editor’s note: Russell Gehrlein was a guest on the syndicated radio program The Plumb Line, hosted by Jay Rudolph, on…

  • At Work
Diligent Workers Make the Best Neighbors

By: Dr. Tom Nelson

5 minute read

As a boy, I remember hearing the heart cry of a restless generation echoing from my eldest brother’s high-powered stereo…

Have our latest content delivered right to your inbox!