ACF Ohio is refreshed at Connect: 2011

This last weekend found Darrin and Beamy Thurber, David and Gina Helbley, and Sabrina Araiza connecting with students and campus ministry leaders at University of Tennessee, Knoxville. The Georgia Cumberland conference generously allowed us to join them for their annual retreat for students on secular campuses, Connect 2011. We had a wonderful time worshiping together, painted a large rock, and had an opportunity to talk with Michaela Lawrence, the director of Advent House, about what she has learned leading the Adventist student group at UTK. It was an encouraging and educational weekend.

Athens ACF's February Collegiate Service

At our small church in Athens, we have dedicated the third Saturday of each month as Collegiate Service. This month, Shanika Thompson, student at Hocking University, blessed us with the sermon – speaking of the importance of perseverance and reminding us that faith + perseverance = success. In addition, we were blessed to host The Sojourners, a Ghanaian singing group from the Columbus area. During our Collegiate Service, they blessed us with their voices and after our delicious potluck, The Sojourners graced the stage once again for an afternoon concert. We were brought to the throne of God and truly worshiped. What a high Sabbath this was!

Athens ACF Valentine's Party

Heart shaped ornaments, red and white rose petals, and the soft glow of candles greeted our glamorous and polished guests at our ACF Valentine’s party. We had a grand time enjoying each other’s company, taking funny pictures at our photo booth, and filling up on Italian dishes and endless desserts! Our hosts, Kay-Anne Darlington (grad student at OU) and Shanika Thompson (college student at Hocking), entertained us throughout the night – reading sweet valentines from admirers and loved ones, giving tips on romancing your lady, and reminding us of the infinite love we find in God. Guests also had a chance to join in the fun, participating in a Valentine’s Special of Family Feud (hosted by OU college student Tim Hixson), and battling in the infamous Couples Game where we found out which couples knew what about each other. During our evening, OU student Nicole Conn also showered us with sweet love songs.

The evening was a success and ACF could not have done it without the support of our students and community members. Many thanks especially to those who helped decorate and prepare the food. We couldn’t have done it without you J What a great reminder this was of the love we share, not only as husband and wife, boyfriend and girlfriend, but as a Christian family called to share His love with others.

Valentine's Party!

ACF had a wonderful combined Valentine's Party with some Young Adults at Kettering and our ACF group. We had sooo much fun planning it and had about 23 colege students. We had a wonderful served dinner, played games, took great pics, and watched the movie Enchanted. After the party was over we headed over to my place with a group of us and played Apples to Apples. We brought people together in hopes of reminding them that our one true God Jesus Christ died on the cross for us and he is our true example of real "love." It was a great night with great people and we hope to make it an annual event :)

Bible Study/Scavenger Hunt!

We started off this Thursday night with our Bible Study which we are studying Luke. It was a great discussion and later on we had a Scavenger Hunt that took us all over campus! We broke into 3 different groups and shared fun pictures at the end. What a great night!

Bible Studies

We have been having regular Bible Studies Thursday nights 8-9. :) After Bible Study, we try to do a run to grab something to eat, drink, and socialize. This last week we went to McD's. It was Hasani's first time to our Bible study and we had fun getting to know him better as well as each other! It's great to come together and learn about God, but also to help one another support each other in life and have a special group to confide in.

ACF offers Bible study options to students at OSU

The Adventist students at The Ohio State University love to study the Bible. In fact, they love to study the Bible with their fellow classmates. So, we decided to prepare a survey and see how many students we could find who were also interested in Bible Study. We also included community service, and prayer on our list. After a very successful Sunday afternoon of survey collecting we had names and contact info for 20 people interested in Bible study. Some of those are already being followed up on by students. The interest we found paired with the enthusiasm of our group led us to wonder how we could offer Bible study options to students in the best way possible. We are now seriously considering starting a Discover Bible School on campus. Aside from offering one on one study options, an online school would also allow us to reference interested students to a website where they could complete the Discover studies and direct any questions or comments to a member of our student group for personal follow-up. What an exciting opportunity to grow personally while introducing others to Jesus.

Visiting Anna Journey

Gina hasn't been able to go out for the last couple weeks so it's wonderful to have visitors. We love showing off Journey to our ACF friends when they come over. Thank you all for your prayers and support as Gina recovers from the birth.

Vespers @ my House

I had some ACF group over for Vespers. We had a great time giving our own personal testimonies on what God has done for us throughout the week and praying for one another. It was a great time and afterwards we enjoyed some great Fellowship. :)

Visiting Centerville

It was great to visit Centerville and speak about Public Campus Ministry and what we're doing on Wright State. They are such a supportive and welcoming church and I really enjoyed visiting! :)

Bible Study!

We had our 1st official kick-off for our Bible study this last Thursday. We are studying the book of Luke and we had a great turn-out. After Bible Study we hung out at the on-campus coffee cafe where we fellowshipped and had tons of fun getting to know each other all better! What a wonderful night it was :) We are all excited for the next one!