Michial Neal had been coming to Blue Ridge about a year and was serving in the “garden ministry” when the woman heading it up found out she needed to move to another state. She asked Michial to take her place.
“I wanted to help whoever took her place,” he remembered. “I'm a chef, I don't know nothing about taking care of grounds.”
The next week, during the message, Executive Pastor Dave Kountz talked about responding to God’s prompting. Michial knew this was one of those prompts, so he said, “yes.” “I went to Dave and said I would love to go ahead and take this over and see where it would go.”
Michial’s now been leading the Grounds Crew for almost seven years. But more important than what he’s learned about landscaping, is that God “has shown me how to trust Him.”
“There are days I go out there and look at what needs to be done and I wonder how on earth are we ever going to get this done. And the majority of the time it gets done,” Michial said. “We used to fret over the work days. Now we just pray over the work days.”
For those interested in landscaping, there are two ways to serve. The first is each Thursday when Grounds Crew members show up to mow, weed and clean up the campus. Some people come each week, others once a month.
“You're out there and see all God has created. It's a good time to reflect and spend with Him. At the end of the evening, we gather around at the patio and share and talk about what God's doing in our lives,” Michial said.
The other way to serve is to come to one of two or three weekend events each year — the Spring Mulch Day or the Fall Work Days. For those, individuals and families come out just for the day.
“We don't exclude anyone. We try to be careful and watch little ones, but they're part of this too. They're the ones that bring joy to your heart when you see them out there helping mom pull up weeds.”
For the man who has been the Lynchburg College chef for 25 years, the Grounds Crew can still be challenging to oversee. But Michial is quick to say that it’s not really his to manage anyway.
“It's in His hands. We'll get done what He wants done. He's faithful. We're just providing the hands and the feet.”
Want to be a part of the Grounds Crew? Learn about our next work day or sign up to serve on an ongoing basis.