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David Neely

neely_dk.jpg“The CCO’s ministry very much changed the focus of my education,” says David Neely. “I participated in a student-led evangelistic Bible study that helped lead me to Christ. Before that, I was focused on getting a good education so I could get a good paying job and purchase all the creature comforts. After becoming a Christian, my focus changed to identifying where God wanted me to be in life and using the gifts He gave me for His honor, not mine.”

While David worked toward an electrical engineering degree at Carnegie Mellon University, he stayed involved with the CCO’s ministry, attending fellowship meetings, leading Bible studies, participating in an in-depth discipleship group, and attending the annual CCO-sponsored Jubilee conference.

“Jubilee helped shape my world view,” says David. “It showed that being a Christian needed to penetrate every part of me, including how I viewed world issues. Jubilee, as well as the CCO in general, showed me that I could be an effective Christian while working in the secular world.”

David is living that vision out today in his role as an engineering manager in Orlando, Florida. He and his wife, Kami, who was also involved in the CCO’s ministry at CMU, live in Ocoee, Florida. They have a 22-year-old son and a 20-year-old daughter, and they are active members of First Baptist Church of Windermere.

Because David became a Christian as a result of his encounter with CCO staff and students at CMU, he finds it hard to imagine what life would be like today without that influence.

“Assuming I would have become a Christian anyway, not having been a part of CCO would have meant I would have missed developing the great Christian base I have because of classes like Discipleship and the strong role models that I observed,” he says. “This base was very important to me as my wife and I initially found our way in the world together. It kept us grounded and focused on God when it would have been easy to drift away. Without the CCO, I think I would be, at best, a semi-faithful Sunday Christian, satisfied with sitting in a worship service on a semi-regular basis and maybe attending an occasional small group, rather than serving as a deacon in the church, leading a small group and doing my best to serve Him seven days a week as I do now.”

David continues to see the value of living out his faith in the workplace. “The biggest area where the CCO has made a difference for me on a daily basis is at the office. The CCO taught me that being a Christian means being a Christian all the way through. In that vein, my managerial style at the office is as much about service as leadership. I want those who work for me to know that while I am very committed to doing a good and complete job for God and for the company, I am also very committed to them as people.

“The CCO helped me become a leader. I gained self-confidence simply knowing that God was there for me and therefore, whatever was against me could be overcome. It helped prepare me for becoming the lay leader of a small church before I was thirty and continuing to serve in leadership roles as a deacon and small group leader today in a larger church. My wife and I made a firm decision early on that we would be faithful givers, in part because of the CCO’s teaching and the counsel we received from our staff leaders. We continue to do that today, including giving back to the CCO.

“I try to be a consistent Christian 24/7. I am not perfect at it, of course, but from being a servant leader at work, to being a dad and husband, I try to be consistent in following Him. Then, when the opportunity comes up to share the Good News and offer His hope, people are more apt to pay attention and understand that, through the Spirit’s power, I am trying to walk the walk as well as talk the talk.”