Service is a foundational value of the Christian faith, but sometimes it can be difficult to get connected and find the best place to use your gifts.
However, one group at Asbury is making it much easier to find your niche.
The Asbury Outreach Coalition (AOC) is an “umbrella group” that brings other organizations together to make them more accessible. The five groups that are currently joining together under the AOC are Lexington Sports Outreach, 4Kids Mentoring Program, Adventure Serve, Church Under the Bridge, Wilmore Service Center and Refuge for Women.
“The emphasis of the AOC is on local service and outreach,” said Michelle Kratzer, the Associate Dean of the Center for Career and Calling.
“There are a number of partner organizations where students are serving that are listed on the website, so students can contact the AOC if they’re interested in getting involved in any of those kinds of things.”
The AOC website gives details on each organization, including contact information and a description of what each organization does.
“Those are the ones that we’re working closely in conjunction with, but there are other things that we can pursue if people want to get involved,” said junior and AOC student facilitator Faith Day. “If you’re looking for something in particular, then you can email the Asbury Outreach Coalition at outreachcoalition@asbury.edu and Michelle Kratzer or I will do research and find the person that you would be in contact with.”
Whether it’s a group that the AOC has already partnered with or somewhere else, Kratzer and Day expressed that their top priority is to guide students as they look to serve the community.
“We want it to be easy and accessible for students, and we want to serve students well,” said Kratzer. “We’re committed to people-serving, and anybody that has any questions about getting involved with service, we would love to hear from them.”
Along with providing resources and guidance, the AOC is planning a service day this spring that will allow all of campus to serve together.
“Asbury is responsible for roadside cleanup for the stretch of road from Shanty Hill to the ‘Y,’” said Kratzer. “On April 4 we’re going to go out and do that as an all-campus serve project.”
Everyone on campus will be invited to assist in the roadside cleanup project.
From the campus-wide service project to individual acts of service, the AOC is looking to expand on the service projects that students are already involved in, along with getting more students involved.
“I have such a heart for service and getting us all serving. My goal would be that we as people of faith that we would all be asking ourselves ‘Where am I serving?’ and ‘Who am I serving?’” said Kratzer. “But I also understand that as a student, it can be overwhelming to even know how to tap into that. It’s exciting though, now that I’ve had these eyes this semester, to see that there are so many ways that our students are serving. We want [serving] to be easy and accessible for students and [the AOC] wants to serve students well. We want to resource all of campus so that we are all doing this work. I want Asbury to be known as a place that serves one another and serves our community.”
