Connecting Dots & One Anothering

October 2009 E-update

I enjoyed “connect the dots” books when I was a kid. I liked to see what the picture would become. Sometimes it was obvious—that’s a dog. Sometimes not. If you could draw lines and count, you could connect the dots and discover the “hidden” picture.

This fall’s Cross Walk teaching theme is “Connect the Dots.” According to Wikipedia, the phrase can refer to the picture game or the ability (or inability) to associate one idea with another.

I’ve been challenging students to consider how the ideas expressed in ROC’s purpose and values statement connect with our individual lives and our life as an organization. We have been considering how to live out these ideas in such a way as to bring Jesus glory.

One tangible expression of our attempt to “connect the dots” this quarter was our fall retreat. Through the theme “One Another One Another,” Chris MacNeal, Richard Klabunde and I encouraged the students to be a community that loves one another, is devoted to one another and serves one another. As the students continue to implement these thoughts relationships are growing. Please pray with us that the students will grow in their ability to nurture and challenge one another to grow in relationship with Jesus and each other.

On Wednesday, October 21, we held Cross Walk in Baker Center. I was interested in seeing how that would work logistically but also how students would react to the change. The particular room that we used was less than ideal for what we normally do at Cross Walk. During our prayer time we break down into smaller groups and usually disperse around the ROC House for prayer. Because we didn’t have the extra space students went outside of the room and prayed in various parts of Baker Center. The reactions of our students were mixed. Several students did not feel comfortable outside the ROC House—some due to the small room others because we weren’t in the ROC House. Others were excited to be able to be more “in public” with their faith and are excited about the possibility of growing beyond the ROC House. Please pray as we continue to seek to glorify Jesus wherever we find ourselves in the OU community.

Thanks so much for your part in enabling us to serve with these fine young people and faculty members here in Athens. God is on the move and we’re excited to be part of that here at OU!