Fall 2024 –Hurricane Helene invaded North Carolina during the same week as the first ever BYX national Regional Leadership Training. Regionals is our newest national initiative, designed for every BYX member. This training guides each man to put his past in perspective, make decisions in the present, and plan for a future of selfless leadership after Christ.
Because of the damage of Helene, the southeast Regional Leadership Training was cancelled. While this particular national event did not come into fruition, one reality remained:
BYX men led with faith toward the moment.
During the weeks that followed, four chapters (East Tennessee State University, James Madison University, North Carolina State University, and Virginia Tech) quickly collaborated together to see if they could make a regional experience a reality for the Fall 2024 semester. It was important to be together.
As a result, an impromptu retreat was formed at a North Carolina retreat center.
This retreat featured times for the chapters to spend time with one another, worship, and hear from a guest speaker. The guest speaker of this retreat, Cody Buchan, Director of Engagement for Blue Ridge Fellows, walked away not only impacting the BYX men, but he himself was transformed by the experience with them:
“It was an incredible weekend—filled with worship, prayer, relationship-building, vulnerability, encouragement, biblical teaching, and plenty of humor. I walked away so full,” Buchan said. Cody later led a mission trip with Virginia Tech BYX to Nicagura, in which he also shared:
“Night after night, I watched these young men pray for each other, listen deeply and listen well, share vulnerably, cry together, and remind each other that they matter, that they are loved, and that they have brothers who are willing to walk through life WITH them. As a dad of four—two boys and two girls—I’m encouraged knowing my kids will grow up in communities, neighborhoods, and workplaces where these young men have influence.”
Cody was radically moved by just being in the room with BYX men. A JMU BYX brother, Adam Rop, shared what it felt like to actually be a brother in such a unique moment of the North Carolina retreat:
“I felt the Lord moving just by how he equips and unconditionally loves men who are imperfect and just trying to find their way in a broken world. I had conversations with brothers that I had never met before, but everything felt so natural and vulnerable, talking a lot about shared experiences and challenges,” Rop said.
Proverbs 17:17 states, “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.” BYX men transform moments through courageous leadership. They are born to walk into impossible moments with a first step of faith, together. Whether it be in the hills of North Carolina or Nicauragua, BYX men show up authentically by leading with faith.
This is living faithfully. This is leading courageously. This is national BYX unity.
