Beginning of School

These past two weeks have been pretty busy around the BCM. It all started with our international student furniture giveaway two weekends ago. We gave donated furniture to about 200 international students who are new to Virginia Tech and typically have nothing to sit, sleep, or write on. We had people sleeping on the sidewalk next to our building starting at 1:00am to wait in line for furniture, and didn't have enough to give everybody something. It was exciting to be a part of - having the chance to meet so many interesting people and help them out in a very practical and needed way. I hope that we'll continue to be in relationship with some of these students as the year progresses.

This past weekend, we had our leadership retreat with all of the student leaders at the BCM. We went down to Claytor Lake for a night to plan and prepare for the semester, hang out, and spend some time drawing close to God as a group. For April and me, it was a first chance to meet a lot of the student leaders. We are so excited about the group of Bible study leaders that we'll be working with - they are ready and excited to lead their groups and share God's love with the campus and community. This semester, we will be going through a study on the book of Acts and looking at how the church should look and God's plan to love the whole world.

We've also had a couple of events where we've met a lot of freshmen: helping with move-in, basketball, dodgeball, and an open house on Saturday night. Although it's a bit overwhelming for somebody like me who is naturally introverted and sometimes uncomfortable around lots of people, it was really cool to get to meet and talk to so many new people. I remember how intimidating the whole process was for me when I was a freshman, so I hope that we can be welcoming and helpful in any way we can for these new students.

Yesterday was the first day of classes for everybody here in Blacksburg except for April and me. It's a little odd to see all the students headed for the academic buildings, knowing that we have no class and no homework to worry about. Tonight is our first Tuesday night worship service of the year, and we are really hoping to see people come, feel welcomed, and connect to the community at the BCM.