03.11.10

Campus Ohio: Hope in the Midst of Tragedy

by Rachel Wegner
After a tragic shooting on the campus of Ohio State on the morning of Tuesday, March 9, students gathered for a prayer vigil that evening. Among them were members of the Campus America family who lead up LoveOSU, which serves their campus via a house dedicated to prayer. The mission of LoveOSU is to encourage a culture of prayer on campus, offering a space to pray and engaging students to pray and know what it means to live in the Kingdom of God. A local ABC station featured a report about the vigil. See ABC the story and the video here. The OSU student newspaper, The Lantern, also highlighted the vigil here.

Below are a few words from Paige Bailey, who helps to lead Love OSU and is actively involved with <i>Campus America</i>.

“As some of you know, Tuesday morning, two university employees were killed and one injured in a shooting at a maintenance building on campus. LoveOSU rose to the occasion feeling the need to pray against the spirits of fear and darkness that want to overtake campus and to welcome Jesus’ presence of life and love.

Around 10 a.m. yesterday, we started putting out the ‘call to prayer.’ We sent a Facebook message and texted students and friends to gather at 10 p.m. in front of the maintenance building where the shooting occurred.

When we arrived, one news station was already there to report at the site. Around 20 people gathered and we began by singing “Amazing Grace,” then started into fervent prayer. Even with the camera lights shining on us, students prayed without abandon that God would be glorified and the Holy Spirit would come. We prayed for the faculty and staff of the university to shine for Jesus and be the answer to the brokenness.  

We continued to petition that God would comfort and give hope to those in difficult situations like the suspect in the shooting that killed himself. We ended, like we do with many campus-wide gatherings, in songs and celebration, knowing that our God is good and He hears our prayers.

I think this is just one example of why God has called us to LoveOSU. We are the invitation to pray, the call to pray, the ones who gather the people of God to stand in the gap and cry out to Him. Yesterday morning at 7, a friend informed be of the shooting and asked, ‘When will LoveOSU have a prayer gathering?’ We are encouraged in our role here at Ohio State. God has called us here to mobilize His people. As we ended in song last night, ‘Greater things are yet to be done in this city.’”

[To find out more about LoveOSU, visit www.loveosu.com.]