Bluefield University Spire Winter 2025-2026

STUDENT FEATURE

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Moriah Mingo is an interdisciplinary studies major in her sophomore year at BU. She is a valued player on the women’s soccer team and an active part of student ministries. She leads a weekly small group, exploring what it means to be a disciple of Christ and go deeper in one’s faith. “The church as a whole, we really need discipleship,” Moriah shared. “We have a lot of people getting baptized—praise God—but after that, what does it look like to live out our faith with Jesus? My hope is that I would help people see what that looks like, so they can seek it out for themselves.” As the daughter of Pastor Gino Mingo, Moriah has been taught the meaning and importance of discipleship from a young age. Now, she’s helping others unpack the Great Commission and Jesus’ model of discipleship in her small group, known as the Dojo. In her Dojo groups, Moriah leads discussions about walking with Jesus and maturing in the faith, guided by her father’s book, Black Belt Discipleship: Imparting the Nature of a Disciple-Maker . Moriah Mingo A Discipleship Legacy

“It’s an outline for what it looks like as you progress in your relationship with God. He uses the martial arts belts as a large analogy and representation of the different stages that we grow in,” Moriah explained. “When you look at why the belt turns that color, originally it was because of the time spent training and growing and maturing in martial arts. It would get dirty, and it starts to change color because there’s sweat and there’s dirt. It shows you’ve grown. You’ve been at this for a long time, and as you progress, the belt is black because it’s seen so much work.” Moriah led Bluefield’s first Dojo in spring 2025. She noticed God using the group to encourage her and her peers, sharing how one student demonstrated a new “confidence with the Lord and an eagerness to be about ministry and spending time with Him” by the time the group ended. This fall, Moriah welcomed seven students into the Dojo. “If I can just help plant a seed and the Lord can water it, then I’m content,” she said, echoing the words of Paul in 1 Corinthians 3. “My hope is that it would be an avenue for people who are new and fresh with Christ to say, ‘What’s next? How do I build?’” Outside of the Dojo, Moriah said she enjoys the broadness of her degree, the freedom to grow her knowledge, and playing the game she loves. “But when it comes to student ministries,” she added, “building spiritual family has brought me joy.”