I met Dan and Tiffani Hampton after their first Sunday service at NCC. He was wearing a Hawaiian shirt. They both immediately jumped onto the Ballston Launch team, and they have been serving faithfully in a variety of ministries ever since. The Hamptons led the first small group that Ryan and I joined as a couple, and they make us laugh every time we are around them. We recently promoted them to team leaders in the Hill zone.
Today, we talk with Dan about life, ministry, and spiked shoulder length hair.
How long have you attended NCC? What brought you to NCC?
I’ve been going to NCC for about 4 years now. I had just moved to DC and was looking for a church. I found NCC through the Willow Creek Association and started going. I’d say what really got us involved in the church was after Tiff (my wife) and I were invited to a couples group. It can be hard moving to a new city and not knowing anyone but joining a small group gave us a group of friends that we had really been missing. That’s when we really started to get to know people and get invested in the church.
Tell us a little about the small groups and/or ministries that you lead and how that experience has impacted you.
I’ve had my fingers in a few different pies. I’ve been leading Production at Ballston since we launched that location and am currently taking on some more responsibility of production within the church.
Tiff and I also used to lead a DC couples group and now we are team leaders in the Hill’s zone. Leading a ministry or a small group is actually a really humbling experience. I’m constantly amazed at how dedicated the people I work with are and how hard they’re willing to work. The Production Team people I work with are truly amazing. They all have such a heart for service. They just want to help out behind the scenes, in an area where, if no one notices you, then you’re doing a good job and everyone takes notice when there’s a mistake. I really have a passion for ministry. I don’t think there are many other places in life where you can have such a huge impact on the lives of others.
I’m all about getting people involved in serving God and the church in areas that fit their passions.
In leading a small group I’d definitely got more out of the people in the group than they got out of me. The small groups I’ve been really have been where I’ve made some of my best friends out here. They are all people who I can go to in a time of need or with different problems. It’s great being part of a group of people who really care about each other.
Where can you be found on Sunday mornings?
Well, this question’s a little outdated now isn’t it. What if I can only be found on Saturday nights??? Hmmm, what then? Actually I can usually be found at Ebenezer’s on Saturday nights and at Ballston on Sunday mornings. I help with Production at both locations. If you’re ever at Ballston and want to say “Hi” just look for the guy wearing the loud Hawaiian shirt. That’s usually me. (Yes, even during the winter.)
When did you start following Christ and what have been some of the spiritual turning points in your life?
I can remember when I was 3 years old my Dad talking to me about having Jesus living in his heart and I asked if I could have Jesus living in my heart too. He told me that if I prayed and asked Jesus, he would. Of course as I grew older I really had to make my faith my own and not something I just inherited. I don’t have specific dates that are significant in the maturity of my faith but different eras in my life where I matured in the faith. I’d say High School was a important time for me spiritually. I really made some decisions on how I would live my life and what the focus of my life would be. I learned some important lessons on what it meant to be a follower of Christ. Many ups and downs but that’s the way life works. During college I was part of a church plant that really grew me in my faith. Being part of a church plant will really test you and push you in new directions. If you ever feel like you’re too comfortable in your faith go find a church plant and be part of that. I guarantee that you won’t be comfortable anymore.
Tell us a little about your background.
I grew up in sunny Southern California where once my friends and I had our driver’s license we were at the beach almost every weekend. I have two younger (but not little, one is 6′8″ and the other is 6′3″) brothers. I chose where I went to college based on proximity to good waves so naturally I went to UCSD in beautiful La Jolla (right next to San Diego). It was a tough four years living blocks from the beach in one of the most beautiful cities in the US but somehow I survived.
There I majored in Animal Physiology and Neuroscience and had a minor in Theater (mainly acting and film classes). I even got to go to Peter Fonda’s birthday party one year. I was part of a church plant where I had an amazing time and made some of my best friends. I applied to medical school and somehow sneaked my way into Georgetown School of Medicine so I moved out here to DC. Graduated from there this past May and started my residency in Orthopaedic Surgery at Georgetown in June.
I have a great family that’s a lot of fun; although some my just call crazy, but in a good way I hope. My brother just moved out to DC.
Apparently Georgetown doesn’t learn from their mistakes as they accepted him into med school there as well. So if you’re at Ebenezer’s on a Saturday night and want to meet him just look up. (He’s the 6′8″
brother.) My other brother is a philosophy major out at Wheaton College in Chicago. I guarantee he’d love to have a philosophical discussion with you about whatever you want. It’s fun talking to him, he’ll start quoting random German, or Scottish, or French philosophers I just nod my heard and try to pretend to be smart.
What is your favorite Scripture passage?
I’ve always loved Philippians 3:12b-14, “I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heaven ward in Christ Jesus.”
What are your favorite books?
I’m a big Tolkien fan, so naturally I love the Lord of the Rings trilogy and you can’t leave out the Silmarillion . Speaking of 20th century English writers CS Lewis is also a favorite, pretty much everything he wrote from The Chronicles of Narnia to Mere Christianity to A Grief Observed.
For the past year or so I’ve been a big history kick and I’ve really enjoyed David McCullough ’s biographies of Truman and Adams. The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt and Theodore Rex by Edmund Morris are absolute classics for anyone who’s interested in TR. Undaunted Courage by Stephen Ambrose was a fascinating tale of the Lewis and Clark expedition that I heartily recommend. Longitude: The True Story of a Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time by Dava Sobel was an interesting look at one of the critical scientific advancements that allowed exploration of the planet to occur.
As for the Christian genre I really like what Erwin McManus writes, always inspiring and challenging. Highly recommend What’s So Amazing About Grace by Philip Yancy also Where Is God When it Hurts? by him as well is very good.
Other favorites are The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho and The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell. (I could go on all day but I’ll stop here.)
What are your favorite movies?
Film is something else I really enjoy. I could take a long time on some of my fav’s but I’ll try and make it short. Naturally I the LOTR trilogy ranks up there as some of the best. Other’s that I think are great are (prepare for a really eclectic mix) Singin’ in the Rain, Raging Bull, Shawshank Redemption, American History X, Spinal Tap, Endless Summer, The Spanish Prisoner, Memento, To Kill a Mocking Bird,
12 Monkeys, Braveheart, Hero, Inside Man, Hotel Rwanda, Schindler’s List and that’s all I can think of off the top of my head. I’m sure I’m leaving out some greats.
What is your favorite fast food?
I love the hole-in-the wall Mexican joints. The kind where the menu is in Spanish and the salsa is hot. When I lived in San Diego the local burrito shop knew me well, you gotta love that carne asada burrito (or in the morning their breakfast burrito was awesome). The other awesome place that’s only west coast is In-N-Out. Nothing compares to the Double-Double Animal Style.
What is something that most people at NCC would not know about you?
Mark, it’s my middle name. Seriously, I was a Theater Minor in college and took a bunch of acting and film classes. (Although I guess you all know about that now that you read it a couple paragraphs above this.) In high school I had long hair, about down to my shoulders. I was into punk those days and one time I spiked my shoulder length hair up. (I have a picture of it somewhere.) It was hard to ride in a car, I couldn’t hold my head up.
Tell us a little about your day job. What is your dream job?
I’m a resident in Orthopaedic Surgery at Georgetown University Hospital. I’m currently in the 1st year of my 5 year residency program. As for my dream job, I’m not sure. I love what I do and I guess my dream job would combine ministry and service with my professional training. But I don’t know exactly what that would look like. I’d also love to be an astronaut.
Who is your hero? (besides Jesus or any other member of the Trinity)
This is a hard question for me. I’m not sure of any single person that I’d single out as my hero. There have been lots of people that have had influence on me. I really look up to my parents. I think they’re a great model of a couple that has followed Jesus and raised 3 good kids (okay maybe just 2). I’d be happy if Tiff and I did as good as a job as them.
What do you do in your free time?
I tend not to have a ton of this so called “free time” but when I do I love to spend time with my wife, Tiffani. (Unfortunately she has the same problem I do finding this free time.) I also really enjoy being outdoors and have really gotten into climbing. I try and get out climbing at least once a week.
In NCC:THE MOVIE who would play you? Who would play Pastor Mark?
My wife says I look just like Josh Lucas (with dark hair) so I have to go with that for me. For PM I’d have to go with Owen Wilson. (I spent way too much time thinking about that question.)
What is your favorite Pastor Markism?
I like combining as many as I can. For example: “This a-mazing Tuesday spotlight really resonates with me. But it really all comes down to the reticular activating system, so let me tie this in a knot. True dat.”
Leave a Reply