Let me take you on a tour of what we did at the store today. We decorated grids in each department. It’s not quite finished but it will be tomorrow.
We separated out departments so that each part of the store has its own area. This is the men’s department.
We began folding t-shirts and sweaters and putting them on shelves
The children’s area got some decorations. Putting up all these little clothes really made me think of my own babies who are now 28 and 23 and how I SOOO would trade it all go back to when they fit into these clothes and I could squeeze them up and kiss their sweet cheeks!
The furniture and appliance section got some arrangement to it
Decorative pillows were added to accent the couches
My favorite part! FASHION! A scarf donated by one, a sweater with the tags on it from my mom’s closet, a pair of pants donated by another and a pair of shoes donated by another and VIOLA! we have a cute outfit!
It’s all coming along! Tomorrow we tackle the housewares! I’m exhausted and going to bed! I’ll post more pictures tomorrow!
Pastor Doug measures and praying about leasing this space
Yesterday I told you that I’d fill you in on what’s been taking up my days and nights for weeks now. We are opening a RE-Store. A RE-Store is a new name for a thrift shop. For weeks now, we’ve been gathering items, and now we should have our official grand opening on Saturday.
Can you imagine what we can do with this space?
We modeled our store after the La Porte, Texas store run by an organization called Role Models Of America. This RMA store will be called Oasis RMA and will be the West Coast representation. We are proud that they trusted and allowed us to join forces with them.
We had to first dispel the notion of what a thrift store is with our congregation. As you all know the TLC4Women scripture that we base our ministry on is:
Romans 12:2 2. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will.
The grid walls are in. Let's start moving in!
This scripture applied here big time. We had to change our mind about what a thrift store looked liked and felt like. So here is the vision of our new ministry:
We are not a yard sale or a junk store. Our ministry is one of excellence and so the items in the store are items that are in good condition. No stains, no rips, no tears, no “good enough”. We want to offer a good product to our community because, after all, it represents the ministry. Nothing is wasted. Anything that doesn’t go into the store is sent to be recycled. This is important to us because we don’t want to waste resources. God’s commandment of replenishing the earth doesn’t mean making more landfills!
Mary Lou and Dawn working some long hours!
This ministry will help on multiple layers. We have partnered with our county to help clothe people for their job interviews. Sometimes all it takes to land a new job is to have a new outfit to boost your self-esteem. We also offer help getting your resume together and giving mock interviews. We also will have items to help with benevolence. The economy being what it is, we will have access to things that can help. We aren’t even open yet, and a woman who is a week away from giving birth just moved to town. They don’t have furniture and we got a couch donated that we think will be a blessing to her. Being able to help is what we are called to do! Besides it makes me really happy!
What a blessing!
The money that the store generates, will help with our food pantry, a youth program that we need and help us with our missions work. Our community has been so helpful! We really live in a good city with good people who have a desire to make it a better place. We could not be more grateful!
Pastor Sergio who works tirelessly!
So now you know what we’ve been up to. The store will open on Saturday. I’ll be sure to post some pictures and update you as we go. For now, we covet your prayers!
Naomi and Ruth offer comic relief at the end of hard day's work
Oasis has fun! We have this initiation that the youth group does. They put forks in the lawn of every new family and they put signs up with notes. Well, we woke up Sunday morning to this and pink silly string! Oh yeah, it must be Pastor’s Appreciation Month!
And to all the V.I.P. Youth group: IT’S ON! And who wrote “bangin eye color”?
Our church is not a building, even though we seem to talk about our building often these days, following the fire. Our church is a people who gather together to learn about God, to pray, to lift one another up, to encourage each other to good works. Our church is generational where parents have brought their children and their children are now bringing their children and we are months away from one family having four generations worship together in the same row in our congregation.
Today blessed me and I wanted to share it with you. Vincent has just turned 3 years old a few weeks ago. He wants to be a guitar player. He got a guitar and he immediately came into the sanctuary and got up on the platform and took his place. He was very serious. His mom had to help him with his strap but then he got busy. In some churches the culture would make this inappropriate but we believe with all our heart that the children learn to lead this way.
Matthew 11:25 At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.
Vincent arrives with his mom and dad on prayer night and kneels at the altar in between his parents and begins to pray. He’s three, he gets bored after a while, so pretty soon he lifts his head but remains kneeling and pushes his trucks and cars quietly in his place while his parents continue to pray. Oh, how I wish I could show you a picture because this blesses me. Only I feel that I would be intrusive taking pictures during prayer so I refrain. Let me just tell you, it’s beyond a blessing to see and it touches your heart. I’m sure you can picture it.
Today though, when Vincent got up on that platform I couldn’t help but snap a few photos. I hope they make you smile like they did me. I pray that you are teaching your children to praise God, to worship him and to make him the priority of their lives.
Notice his pick!In the middle of I Am Free he lifted his hand! Sooo cute!!!
I thought I’d post some pictures of how the rebuilding of the church is going!
The first thing the city told us was that we needed to put up a fire wall between the sanctuary and the fellowship wall. In order to do this the bathrooms had to be moved a few feet. The city also required the plumbing be upgraded to today’s code so trenching and jackhammering 7″ of concrete flooring to get this done had to be completed first.
Plumber Jerry Yanez puts in the parts that are required to pass code.
At the same time the plumber is doing his thing the trusses are coming down to replace the burnt part of the ceiling.
Don’t they make it all look so easy? It must have been because they seemed done in no time at all.
Meeting with the general contractor, he shows us what is going on and what needs to happen next. It’s strange to see the church cut in two pieces but we know it will all be put back together again soon.
Jody Jasso and Pastor Doug stop to pose for a picture.
Walls are framed to hold things together until the new trusses arrive next week.
During the rebuilding of our church’s building after the fire, we are leasing a store front. Each day there are three boys who play in the parking lot, in the dumpsters, running down the sidewalks, annoying the other offices in our shopping center. They run into our office each time they pass by, “We came for candy and Coke”, they say. Each day that they come by, we give them candy but we don’t drink Coke often so all we have is water which is disappointing to them and they decline.
They generally wreak havoc in the office and then go on to the next office. Today though was different. I was working in what is now the sanctuary. They had found a shopping cart and they were taking turns getting in the cart and running as fast as they could go, before letting the cart go as it ran into cars, windows etc… They got in trouble so they had to let that activity go and they were running around looking for something to get into.
I leave the sanctuary to get a stapler from the office and as I was walking out of the office, I hear the drums and they boys screaming in the sanctuary. I lock up the office and run next door. The scene went like this:
“RUN SHE’S COMING!”
“HANG ON! DON’T RUN! SIT DOWN RIGHT NOW!” This is my best mom voice!
All three of the boys stop dead in their tracks and sit down.
“Now, I’m calling the police because you guys are trespassing.”
“NO! PLEASE DON’T!”
Three boys begin to look really scared.
“Too bad! You guys need to learn a lesson. You can’t just run into places and do whatever you want! There are a lot of expensive things in here and you can’t just go banging on stuff without permission. You have to learn to respect stuff and you have to learn manners.”
“NO! PLEASE DON’T! LET US WORK IT OFF! WE’RE SORRY! WE WON’T DO IT AGAIN.”
A couple of the boys begin to get teary.
“So, here’s the deal I’m willing to make. You have to promise never to do this again. You all can come and play drums and stuff but you have to ask first and you have to be supervised. If you do this again, I really will call the police. Got it?”
“Yes! Thanks! So we can play the drums if we ask permission first?”
“Yes. You can play with permission and with supervision.”
“Okay, and we’ll walk Lulu if you want.”
“No, that’s fine. I want you guys to have stuff to do but we have to have some ground rules. So let me show you how to play the instruments and what you can mess with and what you can’t touch.”
“Do you think we can be in the band?”
“When you’re in 7th grade you can.”
“They’ll let us? Are you really sure?”
“Yes, they’ll let you be in the youth band. I’m really sure. Just use your manners in the house of God.”
“Okay.”
In about 15 minutes they were trying to coordinate a song and trying to drum to a beat. The song? We Will Rock You by Queen.
I know the story of two of these boys. Their moms are stay at home moms and on drugs. The third boy lives with his grandparents but I’m unsure about where his parents are. They basically fend for themselves and no one ever comes to check on them. Ever. They eat whatever we have around the offices. They are generally unclean and unkempt and they have gutter mouths, but you know what? They are little boys. These aren’t big kids. The oldest one is a third grader. Hopefully today we struck a deal. I needed to get their attention and I needed to give them a place to go. You know something? After we made rules, they were sweet. Boys nevertheless, meaning they ran around, they yelled and they played. I wish their parents could see that with some boundaries, care, love and concern they’d have some really great future men to lead our country.
Last weekend we had Kidz Day at church. It was a hot summer day and the water slide and bounce house were a big success!
The line to sign up and get your goody bag with prizes was longer than expected!
The children waited patiently for their turn to slide!
Even the high school kids got in the mix with some wrestling and horseplay. Yes Vikki, that's your Robert!
Over 200 hot dogs and chip plates were served! Fun was had by all and even when it seemed a little scary, Angie was not deterred by getting back on!
On this day, Oasis was a place of refreshing and fun for the entire community! A great big thanks to Gesia Valencia our Children’s Director and all of our volunteers who made this day possible!
Psalm 17:4 I’m not trying to get my way in the world’s way. I’m trying to get your way, your Word’s way. 5 I’m staying on your trail; I’m putting one foot In front of the other. I’m not giving up. 6 I call to you, God, because I’m sure of an answer. So – answer! bend your ear! listen sharp! 7 Paint grace-graffiti on the fences; take in your frightened children who Are running from the neighborhood bullies straight to you. “The Message”
Each month a small group from Oasis goes out to combat the graffiti in the city. Each month we are given pages of addresses of buildings that have been tagged. Most are gang symbols and names and they make our city look terrible. This month our task was a wall that ran two blocks. As you can see, this isn’t artwork, but merely gang symbols that are crossed out and replaced with more gang symbols. There was a lot to paint and this was only one place on a list of many.
Adrian Jurado one of our church elders owns AJ Painting, a local company, so he came out to help us.
We have a lot of fun out there and this time was no exception. A lot of heavy topics of conversation are on our minds as we paint. This month it was the San Francisco 49ers line up (a godly team, I might add) vs the Oakland Raiders line up (there’s a little sin in each of our lives).
Pretty soon a good deal of one of the walls is painted. We paint God’s grace-graffiti on the wall as we clean up our city and make it a place we can be proud of again.
Thanks to our volunteers and thanks to our city who allows the privilege of service!
Dr. Gayla Holley is a wonderful friend to me. She grew up as in Zimbabwe while her parents were missionaries there. She played along-side the children there, was educated there and has a very special place in her heart for the people there. That is her adopted country. You can see the love she has for the people there when she recounts her stories of her childhood.
Her life has been spent helping others. She is not your average Pastor’s wife dealing with her local church and funding missions. She has made missions her life purpose. This year she started Moms Against Hunger. Her God ordained task is to send food worldwide. With her ministry Role Models Of America she has not only fed, clothed, moved medicine and building materials worldwide, she has been involved in being a first responder to the catastrophes of Hurricane Katrina, Rita and Ike, just to name a few. So she has the experience to get this done.
Currently, she has 150,000 meals ready to ship from La Porte, Texas to Zimbabwe Africa. Zimbabwe has agreed to waive the tariffs. Because of her connections there she has people on the ground that are ready to get this food starving people. The food is purchased and ready to go. She needs $10,000 for transportation costs to get the food there. $10,000 seems like such a huge amount but if each of us gives up our Starbucks or McDonalds meal for the week, we can make this happen. There is a small window of opportunity where the government is being cooperative.
Oasis and TLC are proud to be a small part of getting this food shipped. Can you help? If so, please click on her link above and give your help. If we all do just a little we’ll be able to make a small dent in hunger in the world.
Pastor Susan 