Rhone to Speak at Next Courage and Connection Event Nov. 12

November 5, 2021

OBU’s First Lady Jill Thomas will welcome guest speaker LaShai Rhone for the next Courage and Connection event Friday, Nov. 12, at 10 a.m. The event will take place in the backyard of the Cargill Advancement and Alumni Center. All female OBU students are invited to attend the free event. Thomas and Rhone will discuss hard times in their own lives and how loneliness and difficult circumstances have driven them both to prayer.

Courage and Connection is a recurring event on campus, hosted by Thomas. It is designed to bring together the female students on campus to share with one another, support each other and hear from ladies of faith who have dealt with similar circumstances in their own lives. Attendees are encouraged to bring a blanket and a warm beverage of their choice as they enjoy the event.

The most recent Courage and Connection was held Oct. 1, featuring Julie Busler, Oklahoma’s president of Women’s Missionary Union. That event focused on the importance of mental health and stressed the ways available to seek help for students who are struggling.

Rhone works as a home and auto personal lines insurance agent for The Hartford Insurance Group. She is a member of Galilee Baptist Church in Shawnee, where she serves alongside her husband, Rev. Anthony Rhone, who is the church’s pastor. She serves as the ministry leader and Bible instructor for “Pearls of Wisdom,” the women’s ministry at Galilee Baptist Church, and also serves the church in its leadership and encouragement ministries. She is the newly elected president of the Oklahoma Baptist State Pastor/Minister’s Wives and Widows, for whom she also serves as a facilitator and Bible instructor. She has prior experience as the marriage ministry leader at Fairview Baptist Church.

She earned an associate degree in business finance from Rose State College. She plans to continue pursuing a bachelor’s degree in organizational leadership from Southern Nazarene University, before ultimately earning a master’s degree in psychology. She and her husband have a 26-year-old daughter, Tonia Janae’ Rhone, who is currently attending Wright State University’s Boonshoft School of Medicine.

Rhone is passionate about spreading the unadulterated, undiluted, uncompromised word of God to those who seek Him. To that end, she strives to be an example of a virtuous woman who has yielded to God in every area of her life. She seeks to encourage women of all ages and believes that keeping our daily lives in tune with Christ plays a major role in helping us reflect Christ to others.