David’s Dialogues

May- Finishing Strong & Answered Prayers

Dear Friend,
May is always a roller coaster of a month.  It starts off busy and then after the bittersweet time of graduation, Blacksburg gets quieter and we start settling into our summer rhythms.  At the beginning of May, we hosted a “Learning Community” (LC), which is a time when we gather all of our Engage Group leaders and apprentices to refresh our vision, set goals, and celebrate.  These times of coming together are so important to rekindle passion for the Kingdom.  It is also a chance to prepare for how we stay connected to community over the summer as people begin spreading out.  We had 71 people at this May LC!

Another way we celebrated this month was baptisms!  On Sunday, May 5th we baptized 22 people!  In the nearly 10 years I have been a part of NLCF, I have never seen us baptize that many people at once.  It was an amazing experience to celebrate so many people and their faith at the New River in Radford.  Four of those 22 were members of Ally and my Hokie Family collection of Engage Groups.  They were individuals who we’ve gotten to see grow in their faith particularly over this past school year.

In the same vein of celebration, with an emphasis on appreciation, we held our annual Servants Appreciation Dinner to thank everyone who has volunteered, served, or led over the past year.  There were over 100 people on the guest list!  That means that around 1/3 of our congregation have been actively serving and using their gifts to bless our church.

One of my last major projects for the school year was leading and organizing our “Grads Night” with 30 of our graduating seniors and graduate students.  This is like a mini-retreat packed into one evening.  We wanted to take time with our soon-to-be graduates to look back at how God has used and shaped them over their time here at Virginia Tech, as well as look forward expectantly to what God will do in their next season of life.  During Grads Night, we eat and fellowship together, as well as have time for worship, quiet personal time with God, small group discussion, reflection, and more.  This year we had a HUGE group of seniors, which is definitely bittersweet.  We hate to see such great people go, but we know they will be a blessing to whatever church they end up at.

 

 

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On a more personal note, Ally and I have some exciting news that we closed on a house this month!  It has been a bit of a whirlwind of paperwork and errands, but we are so thankful that God opened a door for an affordable home in Blacksburg.  Our heart is to continue being loving and hospitable to college students for years to come.  If you ever visit Blacksburg, let us know and we would be glad to host you.  Thank you for your prayers!  This month has been one where we have so clearly been able to see God’s movement and answering of prayers.

In Christ,
David

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