Well the chill in the air certainly signals that the close of another semester is upon us. It’s crazy for me to think that the academic year is already nearing the halfway point. It seems like just yesterday we were out welcoming students to campus with free cookies, and now some of those same faces have become core members of our community! It’s been an amazing year full of God’s blessing and guidance and I can’t wait to see what 2023 brings!
This past month has been a busy month full of outreach, weddings, and conferences. We wrapped up the month of October with the return of ROC’s annual hotdog outreach during the Athens block party. This event had been on a two year-long hiatus due to Covid, so we were very excited to return to the block party this year with 1,000 hotdogs in tow. In total it took us less than 2 hours to give away all 1,000! The people who took hotdogs were genuinely appreciative for the act of love. Not only that, but our students thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
It was also a busy month for ROC weddings! I had the honor and privilege of officiating the weddings of two different ROC couples! Steven and Charlotte Edmonds from OU got married at Burr Oak lodge and then just a couple days later Austin and Akira Livingston from ROC Rio got married in Gallia county. Please join me in praying for both of these couples as they begin their lives together.
November also brought the return of the International Conference on Missions to Columbus, Ohio. The last time the conference was in Columbus was 2014 (my very first year at ROC). ICOM was a busy weekend for our staff and students as ROC was nearly everywhere helping. Maggie and Josh led our students in helping with registration for SICOM (the student side of ICOM). Additionally ROC helped staff the exhibit table for Ohio Teens for Christ and led students in constructing walls for a home that was being built through Help Build Hope (by our friends at Crossroads Missions).
Although the semester may be quickly winding down, the ROC community isn’t! This week ROC will be celebrating “Friendsgiving.” We will be gathering at Athens Church of Christ to eat a traditional Thanksgiving meal complete with turkeys, compliments of our friends at Glouster Church of Christ. Students will bring all the desserts, sides, and other goodies.
After Thanksgiving break students will return for one final week of classes and then move into finals week. As you are no doubt aware, finals week can be a stressful time for students so once again ROC will be offering the ROC house as a “Finals Survival Station.” We will be opening up the ROC House each day of finals week and serving up some warm food, snacks, drinks, and more as an opportunity for students to break from the grind of finals. If you would like to be a part of loving on students this week by baking cookies, desserts, or even donating snacks, feel free to email me at dodgervaughan@yahoo.com.
As always I want to thank each one of you for prayers, support, and encouragement. As you read this month’s student spotlight featuring one of our new students, I pray that you’ll be blessed knowing the vital role you play in the lives of students like Julia!
Blessings,
-Dodger