Ministry to Students Often Involves Presence in Dark Times

Carol Dodds can probably think of a million places she’d rather be than in an Austin hospital, sitting with anxious students as they visit a teammate in ICU with critical injuries after an accident. But in her role as campus minister with Athletes in Action at the University of Texas, that’s what this past week called for.

Dodds and the women’s soccer team she has led in Bible study in past seasons have logged many hours at UMC Brackenridge this week in the wake of the Feb. 3 hit-and-run accident that left senior Kylie Doniak of Chino Hills, Calif., with broken bones, broken ribs, a punctured lung and a serious head injury that has meant brain swelling for the past few days.

While Kylie lays in a medically induced coma in ICU, Dodds takes on the role of comforter for her family and friends who routinely visit the hospital. The day after the wreck, Dodds met Doniak’s mother in her room and was able to share memories that gave the family some joy in the midst of the tragedy and uncertainty.

The accident has students more focused on prayer. On the spur of the moment, Dodds decided the UT chapter of AIA would host a special prayer vigil for Doniak on Monday evening, in place of its weekly all-sport Bible study meeting. Student leader Becca Tomlin used the group’s Facebook page to send out invites to that night’s gathering. Crammed into a meeting room at the San Jacinto residence hall, Dodds and others shared words of wisdom that served to comfort their young charges.

AIA’s Cathy Webster read from Psalm 139, passages that talk about God weaving together bodies in the womb and knowing everything about humans. Another volunteer shared the story of the paralytic man whose friends lowered his cot through a roof to take him to Jesus for healing. The focus was on faith for those who loved Kylie and wanted to see her restored.

“We were praying God would knit Kylie’s body together again, and we were able to talk about God being intimately interested in our bodies,” Dodds said.

She ended up with another audience that night, as an Austin TV news crew showed up at the vigil.

“All these girls are in the prime of their lives, and they are thinking ‘what happens when a life is threatened like this?’” Dodds told the reporter. “It makes them think about why bad things happen to good people. It really stops the college life and makes you think about things that are serious in terms of life and death and eternity and what really matters in life.”

Since Monday, Dodds says she has done a lot of sitting with players and being available for questions or comfort.

“I feel like right now just sitting with the girls and being with them is important. It’s kind of like in Job where it says his friends just sat with him,” Dodds said. “I think everyone is in the middle of the crisis right now. But I’m there if they want to talk and go deeper.”

Dodds said the AIA group added a half-hour prayer time before their weekly meeting for the coming weeks as student athletes continue to lift up their friend and the long road to recovery ahead of her. But she said the senior with whom she had met regularly last year for Bible study and mentoring is tough.

“She’s in great shape, strong and vital, and that’s all working in a positive way,” Dodds said. “And she’s a fighter.”

Dodds said she realizes she must also pay attention to her own sleep and exercise routine so she remains strong for those to whom she ministers. She said processing each day with husband Stuart, who is the Red River campus regional director for AIA, helps immensely.

“I realize it is not about me. When the whole news thing happened, I was flooded with peace, because I knew God’s big agenda was at work,” she says. “I have a peace that is not like the world, so I try to center myself more during all this.”

Doniak’s friends and family have set up a page on CaringBridge.org to post updates on her condition. As of today (Feb. 13), doctors are waiting for the pressure on the brain to decrease so they can repair her tibia and collar bone. She has also on a series of antibiotics for some developing infections but is breathing more on her own and responding to stimuli more.

By Teresa Young, AIA Communciations by teresa young 13. February 2012 05:27

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