On May 20 at 11:30 a.m., even without a cloud in the sky, our children were let out of school in anticipation of the bad weather. When I got home that afternoon, our children were jumping on the couch, putting on helmets and superhero masks, saying they were ready. One of those masks...
Springtime in Oklahoma means bad weather and tornadoes. However, I never thought that I would be in the middle of one of those bad weather days. On May 20 at 3:15 p.m., I was in a Plaza Towers Elementary School hallway with six of my students when an F-5 tornado ripped through our...
My experience on May 20 was shared with my 10 first-grade students, my kindergarten son and two classroom parents that arrived a couple of minutes before the eF5 tornado leveled my classroom at Briarwood Elementary. It is a day that none of us will soon forget. When I think about...
They say you can take the girl out of Texas, but you can’t take Texas out of the girl. So on a farm in rural Oklahoma county, Jane (Williams 68) Winton has a few Texas stars posted in charming nooks and on sturdy fences to remind her of her beloved Lone Star State. But Oklahoma...
Picture the scene: Frank Davis, just 17 years old, and his 19-year-old brother James were on a bus headed to play basketball at this new college, Oklahoma Christian, that didn’t even have a gym. But the coach at Arkansas Tech had gotten word of their plan, and he appeared at...
May 20 was a day of heartbreak for my hometown of Moore. Watching events unfold live on TV from my home in Arkansas was a surreal experience. My parents’ home and the church where I attended growing up (Central Church of Christ) were in the line of fire. I had briefly talked...
It’s been a little over five years since our family moved to Virginia from Oklahoma. When we heard about the tornado that hit Moore, it brought back many memories of the May 3, 1999, tornado. It was hard to believe that Moore had been devastated again. Several members from our...
There are so many people worse off than me.” In the two trips our church group made from O’Fallon, Missouri, to Oklahoma to help, we heard that phrase repeated over and over as we went from house to house offering assistance. The statement may be true, but when you are...
The Oklahoma Christian Women’s Association has supported the university for nearly 60 years, including more than $2 million in recent years to fund various programs. Former OCWA coordinator Becky Durham and longtime volunteer Carla Merideth played a big role in bettering Oklahoma...
It’s with indescribable pride and joy that we’d like to give you this little glance at the new Oklahoma Christian University viewbook. It’s been a popular piece with future students and their parents since it hit mailboxes, youth rallies and college fairs over the...
On May 19, our house was in the path of the Edmond tornado and we experienced some damage. But our perspective completely changed less than 24 hours later as we watched in horror the destruction and loss in Moore. Not to downplay the tragedy of this event, but the weeks that followed...
Legacy Program The Office of Alumni Relations would like to recognize your children at key times in their development with these gifts. Birth – Lil’ Eagle toddler shirt – Sent when you notify our office about your child’s birth. Start of School – OC ...
You did it! An unprecedented 1,479 Oklahoma Christian graduates gave back to their alma mater during the 2013 fiscal year as part of the university’s “Homeward” campaign. As a result, OC’s alumni participation rate (13.6 percent) surpassed the national average...
Mark your calendar now. Spread the word to your friends on Facebook and Twitter. You have to be at OC for this year’s do-not-miss weekend! Join us on the OC campus for the 2013 Homecoming Musical, “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” the Alumni Banquet...
On May 24, 2011, an F5 tornado was headed towards my home. I was three hours away and I knew my family was headed to the storm shelter across the street. I knew there would be no communication for awhile, so all I could do was listen as the storm chaser explained his eyewitness account...
As the Brazle brothers grew up in Montana and Saskatchewan, considered by many to be mission areas, they were constantly aware of God’s mission in the world. Their Dad made sure they were exposed to mission heroes all of their lives. “Missionaries stayed in our home ...
Tragedy hit close to home when the Moore tornado, which struck 20 miles from the OC campus, was cataclysmic. It was massive, strong, and brutal. Our metro-area neighbors lost sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, mentors, and friends. They lost their homes, their ...
The Alameda Church of Christ, which has four OC alumni on its ministry staff and one OC alum on its eldership, was extremely involved in the disaster relief efforts of the May tornadoes. Through its partnership with the Churches of Christ Disaster Response Team, Alameda housed approximately...
The days and weeks following the May tornadoes were a blur. Working for one of the nation’s largest international and relief agencies, Feed The Children, required around-the-clock attention to ensure we were able to respond to the devastation. But between the onslaught of media...
Oklahomans really take care of business in times of adversity. Everyone knows that. On May 20, I was sitting in my office at Abilene Christian University watching the live streaming online and sobbing. My thoughts raced to everyone I knew who could be affected, and the numbers were...
Meag-an-y! Meag-an-y! Meag-an-y! Dozens of little voices shout the greeting to Meagan Hawley (03) the second they spot her light skin and blonde hair around the Havens. The greeting only gets louder as she approaches the porch. Meagan shouts back, “How are you today?”...
I’m driving a bus full of teens heading south on I-35. As usual, they are loud. In fact, this group is perhaps the loudest I’ve spent time with in 16 years of youth and children’s ministry – which is really saying something. As we make our way into Moore, ...
I received several text messages from teens in my youth group at Saturn Road Church of Christ on May 20. Most were asking if my family in Oklahoma was safe and if we could do something to help with the EF5 tornado that hit Moore. When school let out on Friday, we loaded the bus with...
