Return to Oasis

If you haven't read the blog entry that was written just before this one called "A New Heart Beat", then this entry may not make too much sense.

Today and 2 other days this week I returned to Oasis. Our normal routine is to go to our one room concrete block building in Oasis, sweep the concrete floor, set up the plastic chairs that we bring with us on the back of our pick up truck, then we walk around the community telling all our regulars that it's time to start, and inviting all we see. But today was different. Today, before we walked around the neighborhood, a staff member suggested that we drive up a really big hill into a different part of the community where they was a lady who wanted to come but couldn't walk very well. We piled into the back of the truck and went to this new area. Isaiah, our staff member, sent us out in pairs to walk down various streets to invite folks to our program. When we all returned to the truck, nobody felt that anyone in this new area seemed to be very interested and the originally targeted lady wasn't home. So we went back and got the program started. We had a fairly good crowd...about 65 folks. Then, about 15 min later, waves of folks from the new area started to come in. In the end, we had a record number of 99 folks (including 8 of us). We were thrilled that they had come, and we hoped we had enough to food. Then it hit me...Oh No! We told them we had food, but we didn't tell them to bring a bowl. We couldn't not feed them after such an effort on their part! When it came time to eat, Isaiah had an idea. We had a new large black trash bag with us. Isaiah simply started to tear the plastic bag into squares, which would become like a plate. I cupped the thin black plastic in my hand as rice and beans were spooned into my make-shift bowl, and then I pulled the 4 corners up and together to make a secure pouch for each child. Somehow I was thrilled that Isaiah had come up with a solution, yet my heart broke even more for these fellow brothers and sisters.

But wait...there's good news! Several weeks ago, a friend back home gave me $1500 to specifically use for "the poor" in anyway I thought best. Although the logistics may be dificult, I developed a plan to give out shoes to many of the Oasis folks. They need shoes so badly! Last Thursday and today we announced the shoe program at Oasis. But never have we seen a response like we had today. In my really bad Spanish, I explained the program to everyone. As always, we provide transportation to and from the Oasis community for church on our campus at 4:30pm. But starting tomorrow, Sunday Oct 28th, anyone who comes to church for three Sundays (thru Nov), will receive a pair of shoes after their 3rd service. The Oasis group was obviously happy and it seemed that they were not sure if they could believe what they heard. I'm very excited to be involved in this program. $1500 in a lot of money in my book...but how far can I make it stretch? Unlike our neighboring countries, things aren't cheap here. I can't wait to see how this goes. I'll draw around their foot or shoe if I can't figure out their shoe size. Then I'll go bargain hunting and watch to see how the Lord is going to provide for all the shoes that are needed. It feels a little like the Bible story about Jesus multiplying the fish and bread for the crowd. Please join me in prayer over this project, that all would go well, that many would hear the gospel message and respond positievely to it, that they would invite others, and that the Lord would provide exactly the right shoes for each and every person. I{ll be sure to update you.