Oklahoma Christian University recognized alumnus Jim Weaver (‘84) with the Missions Service Award at the 2018 Homecoming Alumni banquet Nov. 3.
Jim Weaver is the director of Rural America Ministries (RAM), an organization which seeks to “promote the evangelization and revitalization of the rural communities of America by sharing truth and grace of Christ through His word and compassionate action,” according to its website.
“An evangelist at heart and having grown up in a family closely connected to the land, Jim has a special love for the rural mission field,” the website said. “He also sees the incredible potential for building the Kingdom of God in rural America by intersecting Millennial Christians and their desire for social justice and genuine Christian community with the burgeoning spiritual needs of the greatly over-looked, yet very open rural mission field.”
In a video interview shown at the banquet, Jim Weaver said the organization began after he had the opportunity to work with a rural church in western Oklahoma in November 2010.
“I was amazed at the opportunities and the needs for ministry in rural communities,” Jim Weaver said. “Here was mission field that was completely overlooked and there was—at the time and I think it’s still a fairly accurate figure—over 50 million Americans living in rural communities in the U.S. So, to have that recognition for rural America as a growing and viable and very needy mission field, it’s fantastic. The more that happens, the better.”
Both Jim and his wife Ashley Weaver (’84) graduated from Oklahoma Christian, which Jim said had a deep influence on his heart, providing inspiration and passion to reach people outside of his comfort zone and immediate vision.
“Mine and my wife Ashley’s time here at OC was significant in building relationships with other Christians and believers our age, as well as the staff and administration here,” Jim Weaver said. “Having that depth of relationship has continued to bless our lives. We are still connected with people from when we were here.”
Not only did the university impact Jim and Ashley, but three of their five children are attending or have graduated from Oklahoma Christian.
“They have built relationships that have shaped and formed them as adults and continue to influence them,” Jim Weaver said. “I know they are positioned already to experience the same thing that Ashley and I did, and that is having friends 30 years later that we became friends here. That gives a face to home for us that is still with us today.”
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