Ohio Adventist Christian Fellowship: ACF First Annual Spring Concert at OSU

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.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

ACF First Annual Spring Concert at OSU

After months of planning and hundreds of hours of work the Adventist Christian Fellowship at The Ohio State University hosted a Vespers Concert on Friday April 29. Performers came from as far away at Mt. Vernon and two of the voca

l groups included ACF students proving that the Adventist Church indeed has a very gifted future. Pastor Kwesi from the Columbus African Fellowship acted as Master of Ceremonies. There were approximately 70 people in attendance. Everyone enjoyed themselves so much that it was unanimously agreed that we should hold a concert more often than the intended once a year. A very pleasant surprise to the evening was when Dr. Gordon Gee, president of OSU arrived and stayed for several songs despite his busy schedule that evening. Robert Okyere our student president had invited him by email. He enjoyed himself very much and requested an invitation to our next event. We closed the evening with a drawing for free Frichick and an invitation for everyone to enjoy some refreshments.

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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.