Reach Out on Campus at OU: September Update

Now that the craziness that typically surrounds move-in and the first week of the semester has died down, ROC students and staff have settled into a somewhat normal rhythm of life. The Cookie outreach this year was wildly successful. We handed out around 1,000 packages of homemade cookies to students during move-in and met countless new people. Funny enough, one of the larger sororities on campus made the cookie table part of a scavenger hunt they were hosting so we became a popular stop that day! A HUGE “Thanks” goes out to all who helped with the outreach in any way, including baking cookies and of course praying for meaningful connections to be made.

As I think about all the events we have the opportunity to do on campus, I think that outreach is certainly one of the more exciting ones. It’s a chance for us to find practical ways to share the love of Christ with people and engage students in conversations about faith. With a name like “Reach Out on Campus” I think there are some pretty high expectations that we do just that!

Speaking of reaching out, I am really excited about a unique opportunity that we have been presented with. As you are likely aware, one of the things that OU is well known for is the annual Halloween Block Party. This year the student leaders and ROC staff are planning an outreach during the event. Our goal is to hand out 1,000 hot dogs during the evening at the campus gate. We want to be very clear that this outreach is not to support or encourage the block party or drinking, but rather to engage people where they are, have some conversations about faith, and help people get home safely by giving them something to fill their stomachs. But most exciting of all, we want to invite you to be a part of this outreach. We are including details on how you can support the outreach (either by donating supplies, helping cook that evening, handing out hotdogs at the gate, or all three). We’d like to see this become an annual outreach event that includes our ministry partners like you!

As I wrap things up, let me just remind you of a couple of other activities that you can join us in praying for. First, ROC’s annual fall retreat is coming up September 23-25^th at the New River Gorge area. Last year’s retreat was awesome and really set a solid foundation for everything else that happened in the community the remainder of the year. Secondly, ROC’s first annual Student Ministry Summit is coming up on Saturday afternoon October 22^nd at OU’s Baker Center. We have an awesome afternoon planned for our local middle and high school students, so load up a church bus and make plans to join us for a memorable day with the ROC community.

Ephesians 4:11-13 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.