Ohio Adventist Christian Fellowship: Meeting Reynoldsburg and Westerville

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.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

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

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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.