By AnnaBelle Boone / The Jambar
In light of recent campus protests, Youngstown State University’s The Bible Talks, a religious organization on campus, held a three-day outreach event on campus March 25-27.
The events included public testimonies at the fountain and a small carnivalesque event outside of Kilcawley Center.
The Bible Talks meets every Monday in Room 2221 of Williamson Hall, while hosting a variety of events throughout the week. Ashleigh Hodge, freshman history major, joined the group when she came on campus last semester.
“I feel like TBT has been a really good experience,” Hodge said. “The priority there is always ‘the word’ and that being kind of the driving force in what we do. I do feel like it’s been really good.”
Hodge said TBT started planning the event a few months ago, bouncing ideas off of each other in its planning committee. AJ Wagstaff, sophomore exercise science major, was a part of the committee.
“Our events next week are specifically built around sharing the gospel, but it’s also an invitation for anyone who wants to join our organization,” Wagstaff said. “We aren’t just having a crash course to Christianity and it’s a big invitation for anyone who ends up being curious about what Christianity is and what it’s all about to come learn with us.”
Wagstaff said what started as an idea evolved into the planned event.
“We had probably like four or five group meetings where we were coming up with a plan and then just figuring out how we were gonna put it into like reality, like real life. And in each of those meetings, it changed a little bit,” Wagstaff said. “Our actual project became a little bit more real.”
Hodge said the organization values input from the committee for ideas to reach more participants.
“Everyone came in with lots of great ideas about, ‘How can we engage as many people as possible?’” Hodge said. “So from all the same ideas, we had to recenter and think it’s not about us. It’s about God and what he’s going to do. So no matter what we land on, we know it’s going to be good and it’s going to be what’s meant to happen.”
Asher Chiwawa, freshman mechanical engineering student, has also been a part of the group since his first semester.
“We’ve all had our Christian journeys in a different pattern. It was just as well trying to use our own experiences and how we can share them with people,” Chiwawa said. “Just have them come and see what we are really about, not what they think we’re about.”
The Bible Talks also meets Sundays at Old North Church in Canfield in addition to its weekly meetups.
