Inspire, Winter 2002

T he drive home from work on June 4 seemed unusual for Nathan Rohrer ’96. Having left work at Customformed Products in Dayton, Ohio a little early, which he rarely does, Nathan even sailed through an intersection where he seemingly always caught the red light. Nathan’s route home took him across the Dayton View Bridge spanning the Great Miami River. Typically, Nathan would use those few moments crossing the bridge to glance down to water level hoping to see someone fishing along the bank. This time, his glance revealed not a leisurely cast, but a bicycle lying on the bank and two men clinging to a pole jutting from the bridge. Nathan pulled over and ran down the bank to the river’s edge, where he saw a little boy floating facedown in the river. After immediately calling 911 on his cell phone, Nathan leapt into the water. He soon reached the boy and turned him over. The child was not breathing, and his eyes were rolled back. Nathan quickly swam back towards the river’s edge with the boy and was relieved to hear the child give a few faint gasps. Emergency personnel and a news crew arrived shortly. Nathan learned the details of the incident from the two men who had been working to rescue the boy when Nathan arrived. On that sunny day, one of the men had taken the six-year-old fishing. Suddenly the boy slipped into the river. Although the man tried to rescue the child, the strength of the current and his lack of strong swimming skills prevented him from reaching the boy. A man riding by on a bike spotted them struggling in the water and stopped to help. Since he could not swim, he lowered himself onto the jutting pole and reached out to the other man. However, neither could reach the child in the water. Nathan visited the boy at Children’s Medical Center in Dayton that evening. The boy chatted with Nathan, saying that he was getting ready to graduate from kindergarten. Nathan also talked with the boy’s mother and gave her some tracts he had brought. “I was saved as a boy too,” he shared with her. “I was saved by the Lord Jesus Christ.” Concerning his experience, Nathan commented, “There were a lot of reasons why I should not have been there, but the Lord put me in the right spot at the right time.” Nathan and his wife, Amber (Smith) ’96, reside in Dayton. 20 Winter 2003 (continued from previous page) Yes, the outcome was good for “my” kids, but they were in foster care for seven years—longer than anyone had ever expected. In one of our court hearings, the judge scolded us—the caseworker and me—for letting these children stay in foster care for such a long time. Can You Help? There are children still out there in the system, a system that often does not serve them well. Could you be the CASA that could help them? Visit the CASA Web site, http://www.nationalcasa.org, to find the CASA program nearest you. Now that her first case is closed, Sue is doing a courtesy monitoring of two sisters who are in family foster care in Sue’s county. Sue also manages to work as a special education class assistant in her local school district in Salem, Oregon, and stays active in her church and community. A grandmother of three, Sue is a freelance writer and editor through her business, Picky, Picky Ink. She can be reached at miholer@viser.net. Inspire 21 Right Place at the Right Time N a t h a n R o h r e r ’ 9 6 Sue Johnson Ward ’76 found that ministering to high school students pays eternal dividends. Here she shares some of her experiences as a part of Youth for Christ. A s treasurer of the Johnstown-Monroe Local School District in Johnstown, Ohio, I desire to make my Christian faith known to the community through commitment to the spiritual nurturing of their young people. As such, I accepted a position on the steering committee of Northwest Licking County Youth for Christ (YFC). Our committee mainly orchestrates the annual fund-raising efforts which help support the ministry leader and allow high school and middle school students to attend various camp opportunities. As committee members, we also visit the YFC weekly club meetings when possible. Little did I realize how my experiences with YFC would be such a blessing. In 2001, YFC began looking for a running coach to assist adults who planned to run in a marathon as a fund-raiser for YFC. As a runner with marathon experience, I guess I was their logical choice for the coaching position. Beginning in July 2001, I assisted in training seven adults to run or walk the Honolulu Marathon. This was a real blessing to me as I became friends with these fellow Christian adults from all walks of life. The Lord used my marathon coaching experience to lead my husband, Ed ’76, to the YFC national Web site, where he discovered a development job opening with YFC’s Central Ohio Chapter. He was offered the position and began working in Columbus for YFC in September 2001. This past July, I had the privilege of attending the Mohican Valley Mission Work Camp with the Central Ohio Area YFC clubs as a female “tribe” leader. This experience was indeed one of the best week-long vacations I have ever taken. I was able to minister to girls from all walks of life, inner-city and rural. Our entire group, male and female, worked for Habitat for Humanity, Malabar Farm, and Volunteers of America doing work projects each morning. In the afternoon we had what we called ‘Jam in the Park’ where we went to a city park in Mansfield and conducted activities, games, and a Bible lesson for the neighborhood kids. On Thursday evening their families were invited for a cookout, games, and a Bible story. It was a privilege to give of ourselves to others, working together and developing relationships. By the end of the week we had the joy of seeing one of the boys from Johnstown accept Christ and one girl request discipleship. Currently I am planning to go through a six-week discipleship program with the girl. We saw many other commitments to rededication, with two girls in particular committing to turning away from their old lifestyles. I believe that, as a result of getting involved in students’ lives through YFC, I am receiving more of a blessing than any of the students. As I continue to be involved, I want the community to see that I am committed to their kids because of Christ’s love for me. Anyone can be in my occupational position, but not everyone has discovered the joy of serving Jesus in their workplace for an eternal goal. Sue and Ed live in Gahanna, Ohio. They have two children: John ’99, and Megan, who attended Cedarville University in 2001-02. For more information about Youth for Christ, visit www.yfc.org. Blessed by Youth for Christ S u e J o h n s o n W a r d ’ 7 6 Facts About the CASA Program (from the CASA Web site: http://www.nationalcasa.org ) • CASA began as a pilot project in Seattle in 1977 and became a national association in 1982. • In April 2001, the National CASA Association helped the millionth child since the program’s inception in 1977. • There are more than 58,000 CASA volunteers (50 percent of whom have full-time jobs) who come from all walks of life and serve in the more than 950 local CASA programs that operate in every state of the nation. • Judges have observed that CASA children have better chances of finding permanent homes than non-CASA children. Nathan Rohrer ’96 with daughter Madelyn Sue enjoys getting out in the community to work with various volunteer groups. Sue (shown at far left) with the YFC Central Ohio Chapter group at the Mohican Valley Mission Work Camp