In the Swing of Things

As a family, we are really beginning to get into the swing of things here in Blacksburg. We've found a church that we have started to get involved in, Andrew has started meeting more students at Virginia Tech, and Maria has enrolled Tera in gymnastics classes!

After spending most of my (Andrew) first several weeks setting up the Campus Outreach office and getting things organized, I have been able to spend more time lately doing what I really love to do; interact with college students and hang out on campus.

As you can see, Tera loves being in the swing of things! There is a playground just outside of our back door and Tera takes advantage of it almost every day. She is a natural when it comes to anything dangerous or acrobatic. She would rather be upside-down than right-side-up and we are pretty sure that she is going to be a thrill-seeker. She is on the verge of walking, and when she does we are going to have to be on our toes becuase Tera's worst nightmare is having to sit still. We might have to buy her a cage. We really do love her rambunctious personality and we can't imagine having a quiet and laid back child. Every day is filled with smiles and laughs.

Her best friends are Tigger and Pooh and Isaiah and Toby Bradner. It seems like she learns a new trick almost every day. These days she is clapping, waiving, giving high-5's, kissing, and throwing and kicking balls. It's hard to believe that next month she will be one year old!

From Davidson to Virginia

Davidson graduation was last weekend and my time as a campus minister at Davidson has officially ended. These 3 guys - Conor, Chip, and Josh - were freshmen when I arrived at Davidson and now they have graduated and we are all leaving at the same time. We have spent countless hours together talking about God, studying the bible, serving other people, praying for other Davidson students, planning events, and just having fun together. Conor plans to work for Habitat for Humanity, Chip is going into the Army, and Josh would love to go into full time ministry working in the inner-city. I'm going to miss seeing them everyday, but we look forward to staying connected.


This is the picture of the first time our Virginia Expansion team crossed the VA state line together. This is our entire team, minus baby Tera and baby Toby who were both sleeping the car. The team moved to Virginia this week, with the exception of the Schwartz's. We joined the rest of the team to help them move, but we were sad to have to leave and come back to NC. We need to raise about $1200 in monthly pledges before we move in early August. Please ask God to provide this funding for us.

What's Happening

This summer, along with a team of 6 others, we are relocating to Blacksburg, VA to launch a new expansion of Campus Outreach. We are set to move on Aug 3, but the rest of our teammates are moving in mid-May. We plan to begin at Virginia Tech and Radford University. The goal of Campus Outreach is to help today's college students become tomorrow's leaders, and all of our training is based on biblical principles and the example of Jesus.

Half of our team is coming straight from Davidson College! Two of the guys, Collin and Doug (pictured below), were some of the ones that I had the privilege of mentoring for the past few years at Davidson. We're really excited that our efforts at Davidson are now overflowing to Virginia!



The Virginia Expansion team. Back row (L to R): Haley Devine, Adriana Pariz, Maria Schwartz, Julia Bradner. Front row (L to R): Collin Setterberg, Doug Rose, Andrew Schwartz, Matt Bradner (Isaiah). Not pictured: baby Tera Schwartz and baby Tobias Bradner.



Tera is a tiny little girl with a lot of energy. We are enjoying this stage with her, because we are afraid that once she starts walking and talking she will never stop. We love being her parents and she rewards us with lots of smiles and sweet moments. We're looking forward to raising her in the environment of this team and among the college students that we are ministering to.

Support Update

As of May 24, we are at 75% of our monthly support goal. We need about $1,200/month by July 31 to reach our goal. We are looking forward to God supplying all of our needs over the coarse of this summer. This new support that we are raising will go toward meeting some new expenses, such as: baby needs, a new health insurance plan to include Tera and any future children, and rent for our new townhome in Blacksburg (a generous family has donated a place for us to live near Davidson, but we are raising money to pay for rent in Blacksburg).


Thank you so much to those of you who are supporting us, as well as to those who have recently increased or connected us with others to help meet our goal! We are so grateful for you! Please keep us in your prayers by asking God to provide for us.