Sabbath at Worthington Spanish Church

We made some new friends at the Worthington Spanish Church this Sabbath. There are several OSU students who attend there and we are praying about the possibility of a Spanish student group on campus. The afternoon was spent in the home of a professor who had invited students to share a meal with him and his family. We all had a wonderful time.

First ACF Meeting

Hey everyone! So Sunday night we had our first ACF meeting at Panera. I was sad that there wasn't a better turnout. There's 11 people I've been in contact with and out of those only 3 people made it. The President(Sara Schmidt) Treasurer (Courtney Simon) and one of our alumni Tim Leicy who is planning on going back for grad school. Although we were small we were able to get a lot accomplished. We have been debating back and forth about changing our name. I was wondering what the other groups were doing about the name and whether or not it has conflicted with people wanting to join. We did set our first social on campus for a "pool table night and pizza" and we made it a goal for everyone to bring at least one friend. Tonight I'm attending a group called Ignite (Methodist) which has a worship service in the Union. I'm meeting up with a couple InterVarsity people to go support them! Wish I would've taken a picture, but we ran out and I didn't think of it in time :(

Eating together

At our last ACF meeting we learned one of the first principles of evangelism that Jesus taught his disciples - "Eat Other People's Food." Many of us were really encouraged by the simplicity of this idea. Since Thursday I have heard from several of our group members who have said that they are looking for ways to put that principle into practice by eating with people that they see and meet frequently around campus.

For those who find it difficult to eat with strangers it is easier to start with those within our group. In fact, it was suggested and voted in unanimously that we move our meeting up from 7pm to 5:30pm. Part of the rationale for this is that it will provide us with a chance to eat together each week. David and I are also looking for opportunities to share food with others. On Friday the president of ACF OSU and I had bubble tea together and then David and I spent the evening visiting with another student at our home. On Sabbath, Worthington church sent us 6 new friends for lunch as part of their "Guess who's coming to dinner" program. The day ended with several students stopping by in the evening for popcorn and games.

We are learning a lot more about each other as we spend time together and look for ways to heal and share the kingdom of God with one another.

First ACF Meeting

I'm excited to say that I have found 6 amazing Adventist students that want to be the core group in order to get the ball rollin' on the ACF Organization. We are having our first meeting on Sunday to discuss where we want to go and what we want to do for the club and our campus. We are working on a video that we can share with the different churches to allow them to see the students we are reaching out to on campus and our role in the college community. Please pray for our first meeting on Sunday!

Getting to Know the Community

Courtney who is one of our awesome ACF Members! We took a day trip to the Aquarium and have some bonding time :) ------------------>

Every Thursday has been dedicated to getting to know other clubs and meeting people on campus. I have been regularly attending InterVarsity Bible Studies on Thursday and have had the chance to meet some other wonderful fellow Christians on campus! I had the most amazing day yesterday! I've been praying so hard, because as you all know, it can be discouraging at times. At Kettering Church, we started the 40 Days of Prayer. I've been praying about our ministries and the courage to be able to witness to people as well as find the right words to say to them. Yesterday, I truly believe was God allowing me to see the real power of prayer.

I started off the day, by going to the local gym to sign up, before the winter :) The young man I met that was registering me asked me what I was here for and why I moved here. I told him about our ministry and a little on my background. After that he just had so many questions. It was definitely the Holy Spirit working through me, because we ended up having almost a 2 hour conversation about the Seventh-Day Adventist religion and he just kept wanting to know more. He does not attend Wright State University, but he is 21 years old and was excited to hear we have a collegiate program at our church and gave me his information and has since, been keeping in contact and trying to find a way to come to a social of some sort. It's a step in the door and praise God that I could find the right words to say to him that allowed his heart to be open to it all.

The rest of the day I spent on campus, which I met with one of the girls, Jessica, and we were able to sit down and have lunch together and learn about one another. Relationships!! :) They're so exciting! I got to know her better and learn where she was coming from and her enthusiasm for this ministry, as well as her brother.

I was also able to meet 2 gentlemen in Inter-Varsity and after the Bible study we sat there for almost two hours and talked about our religious views and Jesus Christ and our spiritual beliefs. One gentlemen was a Quaker and the other was non-denominational. They were excited to hear about the Seventh-Day Adventist Church and they had this view that we were a cult and not excepting to other religious backgrounds. It was awesome to hear their stories and gain a better understanding of one another.

Right after I finished talking with them, I met this other student who is an Atheist. We began to talk about his views and he was so open to listening and learning about Jesus Christ and he had the immense views that we were all so judgemental and were there to condemn people. I told him, that God is the only one here to judge and the rest of us are here to be disciples, love and follow him. It was so amazing to me to see the light in his eyes. I invited him to a social we're having and let him know it was a church function and he, was incredibly excited about it. Praise God! :)

Yesterday, was such a blessing to me. There are many other stories from yesterday and the love that we show to people and the willingness to listen to their views, really allows them to open their hearts to us and see Jesus Christ through us. So, although we will have our discouraging days or sometimes weeks, remember that God will bring people to us in the way he sees fit! Praying for you all!! :)

Just the beginning... :)

<------ Our new Faculty Sponsor, Paul Kole!
I'm still getting used to the swing of things in this awesome job! I've been trying to set goals for myself and what I hope to achieve and my first goal was to achieve the requirements to start a group. One of the requirements was to find a faculty sponsor, which I have been incredibly blessed to find, Paul Koles who works for the Pathology Dept at Wright State!! I'm very excited! I also found out that there used to be an Adventist Organization a couple years ago, but he said it didn't really go anywhere. I'm working on getting people together to have our first jump off meeting/social next week or so. We can't become an official club till January, because of the club deadline, but we can already start advertising and getting our name out there. I thought we could try to put a video together and start a table and some fliers up around the school, so those are my next projects.The students that I have found are super enthused and I'm even more blessed to have their support and enthusiasm about this ministry. :)

Campus Ministry from Afar

So for the past two months I’ve been vicariously living the campus ministry life through my husband, Darrin. You see, I was left in California to complete a two-year work contract while Darrin bravely started the campus ministry at Ohio University. I admit, I was a bit envious that Darrin was able to start this new adventure while I charged on with my Mondays-Fridays, 7:30am-4:30pm (sometimes 5:30 or 6, and occasionally 7pm) job. But mostly, I was a bit fearful that Darrin would be pursuing this on his own and very disappointed that I would be missing out on opportunities to serve and connect with students.

Well, I was proved wrong! Through God’s grace and through the support and assistance of our WONDERFUL Athens church family, Darrin has hit the ground running with Athens ACF! Yes, we’re starting off small, but Athens SDA Church and Athens ACF does not lack in faith, courage, and the willingness to serve!

And as for my lack of involvement? Well, through phone calls, Skype (thank God for Skype!), emails, and Facebook, I was able to meet some of our students and church family, assist in planning some ACF events, and listen in on the many stories of how God has already been working, and is continuing to work, at Ohio University! More importantly, I have found, once again, that prayer IS powerful!

You may wonder how you can get involved in assisting the Adventist Christian Fellowship groups at Ohio State University, Ohio University, and Wright State University. I encourage you to PRAY for us. Pray for the students at each of these colleges. Pray for the campus ministry leaders who have been given this great opportunity to serve in this capacity. Pray for the local churches that support the campus ministry team and our students. And pray for Ohio Conference who, through God’s leading, is making this happen. I guarantee you that your prayers will impact our ministry more than you’ll ever know. And I have no doubt that, because of your prayers, the Holy Spirit WILL move the mountains and the challenges in our way!

—Beamy Thurber

P.S. Praise God I get to join Athens ACF and our Athens family soon! I’ll be trucking across country next Friday to finally be with our Athens church family and students!... And yes, I admit, I’m excited to be with Darrin once again J

Room On Campus

We are so excited and thankful to have finally secured a permanent meeting place on campus for our Friday night fellowship. We were able to reserve a conference room in our student center for the whole year! We are hoping and praying that this will enable more students to come.

—Darrin

2nd Official ACF meeting at OSU a success

Our second official ACF meeting opened with several new faces tonight. We discussed some business and elected three new officers, a communications officer, and two special event planners. Then we listened to a story about how to share our faith with our friends and community, discussed the principles we had learned, and closed with some conversational prayer.

Next week we will begin a sequential study of the book of John and send an email to the entire student body inviting anyone who wishes to join us. We are praying for even more new faces.

—Gina

Meeting Reynoldsburg and Westerville

Last Sabbath I had the privilege of attending the Reynoldsburg/Westerville annual joint church in the park. We sang and prayed and studied together while comfortably seated in a lodge with a view of the autumn colors through a wall of glass doors. David and I had the opportunity to share what we are doing at the OSU campus and how area churches can be involved in campus ministry. For the sermon time I spoke on the experience of the Samaritan woman who met Jesus at a well. The best part of the day of course was the potluck and conversations that occurred around the table as members of Reynoldsburg and Westerville shared their experiences with us.

After a beautiful hike through the park with Pastor Mike and Nancy Barnett we headed over to the Ephesus church to attend their evening music program where we made some new friends and ended up playing the Monopoly card game in their apartment till two in the morning!

We spent Sunday afternoon and evening with our friend Lisa.

What a weekend!!!

—Gina

Collegiate Sabbath

This past Saturday our Ohio University and Hocking College students helped to lead out in our first collegiate Sabbath at the Athens Adventist church. It was wonderful to see our students up front leading our congregation in worship. We had some interesting moments, like busting a microphone when dropping it on the ground and having to do a last minute children story because more children showed up to church than ever before. Most of these glitches, however, were because I was a little unorganized and over excited about our first collegiate Sabbath. In spite of my shortcomings God still used our students in a powerful way and our church family was more than gracious. In addition, our church family expressed the tremendous blessing they received from the Holy Spirit and they are excited about having collegiate Sabbath once a month

—Darrin Thurber

ACF Columbus Sucess!

This evening 8 OSU students, 1 faculty member, and 3 supporting Adventists attended a fun ACF meeting where we got to know each other better, play a few games, eat sushi, invite random strangers to come enjoy sushi with us, and be amazed at what Dr. van Putten carries with him every day in his professor's book bag. Dr. van Putten is a professor in the school of dentistry here at OSU and has invited all Adventist university students in the Columbus area to his house the afternoon of October 30. All are welcome to come check-out ACF on the OSU campus each Thursday evening from 7-8. Locations vary and so be sure to visit the Columbus ACF website for the latest information: http://acf.org.ohio-state.edu/

—David & Gina Helbley