February Update

Greetings from 50 South Court Street! It’s week 5 of the 16-week semester as I write these words, and wow, what a crazy 5 weeks it’s been so far. If you read the last update, you know we kicked off a new year of ministry with our winter break trip to the Dominican Republic. This trip really propelled the community into the semester with a lot of energy. 
Dodger and Tony in the
Dominican 
Last week our friend and trip interpreter from the Dominican Republic, Tony Batista, was able to video chat with us at Crosswalk. Tony blessed us by sharing his testimony with the ROC community and encouraged us to look at the ways that God has changed our lives and to be willing to share that good news with other people. 

We also started a new semester of leadership training last week as well. This semester we have 6 students going through leadership training. For ROC students, leadership training begins with 5 weeks of Discovery training which essentially covers the basics of our faith. After spring break these same students will transition into leadership training, which will run an additional 5 weeks and will cover topics such as what it looks like to be a leader in a faith community, servant leadership, and practical training in the tasks they will be assigned as leaders in the ROC community. Please join me in praying for this group of leaders. 

On Saturday, February 2nd, we spent the evening reaching out to the crowds that had gathered for SIBS Weekend at OU. We had an incredible time preparing and handing out over 300 hotdogs. Amazingly, we gave out all 300 hotdogs in less than an hour! While it’s hard to have meaningful conversations with every person crowded around our small table, each hotdog came with a label that explained who we were as a community and why they were receiving a free hotdog. We did, however, have many good conversations with people. Additionally, it is always encouraging to see how grateful people truly are to receive such a small act of kindness. 

The weekend before the hotdog outreach, ROC’s leaders and worship team assisted with the OVCA Jr/Sr High Retreat. We had an awesome time at the retreat where our ROC worship team led those in attendance through some remarkable times of praise. ROC students also led small groups, taught workshops, and supervised the dorms at night. I’m exceedingly grateful to have a group of students who see the value of investing in the lives of younger students. One of the highlights of the weekend was seeing our friend Maggie Hoover immersed in Christ! 
Pictures from the Hotdog Outreach!

This coming weekend ROC will be joining our friends from Student Christian Fellowship at Ohio State and Active Christians Today at Bowling Green and University of Toledo for our annual Ohio Campus Ministries Winter Retreat. This year will be special for us because it’s the first year that the event will be held in the southern part of the state at Ohio Valley Christian Assembly. The theme for the retreat is “Relationships: Knowing, Finding, and Being the One” and is based upon 1 John 4:16 which says “And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.” The community always looks forward to this event, as it is a great time of fellowship and growing together with our brothers and sisters from all around the state. 
Lastly, I wanted to mention that ROC’s 2ndannual prayer marathon is coming up at the end of this month. For the next couple weeks ROC will be collecting prayer requests from our community, friends, supporters, and mission partners in order for us to lift them up all day long on Thursday February 28th. Along those lines, we’d love to be praying for you and your prayer request. If you’d like to include your prayer request in our prayer marathon simply email it us at reachohio@gmail.comand there will be people lifting you and your request up all day long on the 28th! Seriously, we’d love to hear from you! 

Thanks for taking the time to read about what is happening in our community and for praying for us. 
Blessings,
-Dodger