Eat More Chicken

Last week, our Campus Outreach Virginia staff team went to Atlanta for the Catalyst Conference (a 2 day event designed to develop Christian leaders). Among the 11,000 participants were pastors, campus ministers, youth ministers, and business leaders from around the world. Each year our staff team attends this conference and returns with fresh vision and ideas for the college campus.

We also had the pleasure of spending some time with Truitt Cathy, the founder of Chick-fil-a. He's the smiley old man in the middle. I've had the privilege of meeting Truitt on three separate occasions, although he would have no idea who I am, and each time he has told me about his family, his foster kids, the 13 year olds that he teaches in Sunday school, and why he believes business principles and biblical principles are synonymous. Here is a successful business man that puts his faith and his family before all else. I don't think that he would say that his successful business is a result of his faith, but rather his business is an expression of his faith. He serves God by serving people.

Hiking with the Howells

To take advantage of the beautiful fall weather this weekend, we packed a lunch, invited good friends, and headed back to Cascade Falls for a scenic four mile hike.


As adults it's a lot harder to make new friends, but we've been blessed with the addition of Andy, Dawn, and Bella into our lives. Thanks for all the love and support you've given us. It's been a pleasure getting to know you and we sincerely look forward to more fun times together.

Tera and Toby dance

Tera and her good buddy Toby are gettin' down to the Elmo song.

Tera goes pee.

While playing in the kiddie pool, Tera shows off her ability to pee. But the joke's on her. Narrated by Mommy. Also featuring baby Ava.

The Wait is Over!

Ava Florence Schwartz was born on May 31, 2007. All of us are doing well and Maria was awesome. Tera enjoyed meeting her little sister but wasn't overly impressed. We plan on going home from the hospital tomorrow (June 2), and we look forward to adjusting to life as a family of four!

Interview with Tera

Tera discusses a few of her favorite topics such as family, friends, and daily activities.

One Month Later

It's hard to believe that it has already been more than one month. It is even harder to believe that it actually happened. Things here in Blacksburg feel like normal ... until you pass Norris Hall, or see people still mourning at the memorial on the Drill Field, or go in to Squires Student Center and see the display of the of signs, banners, and mementos that have been sent to Virginia Tech from around the world. I regularly spend time at the coffee shop in Squires and I'm never prepared for the emotions that I feel when I walk in and see the countless thousands of signatures and notes that decorate every inch of each wall. It makes me feel what I felt on that very day. But maybe that's a good thing.

I know that it feels like there is nothing that you can do from where you are, but there is. You can help. If you would like to help us in the process of recovery, please visit our Campus Outreach Virginia website.

Waiting for Ava

Tera is on the lookout for her little sister. Not really. She does know that there is something called "baby Ava" and that it has something to do with her mommy's rather round tummy, but she has no idea that she is about to start doing battle with a newborn for Mommy and Daddy's attention.

But we think Tera will be a wonderful big sister and hopefully they will one day be best friends. We'll let you know when Ava shows up!

Tera's Movie Debut!

Tera now has her very own video on YouTube! You can watch it right here! We'll try to add some more recent footage in the near future.

Make Room for Another Girl!

We are excited to announce the coming arrival of Ava Florence! Her due date is May 31, and everything has been healthy and normal so far. May 31 is the day that my (Andrew) mom died in 1986. My mom went by Florence, her middle name, which is why we wanted Ava's middle name to be Florence.

Tera is excited to be a big sister. Not really, she doesn't know what's going on. But we think that she will be excited to have a sister with which to share clothes, toys, rooms, secrets, and life.

This is a picture of Tera resting on her mommy's pregnant tummy. She never sleeps in our arms, but during Christmas Tera had a bout with pneumonia and all of a sudden she became very cuddly. She also didn't let Pooh out of her sight. Once the doctors figured out what the problem was, they gave her some antibiotics and she was back to her old self within a day.

Tera's favorite activities these days include walking around the house (she's walking really well now!), climbing up the stairs, "helping" mommy do the laundry by removing everything from the basket and then putting it all back in, reading books, cooking on her new kitchen set that she got for Christmas, and biting anything that she can get her mouth on (her molars are coming in).

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.