Instead of trick-or-treating, ORU students spent Halloween night gathering canned goods for the homeless in Tulsa. A total of 773 students traveled with their missions teams or residence halls to more than 3,000 houses in the Tulsa area for ORU’s annual Fall Outreach.
“On a night when our students could have been doing so many other things, it was incredible to see them come together to help those in need,” said ORU Missions and Outreach director Bobby Parks. “Our prayer this year was that our students would have a heart to see the homeless and hurting in Tulsa.”
But ORU students were not only collecting; they were also prepared to give. At each home, students offered to pray with residents that God would meet their needs.
“On a night when our students could have been doing so many other things, it was incredible to see them come together to help those in need.”
Bobby Parks, ORU Missions and Outreach director
“My team had the opportunity to come to the people of Tulsa and offer to pray with them,” said junior education major Gabe Stark. “It greatly impacted our team seeing the Holy Spirit minister to the people we met, just on their doorstep.”
To kick off the evening, students heard from Steve Whitaker, the CEO of John 3:16 Mission. The Tulsa area ministry exists to meet the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of Tulsa’s hungry, homeless and at-risk.
With the holidays approaching, John 3:16 was in need of additional resources to provide Thanksgiving meals for over 3,000 families in need. ORU was able to donate 11,887 pounds of food to John 3:16, along with 118 turkeys donated by local business T.D. Williamson, Inc.
A further 2,600 pounds of canned goods were donated to other area food banks.
Additionally, students raised $2,610 for World Compassion to aid Iraqi refugees who have fled their homes due to the violence.
