Part 2 of #TellTheStory

If you read our last article (read part 1 here), you learned a little bit about Carl Benjamin and his Noble Warriors journey. In April 2018, Carl took a leap of faith and jumped feet-first into full-time men’s ministry. Since then Carl has been traveling around Southwest Virginia spreading the word about Noble Warriors.

One particular day he found himself at a Christian Business Leaders Breakfast. Carl and his wife, Terrie, were volunteering at the breakfast when Terrie pointed out someone to Carl. It was David Argabright.

Terrie encouraged Carl to go speak with David, the Men’s Ministry director at East Gate Church of the Nazarene in Roanoke, Virginia. Carl introduced himself and gave him the overview of Noble Warriors. They exchanged business cards and agreed to meet again.

“A couple weeks later, I met him at Dunkin’ Donuts and sat down and gave him more information about Noble Warriors. I hadn’t even decided to work with NW full-time, I was still an Anthem employee at that point. I told him about the Leading Noble Men Conference that takes place every January in Richmond and sent him information about it.”

In January it “just so happened” David was in Richmond for a meeting and decided to attend the conference. Carl says he loves those “just so happened moments.” Carl and David ran into each other at the conference.

“He comes over to me with a big grin on his face and says, ‘Carl this is great! I love this stuff!’ We didn’t have much time to chat, but he had a great time.”

David did have a great time and truly benefited from the conference. He was able to connect with other leaders of men as well as help himself grow and improve his own skill set.

A couple months go by and Carl is still debating on joining the Noble Warriors team. David, on the other hand, has started leading the 33 Series at church with several other guys. The East Gate men’s group thoroughly enjoyed it and they have gone through Sessions 2, 3, and 4.

“The series has been a great blessing to me personally and to our men… I think hearing the importance of stepping up and standing in the gap as we lead our wives, families, and our churches have helped us be more intentional about our walk with Christ.”  

David’s wife, Sharon, has also seen a change in the men of East Gate.

“Dave included a man in our church via Skype sessions who was working out of town so that he could be a part of the lessons. His wife commented on what a great impact it had on this man’s life to be included, especially since he was away from family and church during the week.”

The study ended up being a helpful and insightful study for many of the guys including John Rippey, a member of East Gate.

“It made you think of things in ways you hadn’t before. My only critique is that I wish the study was longer!”

More time passes and David ends up taking a handful of men to The Noble Man Conference in Roanoke. According to David, the conference was a great experience.

“This was our first time attending a Noble Warriors event together. We had a blast together and as each shared with other men of our group, I think it was encouraging to all.

John Rippey, who was also in attendance with David’s group, says one moment, in particular, stuck out to him.

“I enjoyed everything, all the speakers and the workshops. But what really stuck out to me most is that one man working the conference went outside and played basketball with some boys across the street and invited them to the conference and they joined us for the day. That was really something; to see someone there who wasn’t just talking the talk but actually walking the walk.”

By the time April rolled around, Carl officially begins working with Noble Warriors full-time as the Southwest Regional Coordinator. He jumps into the Noble Warriors database and begins searching names of people he could contact for support. It “just so happened” that one of those names was John Rippey.

Stay tuned to hear about Carl’s meeting with John in part 3 of this story!

Tell the Story. Your partnership makes these connections possible.

Read more at noblewarriors.org/TellTheStory