Blacksburg, Va. — It was just after 4pm that we meandered through the Virginia Tech campus. After leaving class due to the bustle of students, I found a growth line for the Turning Point USA event.
There’s plenty to make news from the evening in Blacksburg, from extremely high security (including officers on the rooftops of the venue) to podcaster Megin Kelly’s Tete a Tate and podcaster Megin Kelly’s Tete a Tate with students who denounced “rhetoric” Kirk’s murder. However, there were moments that didn’t attract much attention.
It was an “unpleasant” moment. At the very least, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin was ahead of what Kelly asked the people gathered at Breath Hall at the end of his speech before he took to the stage.
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Virginia’s retired governor Youngkin was personally invited at Kirk’s TPUSA event, but he said on September 10 he was busy repositioning his schedule to respond to the invitation when he learned that the 31-year-old had been fatally injured by an assassin bullet.
Apparently spurred by Kirk’s own dedication to the Christian faith, Youngkin provided a bold message that felt more like gospel outreach than political gatherings.
When he was in college, admitting that he was “not faithful” to God, Youngkin encouraged Virginia Tech students that the “most important decision” they make in life “to embrace Christ as your Savior.” He said the next most important choice they make in their lives is to decide who they are going to marry.
Youngkin then spoke about his relationship with his current wife, Suzanne. It was her faith in Jesus, and her claims were at the heart of their marriage – which led Youngkin to faith in his own Lord.
When he asked Suzanne to marry him, Youngkin regretted, saying, “Yes, but,” and now the governor said, “Jesus is truly the center of my life, and therefore he must be at the center of our marriage.
Over the next few years he recalls attending a new Christian class at the church where he and his wife were present at the time. Youngkin said in that class he “really accepted Christ.” Thousands of students said they had gathered in a dimly lit auditorium.
Towards the end of the speech, Youngkin thanked the students there for their willingness to go outside their “comfort zone” to hear him talk about Jesus.
“One of the things I firmly believe in is that prayer is essential and absolutely essential to everything we do,” he said.
There was a clear change in the atmosphere, as Youngkin asked the thousands of people sitting at the venue to reach out to both sides of them (mostly strangers) and held their hands. Soft whispers and unpleasant laughter wafted through the very quiet hall.
But people did that. Encouraged by the governor, he explained that it is his long-standing family tradition to hold hands when petitioning God together.
As we held our hands, Youngkin began to pray.
“Thank you, God the Father,” he began. “Thank you to each and every one of us in this room. … Father, we know that you gathered us here tonight, and when you gather with us in your name, you are among us, so we invite you. Father, we thank him for his life, we thank you for sending it.
He continued, “Father, we are grateful that your promise is authentic. Charlie is grateful that you are with you in your kingdom. And yes, when he arrived, you said, “Well done, a good and faithful servant.” Father, we pray for Erica and her family. We pray for her as a mother. We pray for her as Charlie’s wife. We pray that we give her strength to fulfill her strength.
“Finally, father,” he added. “I ask all who are here for your blessings. You stir up the moments of examination of their hearts, the moments of involvement, and the power to endure. Father, will you make your face shine to each and every one of you, and the Father prays all this in the powerful name of your son and our Savior, our Savior, Jesus Christ.”
As he left the stage, Youngkin gestured behind him and headed towards an empty chair. The chair was placed aside and empty for Kirk. On the day the founder of TPUSA was murdered, a white “free” T-shirt was covered in a white “47” hat and a single microphone.
The students began chanting “USA! USA! USA!” Just as they saw Kirk’s chair.
While many of the events were political and those things were important, my passionate hope and prayer is that God uses this continuous tour to attract people towards himself.
You can watch the full live stream of the events below:
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