Founding Obed’s House 

Meredith (Wood) Docena was determined not to go to Cedarville University. She grew up in Springfield, Ohio, just 20 minutes from Cedarville’s campus. Her dad worked in the registrar’s office, and she knew she didn’t want to follow him there.  

But her love of soccer got in the way, and she went to Cedarville to become the varsity athlete she thought she deserved to be. But the Lord humbled her, placing her on the junior varsity bench.  

Even though Meredith was saved at the young age of six, she resisted living her life for the Lord. She sought after her athletic career, partying with friends, and ultimately living for herself.  

It was one New Year’s Eve that the Lord broke Meredith, and she surrendered everything to Him. She prayed the most dangerous prayer a believer can pray – “Use me.”  

The summer of her sophomore year, she went to the Philippines for a second time, volunteering at a Christian school. One afternoon, three starving boys walked into the school and tugged Meredith’s heart. She had only been in the Philippines for two months, but when she returned to Cedarville, she changed her major to social work and was determined to feed more hungry children overseas.  

Little did she know then that she would start her own orphanage, Obed’s House, that provides clothes and food to young children, while also ministering to their spiritual needs since its beginning in 2015.  

Listen to Meredith share her story on the Cedarville Story’s Podcast. 

https://share.transistor.fm/s/7f1de5ee