ACF 1 on 1's

Last week was the week before finals.... and the stress was definitely building on our campus and with our ACF students. This last week I met 1 on 1 with all our core members in order to discuss their life, leadership with ACF, spiritual gifts, and where they are spiritually right now in their lives. It was such a blessing to be able to really talk for about 2 hours with each student and it has really brought me and the students together. The leadership is beginning to pick up this quarter and it is exciting to see them coming to each other, as well as me more for prayer or simply someone to vent to. I'm excited to have:

Michael Davis take over as President

Stephanie McCain take over as Vice-President

Abigail Klipfel as our Secretary

Courtney Simon to continue as our Treasurer

Rachel McMahan as our Social Coordinator

Jessica Blaza as our Outreach Coordinator

Josh Cabay as our Boys Mentor/Network

Part of the meeting was the find each individuals strength and find a way in which they felt they could lead the organization and group in order to be successful.

1 Corinthians 12:27
Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

Our college students have so much going on in their lives right now and for many of them, faith is such a huge question because they learn so many new "ideas" about Jesus Christ in a Public University. Just like I did, they question if what we learned our whole lives is just another myth. I know that only the Holy Spirit can really do the work in each individuals lives, but I challenge all our church members to take the time to hear our students out and allow them to speak their mind and sometimes just vent the difficulties of trying to be a Disciple for God and still questioning their own beliefs on a Public Campus.

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.