Ohio Adventist Christian Fellowship: Winter Quarter Re-Cap

About Ohio Adventist Christian Fellowship

Here’s a surprising fact: Did you know that 65% of Seventh-day Adventist young people attend secular colleges or universities? Studying at a secular college or university presents challenges to a student’s faith. Being at college may be his or her first time making decisions of their own, without mom and dad there to guide them. University studies are stressful, and social pressures are strong. The Ohio Conference has long hoped to minister to students—Seventh-day Adventists and others—on secular campuses. In September, we started a pilot program to place chaplains at three of our state’s universities: Ohio University in Athens, The Ohio State University in Columbus, and Wright State University in Dayton. Here are some of their experiences.

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Winter Quarter Re-Cap

Winter quarter turned out to be a hectic quarter for many students. While to do lists seemed never-ending, time was hard to come by! By the time finals hit, students were ready for a break, eager to be done with exams and looking forward to Spring Break.

As a source of encouragement for students, ACF and Athens SDA church got together and made 25 care-packages for students who were either actively involved in our student group or who we had come across one way or the other. In the packages, we put in little treats, school supplies, and hand written anonymous notes of encouragements for the students.

After the long week of exams, ACF hosted a game night during Spring Break. We had a good turn out and both students and community members alike enjoyed food, games, and socializing together.

Like always, time has flown by and we are already done with the first week of Spring Quarter. Students have hit the ground running and we are excited for what this quarter holds. We're looking forward to more great Friday night discussions, fun-filled social activities, and more community service. We hope you keep checking in to see what we have up our sleeve :)

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Our Campus Ministries team

Columbus, Ohio is the home of Ohio’s largest university, and one of the largest campuses in the United States. There are 55,000 students on the campus of The Ohio State University. Gina and David Helbley were serving as missionaries in Kazakhstan, when they felt a calling to do campus ministry. David is an engineer, and Gina is a graduate from the ministerial program at Walla Walla College. Now in Columbus, they’ve made their home a center for campus outreach.

Wright State University is located in Dayton, Ohio. Many Seventh-day Adventist students are in the 20,000 student body. We’ve invited Sabrina Araiza, a young adult psychology graduate from Arizona, to become our campus chaplain at Wright State. Sabrina will be working with a team from the Kettering church, under the mentorship of Kettering young adult pastor Elliot Smith.

The state’s oldest university is located in Athens, Ohio, in the foothills of Appalachia. Although Athens is a small city, 20,000 students attend Ohio University. The church in Athens has a vision to reach out to the university community. They’re being assisted by Darrin and Cristine Thurber. The Thurbers come to Ohio from California. Darrin is a ministerial student, and Cristine (known to her friends as Beamy) is a social worker. With the help of other Seventh-day Adventist students and faculty, they’ve started a strong outreach program to students.