Greetings Sponsors, Volunteers, Donors and Friends of Oasis!

Well, I have been working with Oasis for a little over five months now, and I am finally feeling like I am getting my feet under me.  You may have been wondering, "What has that guy been doing all this time?"

I have been busy! I have learned so many things about Oasis and our successes, failures, lessons learned and history over the last nine and a half years of work in Kenya. I hired an amazing Operations Administrator, Diane Elliot. She and I are the "US Operations Team," and we work hand-in-hand with the "Kenyan Operations Team," Rick and Ann Smith. We have prayed fervently for direction, and, step-by-step, God is showing us the way. He is blessing us abundantly with talented volunteers and resources even before we know we need them!

Kim Huffman and a tired little one from The Hill

Team Oasis runners are coming out in droves for the race season this year. In fact, we have six times as many runners in 2013 as compared to 2012. Team Oasis, led by Kim Huffman, is the engine behind land acquisition and the build-out of the facilities we need in Kenya. Two things are abundantly clear, God is on the move doing amazing things through Oasis and we are humbled to be His hands and feet!  

There are a ton of exciting things on my mind that I want to share with you about Oasis now and Oasis as I envision it in the future. I will be sending out a series of letters over the next few weeks. Each letter will be focused on various facets of Oasis in an effort to give you a comprehensive view of our plans to save and develop more orphaned children in Kenya. 

I have received many questions these last months, and the topics I will be addressing in the weeks to come will include the following: How is Oasis special? Who are the Oasis staff, and how do they function together? Do we have the US and Kenyan infrastructure to support growth? What is our approach to adding new partners and projects in Kenya? What is going on with the new Migori property that Oasis purchased? How is Oasis doing financially, and when are we going to start taking new children into our programs? Will there be any significant changes to sponsorship in the near future? What can I do to support Oasis? And, when is a good time for me to go to Kenya to visit my sponsored child?

These are good questions! I will discuss all of them and more in my series of letters to the Oasis family. The process of sustaining and building new children's homes in Kenya is not easy, and, when you consider all that must be done, it can be downright daunting! But, I'm looking forward to sharing with you, my brothers and sisters, as we follow Gods command to care for widows and orphans. So far, it has been a magnificent, 

inspiring, and humbling adventure!  I'm so glad we are on

Tom and Ruthmari Andersen

this ride together!

Best Regards,

Tom Andersen

Manager of Oasis US Operations