OASIS FOR ORPHANS NEWSLETTER

July 2013 

TEAM Oasis is in its fourth week of training for the Chicago Half Marathon on September 8th and the Bank of America Chicago Marathon on October 13th. Our 5Kers have gathered together once with their team captains to run.

• There are more than 480 runners registered to run and raise money to build The Shelter. That's nearly 400 MORE than last year! 
• TEAM Oasis Michigan, led by Julie Barrett, kicked off the season with approximately 30 runners and walkers raising over $9,000 at the Fifth Third River Bank Run in Grand Rapids. 
• Our team goal is to raise $200,000, of which, $22,500 has already come in.

Please pray for the safety, protection and health of TEAM Oasis runners, many of whom will be logging hundreds of miles between now and race day.

• Twilight Shuffle 5K: 260
• Chicago Half Marathon: 116
• Bank of America Chicago Marathon: 56
• All other races: 21

FEATURED ARTICLE - A DERSE FAMILY UPDATE

Greetings from the Derse family!

Hill in Kenya! When Oasis asked us to write a report on our trip to share with you, we immediately said, "Of course!" and started making a list of the activities and projects with which we were involved. However, we quickly realized that we are still trying to understand how God moved through us to minister to the people in Kenya and all of the ways that God forever changed our hearts. Before we left the States, we spent months planning our "to-do" list, only to realize, once we arrived in Kenya, God's plan was much different than ours. What follows are some of the highlights of our ministry opportunities and we will try our "level best" (as the children on The Hill would say) to convey what we feel God was trying to accomplish throughout, what He was trying to teach us and how He was transforming our hearts in the process.

Arriving on The Hill, it was evident that God had prepared the children's hearts for significant growth in their spiritual life. It was a privilege for our family to see God moving so powerfully in this area of their lives. In March, over 70 of the children prayed the salvation prayer and invited Jesus into their hearts!

Bonfire Devotions!

Throughout our stay, we were blessed to be welcomed into the church community as well. Kathi and I had the opportunity to preach on a number of Sundays in several of the churches in the area. Kathi joined the weekly women's Bible study and taught the Book of James. During this time, the group grew rapidly, drawing 30-40 women every Wednesday to study God's word. She witnessed significant healing of hearts and relationships during this time. The women's study culminated in an all-day women's conference attended by 108 women from the surrounding area. The event included worship, sharing a meal and hearing God's word through several different speakers. 

James had an awesome opportunity to serve by working with the church choir. He was able to spend a great deal of time filming their singing and dancing, which resulted in the production of several Kenyan-style worship music videos. You can view the first of them by clicking on this link!

Megan and Sarah became closely knit to the children and staff at the children's home. Sarah spent many hours in the kitchen learning the finer points of making chapatti and meal preparation for 100 hungry children. She also helped out with afternoon preschool and spent significant time just playing with the kids. Returning to The Hill after finishing her spring semester, Megan brought with her the much-anticipated sponsor letters. She also worked diligently to organize and conduct the annual sponsor calls, which was a huge blessing to both children and sponsors. Trying to coordinate these calls while working around an eight-hour time difference, peoples' busy schedules and the communication challenges in a third world country, is no small task. Seeing the kids' faces light up when talking to their sponsor families made it all worth while.

Joshua Skyping with his sponsor!

Our entire family was involved in various "home improvement" projects. James 

and Matthew built storage cupboards and installed hooks in each of the rooms.Through this, they mentored several of the boys who worked alongside them in these projects. Every room received a fresh coat of bright paint and eight new sets of bunk beds were installed. The dining hall was painted; Bible verses and flowers were added to bring cheer and inspiration. It was amazing to see how happy the children were with their new "digs."

Dissecting a Fish!

We also had lots of FUN! Friday nights were movie and popcorn nights. The 3hours spent every Friday afternoon, popping over 100 bags of popcorn, was a labor of love. This was all the kids could think about towards the end of the week, and every time it was exhilarating to see the kids lose control as we handed out the popcorn and started the movie. We enjoyed many special Bible studies, nightly devotions, anatomy/physiology lectures and special events like a group birthday party, staff appreciation party, bonfire devotions and an all-week Easter celebration. These activities became important avenues for us to build relationships with these special children.

In the midst of all of this, we experienced some significant spiritual warfare, times of discouragement and life-threatening illness. Life in Kenya is not easy, and we felt that acutely through various challenging situations. Kathi, in particular, suffered through a bout of typhoid that wreaked havoc on her and ultimately led us to returning to the States a month early. Despite these challenges, the privilege and blessing of loving and serving 98 amazing children has had the greatest impact on all of us and we will forever be changed because of it.

As we reflect back upon our experience, we are aware of the many mistakes and cultural faux pas that we made. Through it all, the staff and community were more than gracious and welcomed us into their lives and demonstrated love to us anyway. For this, we are eternally grateful. In our minds, we can still see the children's faces, hear their laughter and singing and feel their arms around us. God has imprinted these precious children on our hearts forever. We have seen God move in miraculous ways. He has taught us that He is indeed faithful and His ways are absolutely beyond what we could ever plan, hope or expect.

Thank you to all of you who supported us financially and, more importantly, with prayer. We witnessed God using our time in Kenya to further His kingdom among the children on The Hill and the Maasai people. It was also a privilege to serve alongside the Smith family, and we would like to extend to them our thanks and love for all that they did to support us during our stay in Kenya.

In God's Service,

Scott, Kathi, Megan, Matthew, James and Sarah Derse

Please continue to keep the Smith's in your thoughts and prayers as they serve in Kenya on behalf of Oasis for Orphans.  

If you would like to follow the Derse or Smith family adventures, please click on the links to their blogs.  The blogs are a great way to follow these families and/or to send your support. 

 

The Derse Family Blog                                  The Smith Family Blog