We had the best adult turnout of any of our outreaches, but we shouldn't have been surprised. The Lord prepared the way for this outreach. He opened doors ahead of time and made clear paths.
Dean and Bernard set out to explore the Oxford area a few weeks before the outreach, and the Lord put them in a direct, face-to-face meeting with the Director of the Oxford Housing Authority. He 'just happened' to know Bernard very well and was a fellow believer. We had prayed that the appropriate neighborhood would be selected and that the Lord would make it clear where He wanted us to do this outreach. We ended up having God's favor for this area and we were also able to use the old Head Start building's tables, chairs and kitchen facilities. This all proved to be an immeasurable blessing!
The people from the neighborhood came out and we had a great time fellowshipping with them and getting to know them a little better. Bernard brought a wonderful message about how the race we run in the Christian life, and we had a tremendous response for prayer afterwards. We did a puppet show, some songs and games with the kids, and had a donation table with free clothes and household goods for the families that came out. We also made pork chops and chicken legs on the grill, baked beans, rolls, cookies and drinks.
We are really hoping this outreach warmed us up to the area and we will be able to go back in and follow up with families and kids soon. I would love to go back and do a mobile VBS this summer like we did in Butner last year. I feel comfortable that we were able to display the love of Jesus through this outreach, and this will build trust for when we come back out again to share and disciple on a deeper level.
I have attached some pictures below from the outreach.
Enjoy!
Awesome!
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