To say 2013 has been a busy, and certainly different, year would be an understatement! God has blessed Savior’s Tear and Oasis de Esperanza with many “firsts” and while there have been both praises and heartbreaks the former certainly exceeds the latter and most importantly God has remained faithful through it all. We are reminded to “praise Him in the good times and the bad times” and our praise is not dependent on those instances but most importantly because He is faithful. He never leaves or forsakes us and that assurance causes us to praise Him at ALL times.
I want to share a quick overview of the year with you and will share what few pictures I have (more on that later) of the year:
– We were blessed to serve with eight short-term teams
- Bridges of Hope (Indianapolis, Indiana)
- Grace Community Church/Lakewood Church (Houston, Texas)
- Messiah’s House (Amarillo, Texas)
- The River (Panhandle, Texas)
- Community Worship Center (Perryton, Texas)
- Trinity Fellowship Church (Amarillo, Texas)
- Victory Church (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma)
- Gateway Church (Southlake, Texas)
– In June Elaine’s mother, Nola Cummings, went to her heavenly home, one month shy of her 95th birthday. She spent her days packing boxes of donated clothing to ship to Nicaragua. A godly mother, mother-in-law, grandmother, great-grandmother, and abuela to hundreds of Nicaraguan children.
– Construction at ~90% completion
– Monthly church services at Oasis de Esperanza school with 250-300 attending
– Movie nights with 300+ attending
– Dental Hygiene students cleaned teeth of 500+ students and staff
– OKC medical team saw 2000+ patients from Oasis de Esperanza, elderly, and poor barrios in Managua
– FIRST BAPTISM SERVICE (13 children baptized and ~700 church attendance)
– Oasis de Esperanza Manual Arts team won 1st place in national competition
– Two Oasis de Esperanza Futbol (soccer) teams won 2nd place in their respective leagues
– Christmas program, party, meals, and presents for 450 students
– Graduation or pre-K (24) and 6th grade (44) students
