Campus ministry updates

May 6 was an emotional day for Wesley Foundation leaders and students at Oklahoma State University. That day, OSU graduate students received their degrees.

Among them were 15 students from Africa, all connected to the UM-related campus ministry.

Following the university ceremony, they made their way to the Wesley Foundation to celebrate their accomplishment. Patrick Saisi, a United Methodist from Kenya, had earned his doctorate. He approached Wesley’s director, Michael Bartley.

"Pastor, this is monumental," Dr. Saisi said. "Do you see what the Wesley Foundation is sending out into the world?"

Rev. Bartley gave thanks to God. He told the group, "God will feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and offer hope to the hopeless through what God has prepared for you to do."

Bartley said these graduates will teach, grow crops, develop small businesses, raise families, and build fellowshipping communities in light of what they learned while involved in the United Methodist mission at OSU.

OU student giving increases

College students are giving financially and in mission service, reported Daniel Dennison, director of the Wesley Foundation at the University of Oklahoma.

• An offering was collected regularly during worship on Tuesday nights of the past school year, and Rev. Dennison preached a three-part series on giving and generosity. Special offerings also were received for several ministries.

Dennison said overall giving by the students totaled more than $16,000.

"I’m excited these young people are learning the discipline and joy of giving now so they might continue this practice for the next 60-plus years in the ‘real world,’" he stated in the campus ministry’s May newsletter.

• Also in May, 15 OU students volunteered for tornado relief work in Tuscaloosa, Ala. The team served a coordinated effort involving UMCOR, Volunteers In Mission, Tuscaloosa-First UMC, and campus ministry in Alabama.

"I’m proud of our students for responding to the call to go and be the hands and feet of Christ in a severely hurting area of our country," Dennison said.