The 2007-2008 school year is almost over. But what we've seen God do over the past 9 months is surely to go down in the pages of history...We knew one year ago, that God was up to something incredible. What we didn't know was that we were given front row seats to a supernatural performance of a lifetime. Our prayer is that we will be privy to Act II, beginning this fall. I simply cannot wait for the curtain to rise...
August 27th, 2007 was the birthdate for a vision of a lifetime. I remember it like it was yesterday. I had already moved my family to the Northcoast of Ohio from the Delta of southern Arkansas. Me, I felt like I was on a neverending racetrack back and forth from Arkansas to Ohio...fifteen hours each way. I had driven back to Ohio for the start of classes on the 24th, spending as much time on Tiffin University's campus as I could that first week. I was full of excitement in anticipation of what our first meeting was going to be like. I wasn't dissappointed. Five students & four adults later, h2o was born. Now, nine months later, we're seeing anywhere from 50 to 70 students in our worship gatherings. Currently, h2o is the 3rd largest organization/group on the TU campus.
The goal of the fall semester was simply to make our presence known on the campus. I met as many of the faculty and staff as I possibly could, we put out hundreds of flyers, made numerous phone calls, and established a critical imprint in world of Facebook. We learned extremely quick that the greatest avenue of communication with our students was going to be Facebook. I can honestly say, that the single greatest weapon in our ministry arsenal is Facebook. If you are serious about reaching collegiate students, please contact me and let me show you how this tool can work for you.
By the time the Christmas Break rolled around, h2o was beginning to leave it's mark on the campus. The fall semester brought about steady attendance growth coupled with lifetime relationships being developed. We were invited by the university to participate in their Spiritual Life Fair, as well as their Organizational Involvement Fair. We also participated in Operation Christmas Child which gave our students an opportunity for international missions. Our largest ministry/missions project came at Thanksgiving. Our students gathered enough food and raised enough money that we were able to provide Thanksgiving meals along with two weeks worth of groceries for three families in our community. We also partnered with another local church to provide, prepare and serve Christmas dinner for many of our underprividged families in Tiffin.
December was marked with a year-end Christmas party for our students at our house, along with the launch of our new church plant, The River Church. The River is designed to reach the 18-35 year old age group in our community, along with focusing on the students on both of our college campuses. The River was blessed to be able to also meet in Chisholm Auditorium on the TU campus, which is our home for h2o. It was great to see a brand new group of students reached with the addition of The River. Our church meets at 6:00pm on Sunday nights...perfect for reaching those students that are returning to campus from their weekend home trips.
Christmas brought about a needed time of rest and relaxation for our family. Even though I continued to work at my secular job, and maintained communication with our students, I sure enjoyed spending some much-needed quiet time at home with my family.
Our break was a good thing...the spring semester loomed in the distance...
...to be continued
