October Update

Sometimes the hardest part of writing the monthly update is simply fitting everything that’s happened in any given month into the space provided! This past month has been no exception. We’ve been everywhere from New River Gorge in West Virginia to Gallipolis, Ohio to Piedras Negras, Mexico!

Let’s begin with New River Gorge. September 27-29th was ROC’s annual Fall Retreat. We left campus late Friday evening and headed to Mt. Hope, WV where we stayed in cabins. The next day was full of worship, teaching, small group discussion, laughter, growth, hiking, and of course a lot of fun. Our theme for the weekend was “Before The Rocks Cry Out”, based upon Luke 19:37-40 and centered around true and authentic worship. It was a fantastic weekend, and we are already looking forward to going back next year.

October 12-18, I was invited by Crossroads Missions to participate in a Leader’s Trip to Piedras Negras, Mexico. We spent the week there meeting their ministry partners, observing a medical mission team at work, helping with their ministry to the Refugees from Venezuela and other countries, and completing work projects. Noah flew down a week ahead of me to help run the work projects for Crossroads, and Noelle leveraged her status as star Crossroads Intern to get a spot on the trip as well. Hahaha. The 3 of us had an incredible week and came back with a new appreciation for the work that Crossroads is doing to help churches be the hands and feet of Christ. 

ROC Halloween Party!

October 19th ROC joined up with Central Christian Church in Gallipolis, Ohio for a service day. Our students joined up with members of the church to clean gutters, weed eat, split fire wood (which was the favorite job for some reason), and power washed the home of one of the elderly widows in the church. For our efforts Central rewarded us with an amazing lunch, although we moved a little slower afterwards due to the carbs. HA! 

Since we get bored easily, this weekend is also our annual Hotdog Outreach for the Athens Block Party. Just this morning I picked up 1,000 hotdog buns to deliver to Athens Church of Christ where we will be preparing them tomorrow evening in anticipation of the outreach. By the time you read this, the outreach will have past, so I’d simply encourage you all to pray for the seeds that were planted through the efforts of our staff and students. 

ROC’s Halloween Hotdog Outreach

I can’t believe that we’ve already arrived at the 10th week of the semester. That means we only have 4 full weeks of class, a short week for Thanksgiving, and a week of finals left in the semester. It doesn’t even seem possible that we’re already talking about Spring Semester planning, but that’s exactly what we are doing today in leaders meeting. Please be praying for our student leaders as they plan the direction of our community for Spring.

As always, thanks for the prayerful support you provide that allows for all the incredible experiences for our students. 

Blessings,

-Dodger