Update From Dakota

Hello friends and family! Since graduating, life has continued to be a non-stop roller coaster. God has taught me a lot this summer; about His goodness, His power, and His presence. It has been particularly sweet to see the LORD as a constant anchor of peace in the midst of chaos. My hope here is to give you all a whirlwind summary of my summer, and to share some updates, encouragement and prayer requests for this upcoming year!

NYC:

First thing first, just as Mom posted, I had the joy of leading a summer trip to NYC over the course of July! Our primary goal in going was to meet and share the Gospel with Bengali Muslims in the city. In case you didn’t already know, NYC is one of, if not THE, most culturally diverse cities in the whole world. The neighborhood we spent most of our time in, Jackson Heights, has the most languages spoken on the planet! So we worked with a local church to meet as many people as we could and hopefully connect them to the congregation. There were a lot of long, hard days– filled with lots of walking and praying through the streets– but it was so encouraging to see the LORD move.

 I think my favorite part of the trip was getting to watch God work in real time in the hearts of the team. So many of them came into the summer knowing that they were going to be challenged, but asking the LORD to break their hearts for the lost and give them boldness to go. Man… did God answer that prayer so faithfully. I could share story after story of people asking the LORD to give them eyes to see people, and then watch as the Holy Spirit carried them into conversations on park benches, bus rides, picnic blankets, and even discount store counters. Between the 12 of us, we got to meet over 200 people from all sorts of backgrounds! We also got to help the local church with their free English classes. This was one of the best ways they have been able to meet new people and be a blessing to the city. 

After the trip, one of the people from our team texted me and said “Dakota! I saw some Muslims walk past my house. I’m going to wait outside my house for them to come back so I can talk to them!” It has been so sweet to get to see firsthand how God is moving in the nations… and how that work has continued to happen as our team goes back to their homes!

UK Update:

In the last week of my summer project, I got a text from our global coordinator, Jacob, asking if we could talk. Jacob is one of the main people helping to get the entire U.K. team overseas and has been such a blessing to me. Well, I got on the phone with him that night, and briefly he informed me that they had been doing a ton of research, because our visa paperwork was delayed again, and, long story short, instead of leaving in September like we originally planned, our team would not be able to leave until June 2025. So I was not going to go to the training in Virginia until march, and I basically had to figure out living in the States for another year. 

Woah…

Since then, it has been a whirlwind trying to figure out what this next year looks like for me. By God’s grace, I was able to find housing very quickly with some friends of mine from last year, and the church basically just kept me in my same role when I was working for them here in Moscow last year. 

Upon first hearing the news, I was definitely shocked. There were a LOT of moving parts that had to be figured out fast in order to get back to Moscow this year. However, I could not help but feel an overwhelming peace as the news sank in. God has done so much in order to get our team ready to leave, and clearly He is still at work in this situation, even if it doesn’t look how I imagined it.

 A scripture that has brought me a lot of peace this summer comes from Paul in Acts 17. As he addresses the Areopagus, a temple in Athens dedicated to the worship of many false gods, he says this in verse 26 and 27, “…he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us…”

If this is true, that means that not only does God have me another year in Moscow so that I might know Him better, but that He is working things out across the globe that people might know Him!  What a great encouragement for not only me, but the myriads of nations gathered in NYC, and the thousands of college students moving into their dorms across the nation as we speak!

Commissioning of Campus Leaders for both WSU & UofI

This next chapter:

So with all that being said, I get another year in Moscow. It honestly feels like a gift from the LORD the more I think about it, and here is why:

1. For the first time since I graduated High School back in 2018, my brother, sister and I  are all living in the same city… If Moscow thought having the Coddington brothers in town was trouble, they have NO CLUE what’s coming for them with the entire Coddington Trio! In all seriousness, I am honored that the LORD has given me more time to be with my family, and I am already overwhelmed with joy by the way that God is ALREADY using Kasey to reach women here at the University of Idaho. She is a rockstar, and objectively the coolest Coddington sibling (Kadin and I know this is not even a competition haha). Kasey, I’ve told you this before, but I am so proud of the woman of God you are becoming, and you bet your sweet bippy that Dad is proud of you too! Keep being a light to your roommates, classmates, and the world!
2. I get a fresh start in the city I have lived in for 3 years. Coming into Moscow, I have had a couple responsibilities and a new role, but a lot of the things that I was doing last year have been handed off to the next generation. Looking forward to this upcoming year, there are so many different opportunities for ministry that I get to be a part of, and I am excited to see where the LORD has been and is going to continue leading me towards!
3. I get to hone my strengths and work on my weaknesses. The LORD has been so faithful to teach me so much in this past year as I have been preparing to church plant. I asked God to make me a man of boldness, prayer, and to teach me discipline. Well He did that and more last year. This year my role on staff is still a campus missionary, but with a twist. Instead of being connected to a village (small group based outreach) like most people in Resonate, I get to meet people and connect them to other people’s villages, in order to help the whole church flourish. It has been fun so far as I have gotten to meet a ton of freshmen already and try to get them plugged in with my friends. This year, I am praying that the LORD would grow me in my ability to challenge my disciples in their walk with Christ. It is very easy for me to meet a new person, make them feel welcome, and to teach them about Christ. But I’ve learned that I’m pretty conflict averse when it comes to tough discipleship conversations. I don’t want to shortchange the Gospel. It is hard for people to appreciate the sacrifice of Jesus, if they don’t feel the bite of sin. So often I want to soften the blows for people as I lead them, but that can lead me to not challenge sin in people’s lives. I’m praying (though I’ll admit timidly), for opportunities to challenge the brothers in my care, and that the LORD would draw both them and me through conversations like this towards Himself.

Prayer:

I know that was a lot. But would you join me in praying for these specific things in this upcoming season:

1. Pray for the Muslims of Bangladesh: They are still the world’s largest unreached people group, and right now the nation is in turmoil. Pray that God would continue using Jackson Heights Community Church, and His global Church to reach these people for His name’s sake.
2. Pray for me and my ministry in Moscow: Pray that the LORD would give me direction as I navigate a new role, and that I would continue to make His name famous on our campus. Pray that I would grow in my ability to challenge believers to look more like Christ.
3. Pray for the students of the University of Idaho: As Kadin said, there are over 1500 students who just moved in to our university. So far as a church, we have met over 400 of them! Wow! Pray that the LORD would be softening hearts as we continue to meet students, build relationships, and share the Gospel. 
4. Pray for the students at the University of Reading: Though we don’t get to plant a church there this year, I am certain God is still moving and working in the U.K. Pray that God would be preparing hearts for our arrival in the summer and that he would use our church to make disciples of all nations!

*Featured picture is from one of the many Resonate Weddings from this Summer.