David’s Dialogues

October- Digging Deep

Dear Friend,

It has hard to believe how quickly time has been flying this fall.  We have already passed the halfway point in the semester and are moving fast towards the end of the semester.  Throughout the course of this semester, we’ve been walking through a series on the book of Acts, focusing on the power of the Holy Spirit.  I had the chance to teach on October 1, focusing on chapter 5 and the story of Ananias and Sapphira.  As I’ve gotten more teaching experience, I have received more challenging topics to teach on!  This was definitely a difficult talk to approach, but I’m glad we get to dive into difficult passages of scripture.  Feel free to check out the video on NLCF’s website!

Another highlight from this month was through our desire to reach out to students combined with an opportunity to bless the Blacksburg Refugee Partnership.  For the homecoming football game, we hosted a Tailgate and Cornhole tournament in order to benefit this organization which seeks to bless refugees who have been relocated to our town.  One of the primary goals of this event was to help our students live with a missional mindset, realizing that the activities we do in everyday life are opportunities to take steps in the Great Commission.  Just after I finished up the grilling at the tailgate, I saw some guys further away in the quad throwing the football.  After inviting them down for some free food, I was able to talk with one of them for a little while.  Just a simple invitation to eat some food led to future opportunities to invite him into community!  I’m still praying God will move through this chance interaction to bring about glory for His Name!

One of the things I spend a lot of time doing, but not much time writing about is within my role as a parent for the Hokie Family collection of Engage Groups.  This role is fairly extensive, as I seek to disciple the leaders, guide the overall family, and live closely beside each member in the family.  After a lot of growth last year, we sent several people to plant a new family.  As much as a blessing that was, it has honestly come with its share of difficulty.  Sending so many great students, combined with a lot of our best leaders graduating last spring, we started this year a lot smaller with a lot fewer experienced leaders than we ever have.  A lot of this semester has been spent meeting individually with students, challenging them towards a stronger relationship with God, and casting vision for inviting others into Christian community.  Our Engage Groups are so much more than simply a Bible study on Thursday nights; we are clusters of missionaries seeking to engage our faith, engage community, and engage the culture around us.

It has been a difficult month, but I’m praying God will move in power to see some amazing things happen soon!

In Christ,
David

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