Making Much of God

I have been asking myself the same question all summer long; “Oh Lord, who is like You?” I ask along with the psalmist, along with the child who has seen His mercy, and along with all those who have looked upon the treasures of this life and found that none of them satisfy.

“There is none like God…who rides through the heavens to your help.” (Deut. 33:26)

“Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression…” (Micah 7:18)

My first week in Tulsa, I wrote this in my journal—

Tonight Pastor Joe asked me to share my testimony during youth group. I couldn’t say no. A big part of me wanted to—the part that cares what people think, that loves the comfortable & familiar, and the part that doesn’t recall God’s past graces. But I knew He was handing me an opportunity. He was answering my prayer (“Lord, use me”) in a very obvious way.

I remember sharing with those kids that night. I talked to them about living for eternity. There were a few nods and a few note-takers, but what I recall most clearly is the ease and joy I felt while speaking. I had been so anxious before. I had felt helpless and inadequate. It took me physically getting on my knees and pleading with God before I felt ready. I asked Him to be the focus and power behind my words. After that—I simply became an instrument and He, the musician.

That was week one. Once getAHEAD started I realized I would need Him for every moment. The tutoring program at Springs of Grace Bible doesn’t just involve sitting across the table from a single child, helping him/her with math homework. It starts at their door step. We knock and hope they will answer. Some days I’d pick up twelve kids while other days there were only two. I quickly learned that I could have no expectations. I remember little Raymond coming the first day and being so excited. I went to his door for weeks after that, but never saw him again. After helping them scramble for their shoes (if they owned shoes) and getting them buckled into their seats, we took them to the church.

Most mornings my classroom was full by the time I got there. Jillian and I would pass out a snack and we’d catch up with the kids. The majority of my class was made up of twelve and thirteen year-olds. We started every day with a journal question. They got out their notebooks and we’d have them write for fifteen minutes. I loved this time. I loved to watch them write and I especially loved it when they would hand me their journal and let me read what they had written. Chris wrote about going to culinary school in New York someday. Rebecca wrote poem after poem, expressing her thoughts about everything from God to politics. ***** often wrote about her family. I read about her mom who drinks and hits her. ***** wrote, “I love her anyway.” One day the journal prompt was simply: “What is on your mind right now?” That day Marquis wrote about how much he missed his sister. She moved to another state, years ago, to live with their dad. Rineesha always sat in the corner of the classroom, scribbling away. While it comforted me to know she was expressing her emotions, it was difficult to see these young people struggling with issues I could hardly comprehend, let alone live through.

I had ****** for one-on-one time. After my class got out, I’d take her aside and we’d read together. It was obvious that she had a lot on her heart. It took her a while, but little by little she began to open up to me about her life. At fifteen she was already a recovering drug addict and had survived an attempted suicide. I was able to share with her the hope and forgiveness that can be found in Christ. The tears flowed. I saw her smile for the first time. The month flew by, and I soon found myself telling her I had to leave. She was upset. She made it clear that she felt I was abandoning her. But a week later she sent me a letter, and it ended with this:

I wrote this at first because I was mad. Because you did what everyone else has done, but you also did something different. You taught me to love God.

God allowed me to go deep with ******, but I also got to catch glimpses into the lives of other children. I met Rye-rye during one of our Saturday events out at the Comanche apartment complex. The way we met was somewhat unconventional. I was heading to the gym with a few other kids when all the sudden someone hopped up onto my back. I turned my head around to see who it was and saw her un-brushed hair sticking out in all directions and her two missing teeth. The following three hours she stuck to me like glue. We didn’t talk much. I just held her and let her play with my hair. As I was walking her back to her house I prayed that God would save her. I prayed that God would take her up into His arms so she could know true love. I prayed for her as I let go of her little hand.

I realized something as I was drove back from dropping off kids one day. Tay-tay had asked, “Can I come over to your house tonight?” as she got out of my car. And after that, “when can you pick us up tomorrow?” All four children had crowded around my car, making it impossible to drive away. I looked at their faces and realized just how much time, attention and love each child needed. I knew I couldn’t give it to them. I was just one person—and for a moment I felt lost. I gripped the steering wheel and sighed. Then it flooded my heart: “There is none like God…” and reminded me that while I was divided and helpless, He had not lost control. While I was unable to heal ****** or spend more time with Tay-tay, I could leave them in His arms.

Your righteousness, O God, reaches the high heavens. You who have done great things, O God, who is like you? (Psalm 71:19)


Love,

Rachel

One Hope catches the attention of Denny Burk

To view an article by blogger Denny Burk regarding the One Hope ministry, click here: http://www.dennyburk.com/?p=2269.


Within the article above is a link to a recent Tulsa World article about our sports clinic ministry: http://www.tulsaworld.com/sports/article.aspx?articleID=20080719_29_B7_hCampi292912


We continue to praise God for this ministry, and for His gracious provision.

Why YOUR child should attend Project 61 next year:

Dear Parents,

There are many Christian Summer Camps kids attend. There are camps where your kids are white water rafted to their cabin, where they go on three day hikes and are ensured for a fully packaged week of fun. They have access to every extreme sport on land and water. Some summer camps will provide entertainment every waking moment for your child; they will be watched and waited upon from sunrise to sundown and most of the time after. I’m talking about good camps, where counselors seek not just to entertain but to serve Christ and love kids, camps that there is nothing inherently wrong with.

While Project 61 may not have all of the facilities or activities of these camps, I would say the impact it can have on your youth’s heart far exceeds any extreme toy they could ever play with at any camp. I have participated in over 56 weeks of summer camp ministries in the Midwest and on the West Coast and in three different countries. And I have never had a week of camp like Project 61.

If your youth comes to Project 61 they will have the amazing privilege of not only soaking up rich teaching by men who have both loved and lived out the gospel for more than your youth’s life (and maybe yours), but they will have the chance to live it out every morning from 7:00 AM to 12:30 PM. I say 7:00 AM because that is when they have to drag themselves from their beds at Keystone Park and begin preparing for sports camp which starts at 9:00 AM at Comanche Park in North Tulsa, a thirty-minute commute away. They are separated into seven teams going from based on the kids’ age that come to the sports clinic. They meet with these teams every day after the lunch devotions. They discuss how the day went, their opportunities to show love to the kids, and how to handle discipline problems with the children. The campers are also instructed on how they can better help the team function through out the day. The team is responsible for helping the sports camp run, giving the kids opportunities to serve, providing accountability for service, and encouraging the campers as they try to love and live out the gospel.

This year Rex Blankenship gave a sermon each night, preaching out of Romans 15. Brother Rex called them to examine their own relationship with God before they started performing works in the Lord’s name. He explained that the only hope that could be given to the kids that would be at Comanche Park would have to come from God, because He is the God of Hope. Brother Rex said that “God is both the source and the object of hope; He creates hope.” Each night also began and ended with songs of worship where we raised up our voices in praise of the God we were studying and serving. Worship was led by Nate Boone and Chase.
Parents, if you are looking for a camp to send your child to that will point them to the gospel, open up door for discipleship, and provide them with an opportunity to live out the gospel, P61 is your answer.

-Meagan Fowler

Popular Christian artist hears about One Hope

Christian singer, Meredith Andrews heard about the One Hope Ministry while visiting Tulsa. She recorded her impressions of the ministry on her blog: http://meredithandrews.com/blogs/meredith

One Hope Press Release

PRESS RELEASE:

One Hope Ministry is excited to announce its “Spread the Hope” weekend coming Friday and Saturday, August 1st through 2nd. One Hope is a nonprofit organization with a vision for reaching inner city Tulsa.

This vision includes building a One Hope Center where the people of Tulsa and their children can come for tutoring, sports clinics, recreational sports teams, counseling, medical clinics, physical therapy, and other programs. This facility would also house a charter school providing individualized teaching and mentoring for at-risk children.

The goal of One Hope is to use the hope-giving and life-changing message of Jesus Christ to combat the cycles of racism, prejudice, abuse, violence, and poverty that exist in the inner city of Tulsa, and to train college-aged men and women to replicate the One Hope model in other urban areas.

One Hope intentionally targets inner-city, at-risk, and disadvantaged children, single-parent families, and youth at risk for dropping out of school or becoming involved in gang activity through getAHEAD, a tutoring and mentoring program, sports camps and clinics, Rise And Dream, an inspirational vocational program, and GirlTalk, a program addressing issues facing high school girls. We hope to be able to expand these programs and extend our influence by building the One Hope Center.

We know that there are a lot of good things for people to give their money to. That’s why we’re just asking for one dollar. We believe if one million people gave one dollar each, we could open the One Hope Center in Tulsa, OK.

On Saturday, August 2nd, we will be spreading the vision of the One Hope Center by setting up informational and donation booths throughout the city of Tulsa. Some of the local coaches and athletes who serve as volunteer staff at our sports clinics, along with our full-time college-aged intern staff, will be manning these booths from 10 am to 6 pm that day. This will be followed at 7 pm by the One Hope Celebration at our current location, Springs of Grace Bible Church (7123 E. 7th Street, Tulsa, OK 74112). Additional information about the programs and the vision will be available at this time. This is an opportunity for those who would like to ask questions of the One Hope staff or to meet some of the kids involved in our programs who will be there celebrating with us.

Additional information can be found on our website at www.onehopeministry.org or by contacting Joe Blankenship at 918-760-0089 or b2Himglory@gmail.com.

Project 61

Well, Project 61 is over and we have already started thinking about next year's camp. It went really well, I thought, but this being my first year, I don't have another time to compare it to. I have never been to any camp like this one and it was really neat. We worshiped and listened to a message every evening and then in the mornings went out to Comanche to hold sports clinic for the kids. It was really awesome to be able to put what we learned every night into practice the very next morning. We were challenged to accept others as Jesus did and live with hope. These kids are dead and without any hope at all when they don't know Christ. It is so sad, but a great privilege to share the love of Christ with them and just get to know some of them. We just continue to pray that seeds would be planted and they would seek after God even though their hearts seem so hard. God is great and as I've been reminded lately, God can accomplish all that He wills. His purpose will never fail.

--Sarah Roberts

Update from Jacob!

This is my first summer as an "official" intern. However I am not new to our ministry. This year it seems that most of the kids are more receptive to the gospel which is a great encouragement to me personally. Get Ahead went well today I think that we had a record high attendance, 61, which is a hand-full for twenty interns. Especially when individual time rolls around and we each have 3 to 4 kids to minister to. And so with the small exception of overwhelming numbers everything has gone swimmingly.

In Christ,
Jacob Gastelum