After a good response to the December update, we have prepared a January video update. Due to the overwhelming comments and feedback, Davina has joined me for this update! Hope this helps for you to stay in tune with what is happening and pray more specifically for us!
Don’t you hate it when the teaser trailer for your favorite movie comes out? They show you snatches of action, snippets of momentous points, sneak peaks of plot twists, and the most salacious effect: a black screen with a character speaking slowly of a momentous turning point. 
Well, close your eyes and have a friend read you the next sentence. (Are they closed? Good!) We have some very exciting news regarding our overall percentage of support…but we are waiting until the final tally comes in…so check back in the next few weeks! (OK, if you are reading this for a friend, he/she can open his/her eyes now!) We are very encouraged by this development and we hope you will be too! We wanted to let you know the exact percentage, but we want to wait on the tally to be official, so we are waiting for some of the paperwork to be processed. It should be only a week or two to find out the final number! Until then… In Christ, Andy
Well, here it is, the first update…hope that this helps, and we look forward to doing this again soon! In Christ, Andy
Please watch the video and enjoy! In Christ, Andy
It has been almost three weeks since I last updated and all I can think is, “Where did that time go?”
It has been a busy three weeks, with getting over the illnesses and settling back into the busy-ness of life. Our time in Radford was truly a blessing and we enjoyed our meeting with Calvary and the church there. We cannot thank you all enough for your hospitality and for your graciousness to us. The Friday morning information booth was probably the slowest information booth that I have experienced to date. Only a few tremulous souls picked up a free $1 Million dollar bill tract. I did see Dave again, the custodian I had witnessed to previous, but he did not stop and talk but to say hi and move on by. However, our time there and the Bible Study (attended only by one student–CBF president Cole) only strengthened our desire to be there full-time. One of the greatest opportunities that God has given us lies in the area of hospitality. However, at this point, it is the area of greatest frustration because of our distance from the campus. We met a freshman, well, a fresh-woman rather, whose name we were given by her youth pastor, whom we knew from seminary. (I cannot tell you how often this round about scenario has presented itself as we introduce our ministry at different churches. “Oh you are going to VT? I know _____! Would you like their name? Can I tell them about you?” It is exciting to see God work through ‘chance’ meetings!) Back to the young lady we met…She was polite, friendly, and seemed genuinely interested in the group. However, both Davina and I sensed a level of detachment when we mentioned that we were not currently living close by, and did not know at what point we would be able to move. We left frustrated by our inability (not God’s!) to provide a place for her to come and enjoy Christian fellowship at her convenience. As I mentioned before, this left us feeling the burden to be in Blacksburg in an even greater way. However, God has been so overwhelmingly good to us, even this is not a complaint but a further evidence of His grace toward us…allowing us to serve Him! I started this post asking, “Where did the time go?” and I want to leave with that same question, but not for us. I want to encourage you to think on your loved ones, relatives, co-workers, and neighbors…those who have expressed in words or lifestyle that ‘someday I’ll get around to thinking about God/death.’ Someday, they will stand before the judgment of God, and will ask the question, “Where did the time go?” However, there will be no more time. May God help you and me to use our time to reach them before their time is up! In Christ, Andy
It is amazing how God ordains all things to happen. If we were to choose a week to get sick, this past week would have been the last choice on the calendar. Saturday through Monday we were to be in Washington DC presenting at Engleside Baptist Church. Tuesday drive home. Thursday drive to Radford for Friday at VT and Sunday at Calvary Baptist (Radford). So Monday when Elijah threw up at Ford’s Theater in DC, we thought it was unfortunate. Later, when Caleb followed Elijah, we thought it was pretty bad. Then when Micah and Davina followed Caleb, we knew there was definitely something amiss. Such a busy week! We had it all planned out! Why is this happening?! I must confess, my first thoughts were for all the plans we had made, how this sickness would ruin them all, and how I wasn’t sure what to do. Reminds me of a story of these fishermen in a boat crossing a stormy sea. The further they went the stormier it became. At first they tried to row out of it, then to fight through it, finally giving up and calling out, “We will die!” Amazingly, they seemed to forget that Jesus was riding in their boat…until they exhausted all their other options. Then they woke him with the accusatory statement, “Don’t you care if we perish?” Jesus took the situation in and then posited his own accusatory question, “Why are you so afraid? O you of little faith!” I feel rebuked. Not because we all got sick (yes, I came down with the sickness on Wednesday). But because my first thoughts were for my plans and designs. Instead, God was working out his design, so that He could receive the glory. We did not miss a single service on Sunday at Engleside. I was able to drive home without sickness on Tuesday afternoon. Davina was better on Wednesday, the day that I was laid up in bed all day. And each of the boys has recovered well, and is back to good health…just in time for our adventure in Blacksburg/Radford. God is good all the time. All the time God is good. In Christ, Andy
Since the beginning of the semester we have had two information booths and two Bible Study times. So here are the highlights: (1) The first information booth, about 15 people took a $1,000,000 bill that has a clear gospel presentation on the back. One young man picked it up and after I reminded him to read the back, he walked to his friend (who was standing 10 feet away) and read the gospel presentation out loud to his friend as the walked through the student center. Another young man walked by staring sideways at the money, stopped dead in his tracks 50 feet beyond, turned and marched back, because “I gotta see what this is all about.” (2) During both information booths, at least one student has walked up and said, “I have been looking for a Bible study.” They have been very open about wanting somewhere to study the Bible and have seemed genuinely interested in coming. (3) The Bible Study has had only one attendee each of the times we have met. But both times it has turned into a sweet time of fellowship and Bible study. (4) The last information booth, I was able to share the gospel with two men: a college student named Fernando and a Squires custodian named Dave. Both interacted as a I walked through sin, God’s justice, Christ’s death for us, and how to enter into His salvation. Fernando is a Catholic and listened intently as the gospel was presented. Dave is a self-justifying man, and though he listened to the gospel, he continued to refuse its life changing impact.
I would like to turn this into prayer requests: (1) that God’s word would work through the gospel tracts handed out, and His Spirit would bring conviction. (2) that we would be able to reach out to the students who are looking for a Bible study. (3) that our Bible study time would be profitable, encouraging, and sharpening to those who attend…and that we would have more attend! (4) that we would seize the opportunities to witness, that we would bathe these times in prayer, that the Spirit would bring conviction and lead to repentance.
The penultimate prayer request is for traveling safety. Each in
formation booth/Bible study means that I have to drive about 10 hours round trip. Many people have been very gracious to me to allow me to borrow homes and beds to sleep in, so the cost is minimal…so thank you to the McCue’s, Perrons’, and Calvary Baptist of Radford (in advance!). But the drive is 10 hours no matter where I stay, and so we desperately crave your prayers. Lastly, we still need your prayers for contacts, churches, and individuals to push us to the 100% mark of our needed support. Our hope is in God, not men. He has supplied all our needs. And so we ask that you would petition Him on our behalf to raise the needed support. Thank you for praying! In Christ, Andy
Last Friday, we had the opportunity to be on campus and spread some rather large bills around! Well, fake $1 Million bills to be exact. The students reaction (along with some staff at VT) was priceless! We put the bills on the counter-top where we were displaying the CBF meeting times and Bible Study, and just waited for interested parties to come by. One young student could not help but turn his head to stare as he walked by, even though he continued walking forward. After he had gone about 50 feet past, he stopped dead, turned on his heel, and marched back to the counter. “I just got to see this,” he said. We encouraged him to take a bill, but “don’t forget to read the back.” Another young man and his friend approached to within ten feet, where his friend stopped while he continued to the counter and picked up a bill. “Make sure you read the back!” was all the interaction we were able to get out before he turned and headed back. As he reached his friend, he read began reading aloud, “If you died today, would you go to heaven?” And that is the Million Dollar Question…what will happen when you and I stand before the Creator God on Judgment Day? It is exciting to see the Spirit of God plant the seeds through something so mundane as money (even fake money) to call people to Christ. In Christ, Andy
This Friday at 5 p.m., Campus Bible Fellowship at Virginia Tech will be meeting for the first official Bible Study of the Fall semester. Between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m., there will be an information booth to invite students to the Bible Study, evangelize the lost, and meet interested students. We are asking for prayer for two things specifically: (1) that God would lead students interested in Bible Study to our meeting, (2) that God would direct our study to strengthen and encourage, convict and evangelize those who come. All for His glory! In Christ, Andy
Well, it appears that we have not fallen off the face of the planet, had a rusting satellite fall from space on us, or been swallowed by the impenetrable Amazonian rain forest! In fact, we are doing quite well and continuing with deputation. Since our last posting…well, there is too much to say about nine months of life, but let it be known, we have reached a new height-61% support! This allowed us to attend Candidate Launch Seminar at the home office in Cleveland (OH). Basically, this means that when we reach 100% support we will be fast tracked to “launch” to Blacksburg. God has been extremely faithful, though support has come in slowly (according to our accounting). We are grateful to Him for protection and safety, for ministry opportunities, and for your support through prayer and finances. To God be the glory! In Christ, Andy
