Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him. Psalm 34:8

Oak Hills has ministry partners locally and around the world who are serving their community with love and food.  I love when we are worlds apart but experience the same truth.

 

The Barro’s Family in Mozambique

Wellington has also been assisting at Rickshaws Pousada and Café, one of the ministries we are involved here. Rickshaws is a hotel and restaurant on Mozambique Island, a business as a mission venture focusing on disciple making.  They are doing a Masks and Meals Project. They are outsourcing what they can of this operation so that local tailors are still in business and the community is cared for. For a $5 donation they can provide a meal and a mask to a Mozambican national.

Restoration Ministry in Brazil

The ministry center has become a receiving center for the basic food baskets where 5 non profit  organizations can come and also take food baskets to distribute in their communities. We were able to distribute to these  organizations  605 food basket .
Together they have been able to distribute food in the surrounding favelas for those who do not have.  God is blessing greatly this distribution.

 

 

 

Megan Padroni making waffles for the 9 students still at Black Forrest Academy in Germany.

 

 

 

Ylli church serving their community in Albania.

 

And finally local……Oak Hills participating in STOP POP and GO for the Twin Lakes Food Bank.  Thank You!

 

 

A view from Oscar Romero

“It helps, now and then, to step back and take the long view.

The Kingdom is not only beyond our efforts: it is beyond our vision.

We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is the Lord’s work.

Nothing we do is complete, which is another way of saying that the Kingdom always lies beyond us. No sermon says all that should be said. No prayer fully expresses our faith. No confession brings perfection. No pastoral visit brings wholeness. No program accomplishes the Church’s mission. No set of goals and objectives includes everything.

That is what we are about.

We plant the seeds that one day will grow. We water seeds already planted knowing they hold future promise.

We lay foundations that will need further development.

We provide yeast that affects far beyond our capabilities.

We cannot do everything and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that. This enables us to do something, and to do it very, very well. It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter and do the rest.

We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the Master Builder and the worker.

We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs.

We are prophets of a future that is not our own.”

 

Megan’s Life in Germany

This is a post from Megan Padroni who is a RA at Black Forest Academy in Germany. I love her thoughts on ‘quiet transformation’ as she calls it… I have been  doing some thinking about this job and how different it can be from others.  Most jobs have quantifiable expectations and goals and those things can be measured tangibly.  To be very honest, I like those kinds of jobs.  I like being able to set a goal and achieve it with a physical product of sorts.  May that be data to analyze, a report to share, or a follow up evaluation.  One thing about this job is that it very rarely results in a quantifiable end.  A while ago I wrote a newsletter about all of the things we are and are not as RAs and this idea of tangible outcomes goes along with that, what I do isn’t easy to describe and the “end product” I get to share is often small and quiet. When I think of the tangibles of this job, I think of the 120 cookie dough balls I make on a Tuesday or getting breakfast and dinner on the table for the kids.  It is often related to food and while there is a small sense of accomplishment in that, measuring success based off of cookie dough has been a tough mental shift to make. The reality is, if you ask me what my day to day life is like most of what I will tell you about is cooking, meetings, and getting students to bed.  Those things only fill so many hours of the day and do not sound super exciting, but that is because I often struggle to share the non-tangible ways I lean into these students lives. This ministry is different than others, it is not about constantly sharing the gospel, it is about becoming students of these students and loving them like Christ would. This means that my “tangible” results come in the form of hugs and thank yous and conversations.  It comes in the form of a late-night video game competition with some of my boys or in being asked to have lunch with one of my girls or in a Saturday afternoon movie marathon; because that is how to love these students best, it is leveling with them, learning from them, and investing in them.  It is letting them teach me how to skate because that is what makes them excited!   Those quiet, normal, not particularly shiny moments lay the groundwork for the exciting and deep moments with my students.  If you are interested in more thoughts on this, pop on over to my blog! -Megan Padroni

Serving for a Season, Loving for a Lifetime

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

As the holidays approach you may be overwhelmed with the many opportunities that exist to serve our community, especially with those seen as less fortunate, mostly based on economic status. Knowing that God has called us to love and serve the poor, I want us to consider how to love well.

I will make some assumptions here so please forgive me if they don’t apply to you.  (Even consider where these assumptions apply but you wish they didn’t.) Whenever we have the opportunity to serve keep in mind it usually means we are coming from a place of where we have the freedom to walk away from this particular hardship. This is another way of understanding the word privilege. Placing this advantage before God will help us humbly learn as we serve.

Some things to consider before you serve:

1. Who am I volunteering for?  Why does the organization exist?
2. How does this event serve the bigger purpose of the organization?
3. What preconceived ideas, judgements, or hurts do I have about the group I am serving?

Some things to consider while you are serving:

1. What are ways of maintaining the dignity of the person you are serving.  The language we use to refer to ‘friends’ or ‘clients’ instead of labels based on circumstances. (Ex: the homeless man, the poor family)
2. What is your role here?  Come as a guest and a learner. Remembering there’s more to the story that we can see. God is here, already at work.
3. What you are doing is important, but also consider how you are being.  Are you leaning into the Holy Spirit. Are you praying for eyes to see? Ears to hear?

Some things to consider when you are done:

1. Journal or discuss with your group:
   • What did you see?
   • What did you hear?
   • What surprised you?
   • What did you feel?
2. If there is grief because of the unfair or broken parts of the world take time to lament. Read Lamentations 5.  Replace the laments listed with the grief and brokenness you have seen, but remember to return to God’s sovereignty.
3. Prayerfully consider if this is a place where God would want you to regularly join in the work He is doing.

 

 

 

Breathing Life

I am doing a bible study through creation, by Amy Melekos who works at Powerhouse Ministries Inc. (a ministry partner of Oak Hills.)  One of the questions yesterday has caused me to pause, “In what ways do you have the power to breathe life into others?” This is not the first time I have wrestled with the truth that the tongue has the power to build up or destroy.  James 3 reminds us in verse 9 and 10 “With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness.  Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be.” A parenting book Colleen Grey recommended to me years ago, Spiritual Parenting by Michelle Anthony, has a whole chapter on it!  Today, I find myself not ready to move on in the study, I want to ponder this question more.  Why is it so easy to withhold life giving words? Or sometimes feel hard to find them? Fear, selfishness. But that is not what the question asks.

Looking at the positive, “What ways do I have the power to breathe life into others?” The word Power jumps out at me.  What Power do I have? Acts 1:8 tells us, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit come upon you..”  Spirit, wind, breath, words, presence. I have most often thought of my words as the way I breathe life into others.  Speak a blessing, speak a word of truth. But what if it also includes (or is more about) who I am in the presence of? Who am I breathing with?  Am I present to them? Hearing their breath, their words? 

It makes me think of our new Pull-up a Chair series.  Who will I pull up a chair with? Where do I choose to go? Who do I avoid? Where do I breathe life, where do I sigh contempt?

I want to breathe life into people and sometimes it is as easy as sitting there and listening. Maybe it includes finding things in common, laughing! Or slowing down enough to be present and recognize that we are all “human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness.”

Take time today to consider with God who you ‘other’ is.  Reflect on where these opinions formed. Ask God to reveal how this affects your behavior.   Your power to breath life.

 

Meet Oak Hills Newest Ministry Partner

Dessert with Megan Pedroni: July 18, 7 pm

Another beloved Oak Hillian will be entering the mission field. Megan will be leaving in August to serve for 2 years as a resident assistant at Black Forest Academy in Germany. BFA a school that boards missionary’s children and is the same school the Liberti children attend. We invite you to hear more about how Megan will serve families in a very real and incarnational way and how you can support her in important ways.  This gathering will be at the Hooey’s home 108 Danforth Ct, Folsom.

Love One Another

This week I ready a ministry update from one of our newest partners who are finishing training in the US before moving overseas in June.  When I read his story I saw almost every aspect of Fitch’s Faithful Presence and ultimately a fulfillment of Jesus commandment to us in John 15:12 and 17, “love one another”.

Here’s the story…

Kyle went to a local coffee shop where we had seen a lot of international students and refugees. Kyle noticed an Iraqi man that he had seen at the coffee shop a few times. He approached him and simply asked, “What are you studying?”

“I’m studying for the TOEFL,” the man replied, “and it’s really difficult. I have a wife and kids, but I can’t get a job until I pass this. Some of my friends have failed it thirty times. I’m so stressed that I could cry.”

“I’m so sorry to hear that. That does sound really difficult,” Kyle responded. “And you know, to be honest, I cry a lot. Do you believe that it’s ok to cry?”

“Really? No, my friends and family always tell me to be strong and not to cry.”

“Have you heard of Jesus? Did you know that Jesus cried?”

“The prophet Jesus? No, I never heard that he cried!”

“Yes, he cried! And He is why I feel ok to cry. He cries in the story of Jesus and Lazarus. Can I show that story to you?”

“Sure! Here, let me Google it…”

Kyle and this Iraqi man read through all of John 11 together in the coffee shop, talking about what a good Father our God is, and that we can cry because we are safe with our Father. They talked about how Jesus cried, grieving with his people, even though Jesus knew he was going to solve everything by raising Lazarus from the dead. Then, Kyle offered to come back and have more conversations–both to help this man with studying English so he could pass the TOEFL, and to talk more about Jesus.

“You have been such a good friend,” the man shared, and before he left, Kyle gave him an Arabic New Testament so that he could continue to read stories about Jesus until they were able to meet again.

1. The Table: they were at a coffee shop
2. Reconciliation: acceptance of tears and our frailty
3. Proclamation: “Have you heard of Jesus? Did you know that Jesus cried?”
4. Least of These: Refugees have lost much
5. Children… Okay so not all
6. Gifting: Kyle is being a pastor and teacher
7. Prayer: A praise that was also in the update– “We’re deepening our dependence on God, and growing a lot in prayer.”

Serving with HART by Emily Fife

A couple of years ago a close friend of mine was sharing how her family was helping at a homeless shelter. She talked about how her husband was finding more homeless while he ran along the lake and wanted to help them. When HART was announced, I quickly emailed them to let them know there was an opportunity for them, not me, here in Folsom. I decided to go to an info meeting on a whim, when a strong pull began resonating through me. The next Sunday I found Judy Alexander and asked her if my kids could come with me and serve at HART. Yes they could-check. Then I asked what job would allow me to just show up, no work that I would have to do to prep. Welcome team-check. Last hurdle was time. How long would this position take? Two hours with dinner-check. All of this sounded like something that we could do, easily, as a family. My only pause was dinner. We’d be sitting eating with people vastly different from us. What would we say?

Serving on the Welcome Team is a very clear cut job. Our family arrives thirty minutes before the guests to wipe down cots, organize sleeping bags, find out where the restroom is, and meet the host church. Sonora or I usually log who has what bag, while Shad runs assigned bags to the different guests. Pete supervises and makes announcements. Wearing a smile while giving a bag to someone is quite simple, along with greeting them by name.

Once everyone is settled, it’s dinner time. We all line up, are served the food that was brought, and sit together at a long table to eat. This is when I become anxious, awkward, uncomfortable-still. Often I’m quiet for a while. Just listening, watching, trying to gauge the temperature of my table mates. Over the last year, our family has spread out amongst the diners, so we aren’t depending on each other for conversation. But I’m still never sure how to begin. I may ask about the weather, or wait for someone else to try a topic: current events, schooling, food, music. I struggle with this at times just because it is small talk. I’m not really getting to know them, they aren’t getting to know me. Yet we try, and I learn their names.

Before our two hour commitment every Friday night, I really didn’t see homelessness in Folsom. I went about my day, in my small sphere of influence, unaware of what was going on around me. But last week I took my kids to the library and we saw Sharon. Our family was walking along Sutter St. this summer and ran into Bill. I drove Sonora to taekwondo this week and saw Gary on his bike. If it’s possible, we say hi. I still struggle with the what to say, but at least now we see them and know their names.

What Lies Ahead

In 2018 I read Faithful Presence, by David Fitch.  The book looks at seven disciplines that shape the church for mission.  Since reading the book, it seems all I do is viewed through the seven disciplines.  I have also noticed Oak Hills offers people an opportunity to practice these disciplines in a variety of ways, therefore having an impact on what’s NEXT.

The book is so rich, I hesitate to summarize, but for blogging purposes I will.  First, Fitch reminds us these practices are not an end game, but ways to more fully experience the Kingdom of God. Second, each practice is expressed between you and God, you and your intimate community, as well as you and the larger community.

Based on each chapter of the book, questions that continually run through my mind are…

1. The Lords Table
   1. Who am I eating with?
   2. Who can I share a meal with?
   3. When is it beneficial to fast and pray?
2. Reconciliation
   1. Am I accepting myself as forgiven?
   2. Who can I offer forgiveness to?
   3. What area’s in my community and world can I begin praying for?
3. Proclaiming the Gospel
   1. I am recognizing God’s truth in my life?
   2. How am I speaking truth over others?
   3. Where is God’s truth breaking forth in the world around me?
4. Being with the “Least of These”
   1. How does my personal bias affect the way I read the Bible?
   2. Is everyone around me, like me?
   3. Who do I choose not to see?
5. Being with Children
   1. I am recognizing my place as a child of God?
   2. Am I slowing down to listen to the children around me?
   3. What do they know, that I don’t remember?
6. Five Fold Gifting: apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers
   1. Can I believe God has gifted me?
   2. Where do I see friends and family using their gifts?
   3. Am I submitting  myself to the leadership of the community?
7. Kingdom Prayer
   1. How can I pray the Lords prayer for myself, my family and community?

Each post this year will hopefully fill in an example of how these discipline are playing out in the lives of fellow Oak Hillians. You will also notice the disciplines have cross over.

I hope this encourages you to faithfully notice God’s presence with you and his presence in the world around you.

2018 Celebration

With 2018 drawing to a close it is fun to reflect on all that has happened over the year.  Not as a way to boast about all we have accomplished but as a way to celebrate all that God had done and is doing in our community and around the world.  All of these events were made possible by individuals who are following God’s call to love each other.

As Arts Camp 2018 taught us...“Let your light shine before men that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in Heaven.” Matt 5:16

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Winter Shelter by HART

Jan 21-27 (cold, rainy) 7-12 guests a night

Feb 4-10 (warm, sunny) 5-9 guests a night

Oak Hills had 50 volunteers! Volunteers seemed to be more blessed than the guests!

Powerhouse Meals      7 weeks = 28 meals served

 

Alaska Missions Trip: April 21-30

An amazing team of 8 built a basketball court, cleared a home, volunteered at the community center, participated in cultural events and hosted community events at the church.  It was encouraging to Jami and Jason and increased their communities interest in the church.

Lenten Food Drive and Kleenex Collection

Thank you for donating 659 pounds of food to the Twin Lakes Foodbank over our Lenten Food Drive.  Your generosity will allow others to celebrate God’s provision.  135 boxes of tissue were also donated to Blanche Sprentz as a reminder that Oak Hills supports their staff and students.

20 students volunteered to work at the food back on the first Monday of their spring break, instead of sleeping in!

Lent Prayer Walk  Blessed the neighborhood with prayer and prayer rocks.

 Added 2 new ministry partners:                                                        

  *Tati and Wellington Barros- We celebrated with them on April 25, with a delicious Brazilian BBQ with rice dinner.  It was a wonderful time of prayer and vision casting.

* Kyle and Kiya Schafer- We commissioned and prayed with them at church and at lunch on Nov 11.

Powerhouse Golf Tournament  6 players from Oak Hills, 19 sponsors for the event (Oak Hills was one), $28,000 raised

Commissioned 6 individuals on short term mission trips.

Arts Camp raised $1766.81 for Ylli our ministry partner in Albania and 85 crafting items for Folsom’s Hope

Gleaning: In July we picked 2000 lbs of  vegetables for local food banks!!

   

 

Backpack Drive benefiting Twin Lakes Food Bank

 

Collected 48 backpacks and tons of supplies!

 

 

Commissioned Debi Zacharia as a Sacramento Police Chaplain.

Hosted Vulnerable Children Awareness night  8 organizations were represented empowering the community to make a difference in children’s lives

Folsom Community Serve Day: Sept 15

 

75 Volunteers Distributed 2500 bags throughout Briggs Ranch and Willow Creek.

500 Bags of food were picked up and delivered to Twin Lakes Food bank. Over 100,000 lbs of food were colleded city wide.  We joined with over 3000 others serving that day in over 70 projects throughout Folsom.

 

Break Free Run : On Sept 22, 20 Oak Hillians, ages 8-84, participated in the Break Free Run to support 3 Strands Global in the fight against human trafficking in the Sacramento region.  We raised over $500.

Commissioned Stephenie Carr in her new full role as Alumni Coordinator at Reign Ministries.

November 11^th As part of the Youth Group’s Great Fall Adventure, 20 of our students served at Twin Lakes Food bank to sort the food collected during Folsom Serve Day.

November 18^th, we hosted Irene Mota for a dessert to hear updates about Restoration Ministries in Brazil.

Powerhouse’s Christmas Around Towne:     400 items were collected for the Children’s Store.  Thank you for the generous donations and thank you to Woman’s Ministry who faithfully sorted and priced over 750 items.   815 people were shown love and dignity as they were able to shop for loved ones.

Fair Trade Market  By paying attention to how and where we shop we were able to empower and enrich the lives of individuals around the world.

Through HART we helped 3 gentlemen with transitional housing.

We partnered with Sierra Chaplaincy and the Folsom Chamber of Commerce to support victims of the Camp Fire.

December 30th we hosted Michel and Jadon for a dessert to hear updates about the good work India.