Old Dominion University
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University Profile
Old Dominion University, located in Norfolk, is the largest university in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia. It has an enrollment of 23,500 students, representing over 99 countries. It began in 1930 as a satellite campus of the College of William and Mary and has served the region as an independent university since 1962. The university offers 175 undergraduate and graduate degree programs from seven colleges and three schools. It is situated 2 miles south of the Norfolk Naval Station, the largest military installation in the world. It has a significant population of active-duty military personnel, retirees, and ROTC candidates. It plays a pivotal role in the region in attracting local students and educating members of the armed forces.
Burden
There has been a long-standing burden for Old Dominion University in the church in Virginia Beach. Although there are other universities in the area, ODU is the largest and the most influential. In addition, there is the opportunity for the ground to be taken and a church to be raised up in Norfolk.
Beginning in 2023, there have been significant developments related to the burden on the campus. The church and the saints have purchased five homes immediately adjacent to the university. One, owned and soon to be significantly renovated, is across the street from the dorms and possesses ten parking spots.
The other four homes are within a one-block radius of one another. Saints occupy them, creating a sweet, intimate, day-to-day church life environment. Four full-timers are laboring on the campus: one brother and three sisters. In the fall of 2023, we gained club status and began tabling, preaching the gospel, hosting on-campus Bible studies, and an evening campus meeting. We hope a few more young saints will see the white fields and be thrust out by the Lord of the Harvest to serve at ODU.
