Oasis Online.

2011-09-01T10:11:00.000-07:00

If you want to see what we have been up to, and what we are up to check out our Facebook page.

you will see pictures and updates to everything we do!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/EDGE-and-Oasis/132853560095024

2011-05-05T12:37:00.000-07:00

Upcoming Events for Oasis:

Texas/New Orleans presentation

@ church 11am on May 15th.

Picnic @ Harvey West to follow church service

Great America Spring Celebration May 28th

Cost is $60 with out a Season Pass

$30 with a season pass

Lake Trip Dates July 11-15

Cost is $240

Sr. Appreciation Night

June 1st 6pm to 9pm

2011-04-22T21:39:00.000-07:00

As we close out this week, we are able to take a moment and reflect on all that God has done around us, through us and in us. Tonight as we closed our week with our last chapel, and afterglow (which is a time after chapel that we hand out encouragement cards and talk about our day and how we experienced God, or were encouraged by others). We had a chance to take communion together as a team. We then took some time in prayer to thank God for the things that He did this week.

We saw God is so many ways. We saw Him through our conversations with Warrenetta. A women with so much passion to serve and build community that it overflows out of her with every word that she speaks. She was able to share with us how God has allowed her to serve in her community and that there is nothing else she would ever want to do.

Thank you so much to all those who prayed for and supported us financially. I was and am so blessed by this team.

Thank you!

Todd

2011-04-21T16:04:00.001-07:00

Our team got robbed today......a van door got left unlocked for a very short time today and Margarets purse with her wallet, $200, her glasses, her digital camera, 2 of the churches digital Cameras, the video camera, Todds Backpack and several other things got taken. such a bummer!

the biggest bummer is that we lost the video tape from our Worship time last night and our work project today.

it is rough when you have something take from you. You feel so powerless and violated. I know i cannot focus on this and allow the enemy to get a foothold. We cannot be so tied to our possessions that it distracts us from what God called us here to do.

We came here to serve Jesus by serving others. We have done that this week. We have met some incredible people, we have done a lot of work, and we have come together as a team.

I am so blessed to be on this team and serve my savior with them!!

Todd

2011-04-20T21:19:00.000-07:00

See more pics @ http://www.facebook.com/pages/EDGE-and-Oasis/132853560095024

Today we went to a woman named Deborah's house and chipped paint and did some mudding. After that we closed up things with Warrenett (the most passionate person you will ever meet).

Tonight we decided to play tourist and go to the French Quarter in the heart of New Orleans. We found some pretty interesting people, with some interesting characteristics. We ate some dough balls (beignet's) as well and almost missed the ferry back to our car. Worship time was great, sad because David has to leave tomorrow morning, but we will have to make due. Possibly Dani can play guitar for us ;]

See you tomorrow, adios.

-Cassidy

We are headed to work with a new group tomorrow. The group is called PNOLA. We are not sure what we are going to be doing yet, but are looking forward to the new opportunities.

you can see some of the pics from today on our facebook EDGE/Oasis page.

Please keep praying for us as we serve here in New Orleans.

-Todd

2011-04-19T22:17:00.000-07:00

Check out the pics @ our facebook site

http://www.facebook.com/pages/EDGE-and-Oasis/132853560095024

see our first blog of the week below

2011-04-19T21:04:00.000-07:00

Report by Stephen:

FIRST DAY: Rise and shine at 6:45!!!! YAY. We all drove in the van (And got to ride a ferry across the Mississippi river!) until we reached Little Greater Zion Baptist Church where we met Miss Warrenetta, the lady who tells us what job sites we should work at. David (Dah-veed), our worship leader headed up a small group made up of him, Pauli, and Dani to go to a house owned by someone called Miss Mabel. I wasn't in that group, but I heard they did a lot of gardening. The rest of us drove over to a place called "The Guerrilla Garden", partially owned by a lady nick-named "Jenga". The garden was a smallish piece of land that had been an empty lot before the storm. We hauled a lot of gravel, moved a lot of bricks, and shoveled a lot of dirt. Josh fell over with a wheelbarrow because he thought he heard Wolf (our speaker) tell him to "Floor it!" when wolf had actually said "Slow down!". I got it on film. Anyways, we did a lot of work at that site. Jenga told us her story about how she had given up a 3d animation job at Dreamworks, just to come live in New Orleans and do volunteer work while living off her life savings. Her dream is to turn the lot into a community garden. After work we came back to base camp and there were huge holes in the ground because of some construction. They had accidentally hit our water main, so we had to deal with brown water in our sinks for a while. We all went to a chicken restaurant called "Chick-fil-A" for dinner. After that, we had chapel, then afterglow, then we went to bed.

SECOND DAY: Today Most of the group went back to the Guerrilla garden and finished another path. Also, they dug a ton of bricks out of the ground. Some of us (David, Lorna, Me, and Dani) drove to a duplex house owned by a lady named Miss Mary, who had had her house completely rebuilt after the storm. It had taken her four years before she could actually move back into Louisiana, and she still has yet to move into her new house. We did a lot of caulking in her bathroom, and then we went back to the church to have our lunch with the rest of the group. After that, we split up again with Wolf, Me, Janna, and Pauli going back to Miss Mary's house and doing more caulking and cleaning there. I got to use a beastly lawn mower, and also a weed whacker. After that, we were picked up by the rest of the group and taken back to base camp, where we had nice hot showers. For dinner, we went to Brothers (Chicken place), Sonic, and Subway. We just had chapel and afterglow, and we just now have named the mac up in Todd's office. It is now officially called "Max". I am tired, and Todd is telling me to go to bed, so goodnight everyone. Over and out!

2011-04-19T17:02:00.000-07:00

New Orleans Team!

well this is our first post. we have not had much access to internet, or time to post.

We are hoping to get some pictures from the week up by the end of the night.

They will be on our facebook page which you can access through this link

http://www.facebook.com/pages/EDGE-and-Oasis/132853560095024

it has been a great 2 days.

We have met some amazing people and done a lot of work. The people we have worked with have been so welcoming and open to having us help them. We are very much looking forward to the next 3 days of serving together here in New Orleans.

I will try and have some updates from some of our team about our first days either later tonight, or tomorrow.

Everyone is doing well! Thank you for your prayers and support!

Todd

2011-04-08T13:24:00.001-07:00

Pics from Thursday and Friday

http://www.facebook.com/pages/EDGE-and-Oasis/132853560095024

Today was our last day of service. Johnathan and his team spent most of the morning at their house finishing up their project. They wanted to be sure to be done before we left.

The rest of the team spent most of the day serving at Streetscape mission. We cooked up about 200 hotdogs and a lot of Chili. We spent most of the day serving lunch to all of those who came through. Then at the end of the day before we headed back to basecamp, Steve from Streetscape shared his Faith Story. He spoke for about 45 minutes and our whole team was really attentive.

After we said our goodbyes to Steve and Sam, we headed back to our basecamp. Tonight we are looking forward to having a dinner out as a team, which is a gift from a couple from High Street Community Church.

As we finish this week out, we will leave Galveston again with heavy hearts. It is always sad to leave behind friends that we have made. We have put up a lot of dry wall, put on a lot of mud, cooked a lot of hotdogs, and spent a lot of time laughing, praying, listening, being challenged, and bonding together.

As this trip closes, we as a team thank you for all that you have done to support us! Pray for us as we finish the trip! Pray that even tonight in our communion time, chapel, and afterglow.

Pray for safety on the way back to the airport and as we fly home.

2011-04-06T18:24:00.000-07:00

Today was Wednesday.

Charlie is going to report on his team and what they did today. "On my team today was Lizzie, Jennifer, Daniel, and Brittany. We spent the whole day moving dirt and tried to get it so her front yard was sloped so water would flow off her front yard better. It was a lot of hard work. we were lucky though because her house shaded us from the sun most all day. The Lady was super nice. We filled up a cinder block area with dirt so the blocks would stay in place . And we filled up the middle of the blocks with top soil. When were all done, Brittany took us to Sonic for an afternoon treat."

Ben Shaw is going to report on his team. "Conor and Don Moser were on my team today. We finished they dry walling the ceiling at the house on stilts. We completed a wall. This week was the first time I have ever done dry walling. Tomorrow we are hoping to finish the room. and then we will move on to the last room. We also had a chance to get some mudding and taping done as well. We were able to save our backs with a nifty little contraption that Don brought from our base camp. It lifted up the drywall to the ceiling so it was much easier to do the ceiling with that tool. It was a good day for us. Our little team did pretty well, and had a good time!"

James Marshall is going to report on his team. "Taylor, Ali, Amber, Noel, and i were on a team today. We went to the homeless shelter. We painted their whole kitchen. And we also served lunch to about 12 -15 homeless people who came through. Then we had a chance to help them by buying them some VGA cables for their computers, and a new faucet because theirs was broken. Sam (the lady we work with their) was ecstatic when we gave her the gifts. Then we took Sam, and our team and got Sonic together. The day was very work filled and entertaining."

We will have our other team report soon. we have to start chapel right now. We just got back from the SPOT for dinner. it was really good food!

2011-04-06T15:46:00.001-07:00

New photos from days 4 & 5 are up

http://www.facebook.com/pages/EDGE-and-Oasis/132853560095024

Updates from today will be up when we get back from the Spot for dinner. it was a really great day. check back soon for updates.

2011-04-05T15:48:00.000-07:00

Tuesday in Galveston Texas.

Once you read the update you can check out the pics that will be up on the facebook page soon!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/EDGE-and-Oasis/132853560095024

Today was a good day. We spent time in 3 different areas today. 2 of them were the same as the day before, however one of them was brand new to us. We were invited to go and work at a homeless shelter and Mission in Galveston. We will hear from the students on each of those sites after i share what else we have been up to.

We have been getting up at 6:45 the past two mornings and having breakfast by 7am. (this morning was breakfast burritos. AWSOME). Then at 7:30 We have a time or worship with Noel. He does a great job at inviting us into a time of Worshiping God together. Then Ken shares with us stories from the lives of people who had intimate moments with Jesus. He then sends us out for about 20 minutes of quiet time for us to process what we have heard and what we are experiencing during this trip.

Report from Taylor. she was at the Homeless Shelter. " We arrived and Sam had us rake up cigarrette butts out of the alley way right next to the shelter. She shared with us that someone donated a bunch of gum and she kept saying to us "if ya'll want some gum just holler". We painted the storage houses and the houses in the back that had been vandalized. We got to serve people soup and bread as they came in for lunch. They do this every day. Then a guy named Rabbit came in and it was his birthday yesterday. So we decided to bake him some brownies, but we couldn't find him, so they will give it to him tomorrow. And we were able to do some cleaning in the shelter, wiping down the tables and kitchen. Then Steve (another worker) handed me a broom, and said he wanted me to clean the spider webs, he told me "I am afraid of spiders" He was a big guy. It was pretty funny.

Report from Daniel. He was with Brittany's team at one of the houses we were at yesterday. When we first arrived we spent time sand papering the walls, there were a lot of bumps still and it needed to be flat. Johnathan and I were then putting up some drywall in one of the rooms that we have spent a lot of time in so far. I took a brush and cleaned the walls with it to get all the dust off that they sand paper left behind. Brittany and I then went outside and worked at scraping paint off the bottom of the deck. It was a good day. At one point we were taking down dry-wall and they were little pieces of dry wall and we were breaking them on our heads. it was fun!

Report from Lizzie. She was at the house up on stilts that we were working on dry walling yesterday. This is the Liz-Dog, well today was AWESOME!!! I got to hang out with Conor, Charles, Ben, and DON!!!! It twas amazing, Charles, Conor, and I worked on the taping of some walls we did of dry wall and finished the mudding on that. The three of us all got into a mudding fight, it was fun at the time but then the mud hardened and started cracking on our skins and became painful, but its okay I get to take a nice relaxing shower it... cold water .... :) but it's okay because it will wake me up, even though its like 4 o'clock p.m. Today, my life was changed, because Todd bought me....SONIC!!!!! It was awesome, because I got a slushie that you can't get anywhere else because sonic has it while others don't!

2011-04-04T15:23:00.001-07:00

You can see pics @ at our Facebook page. Click the link. after you read the blog about the day.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/EDGE-and-Oasis/132853560095024

Monday April 4th. We had 2 work teams today.

this report is from Julia Ayers about her team and what they worked on. "We showed up there, and met Raymond the home owner. We sanded the walls in preparation to texture and paint them. Then Taylor, Me and James went outside to paint the places that the team before us missed. We somehow ended up getting in a paint fight while we were painting. After lunch we split up into three groups: two mudding walls we sanded too much, three finishing the painting outside. and two sheet rocking a room. After the painting and mudding was done we all helped in the room. I got to use a screw gun and a nail gun. HEHE! It was very fun." On Julia's team was James, Taylor, Brittany, Stephen, Johnathan, Collin and Jennifer.

This report for the other team is by Don Moser, "We arrived at our site and found a number of issues that a team before us did not do well. So we spent most of the morning re-hanging Dry wall and fixing mistakes from the other team. The kids jumped in with very little instruction and took care of some of the problems. They did an amazing job in spite of us not having all the right tools. We had a great day together as a team. We laughed a lot, and got a lot accomplished today. We are looking forward to another day of work on the house tomorrow!"

On Don's team was Charlie, Noel, Ali, Lizzie, Amber, Conor, and Daniel.

Todd and Ken, tried to make sure that everyone had ice cream today!

2011-04-03T19:02:00.000-07:00

If you Want Updates on the Oasis Galveston trip.

CLICK the LINK

http://www.facebook.com/pages/EDGE-and-Oasis/132853560095024

2011-01-21T23:59:00.002-08:00

Oasis Snow Trip 2011

We made it to the Cabins! Easy Road Trip. Even our late vehicle made it here to Pine Crest. Looking forward to a great day on the mountain tomorrow and our snow players are ready for an adventure!

Keep you eyes open for some pics before the weekend is over!

Pray for Safety for us please!

2011-01-21T23:59:00.001-08:00

Oasis Snow Trip 2011

We made it to the Cabins! Easy Road Trip. Even our late vehicle made it here to Pine Crest. Looking forward to a great day on the mountain tomorrow and our snow players are ready for an adventure!

Keep you eyes open for some pics before the weekend is over!

Pray for Safety for us please!

2011-01-21T23:59:00.000-08:00

Oasis Snow Trip 2011

We made it to the Cabins! Easy Road Trip. Even our late vehicle made it here to Pine Crest. Looking forward to a great day on the mountain tomorrow and our snow players are ready for an adventure!

Keep you eyes open for some pics before the weekend is over!

Pray for Safety for us please!

2011-01-04T17:37:00.001-08:00

CHECK THIS OUT

if you are looking for a way to get into the

practice of reading the bible.

this is a RAD site that can help you start!

There are tons of Devotionals on this site.

Todd FULLY approves of this site!

http://www.3story.org/start/

2010-12-27T12:01:00.001-08:00

Check out this video we found.

its a different way of telling of the Birth of Jesus!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhcKd8uV6cM

2010-12-16T22:03:00.000-08:00

Check it out! you can now view our Facebook Oasis EDGE page from our website!!!

Just follow the link.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/EDGE-and-Oasis/132853560095024

Enjoy the pics and updates!

We will see you after the new year.

Merry Christmas!!!!

2010-12-15T12:15:00.000-08:00

Oasis Christmas Party Tonight

We are @ the Burr's house

6:30pm to 9pm

Call Todd if you need Directions

831-247-1866

White Elephant Gift Exchange.

There will be a Free Snow Trip up for Grabs too!

2010-11-01T13:43:00.000-07:00

Sorry the Web Page has not been kept up recently!

Please Check back in a few weeks. We hope to have updates, Pictures, and Calendar items up soon!

Thanks for your Patience.

Last Days in Texas

2010-04-09T15:57:00.000-07:00

These last few days have been full of work, sweat, & tears. We have been so hard at work that we have hardly had time to post even a hello to our family, & friends at home.

As we speak we are on our way home. About to board the plane to come home.

Midnight should be about when we roll into the parking lot at HSCC.

Pray for our team as we fly home.... my number is being called! we are off!

Days 3 and 4: Workin'

2010-04-06T19:37:00.000-07:00

After giving a tutorial on painting, Don learned of the consequences of using his shirt as a paintbrush wiper.
Cassidy and Analisa pose for a pic before getting back to painting in "Texico City"

Stephen steps up to new heights as he paints the ceiling.

More pictures and stories will be posted tomorrow, but due to our lack of sleep Conor and I are heading off to bed. Good night everyone!

Sunrise Service

2010-04-05T14:17:00.000-07:00

This video is of John in the wee hours of the morning at the sunrise service. On our computer is had a sweet silhouette of John, it seems on the blog there is just darkness. So if you can imagine a silhouette it makes the video EVEN better.

Don & the Boys B-ball Game

2010-04-04T20:56:00.000-07:00

Don missed our trip last year because of his grandson's birth, and we are so glad he is with us this year. Don changed from his crocks to real shoes shortly after this video was taken.

Day 3: Easter Sunday - A Day Of Rest, Worship, and Close Encounters of the Alligator Kind

2010-04-04T20:05:00.000-07:00

A year and a half later, abandoned and tattered houses like this remain untouched.

It was an early-rising Easter for the Texas Team, as we gathered with the local folk for a sunrise service on the beach, in a section that we had cleaned up the previous day. We were treated to some down-home southern preaching and passionate singing as we started a morning-long streak of Easter festivities which also included Sunday School with local teens and another service in the First Baptist Church of Crystal Beach, where we are staying.

Some road-tripping students had to take a second look when they noticed the oh-so-familiar face of the school mascot of Santa Cruz High School, the cardinal, sitting outside a local baseball field, in just another example of our connection to this area.

John and Abbi were kings of the world for a few moments as they embraced the open air that sat above a nearby canal.
The basketball court provided a great venue for bonding between the HSCC teens and the FBC teens. Please take note of cole touching the rim and clearly in air.
As one of the trucks ventured inland, the silence was shattered by an array of screams into Todd's ear, due to the sight of a alligator on the side of the highway. Of course, our adventurous team members got out of the truck and caught a close look of the scaly beast, and some were even inspired to wrestle the gator before it scurried off into the swamp.

Travel Day Adventures In A Few Snapshots

2010-04-04T16:03:00.000-07:00

Childhood dreams were realized on flight 627, as Juli and Makenzie received free wings from the oh-so-kind stewardess. They then proceeded to mold the wings into some good old fashioned dirty staches.

Makenzie and Kayla were full of smiles as they experienced the 8th wonder of the world: moving sidewalks.

After a 15 hour travel day, the crew sucked in some fresh gulf coast air at the bow of the notoriously awesometastic ferry ride from Galveston to our home for the next week, Bolivar.

work day one

2010-04-03T10:03:00.000-07:00

We made it!

After a long and bumpy ride from San Jose to Texas we were in desperate need of some good sleep. After arriving to our base on Port Bolivar we were warmly greeted by an employee of the church and shown our rooms.. These rooms are similar to sardine can's. We are crammed into more or less windowless attics inches away from each other's extremely unstable cot.

Though sleeping was rough, when we all crawled out of our sleeping bags we were ready and willing to go. Today we have three teams doing various projects around the island, one team is currently painting. The second team is stripping and power washing a home. And the third team is working at our church to clean for tomorrows service. Once they are done with that they are moving to the beach to pick up debris.

Before we headed out for the work day we were presented with a challenge by our speaker Wolf. He challenged us to take a deeper look into our hearts, to discover if our actions reflected our beliefs. Throughout the day we are focused on this question.

We currently do not have service on the island and are updating you in Todds truck outside of a Hotel. We will try our best to keep in touch everyday!

SJ Airport!

2010-04-02T07:45:00.000-07:00

Hello friends

Good news! We are here and safe in the airport waiting for our plane to arrive. No one was stopped at security, and we are about to board the plane!

THANK FOR ALL THAT DROVE!!

Pray for us!

- Melinda

Texas Bound Again

2010-03-31T19:13:00.000-07:00

Hey Readers!

In less than 2 days, the 2010 Texas team is taking off for Galveston yet again. So stay tuned this blog, because internet access permitting, we'll be updating you as often as possible on the goings-on by the gulf.

We can't wait to share our experience with you, whether we're digging up sess pools or mudding drywalls.

-Bianca and Conor

Calendar starting Today :)

2009-11-25T15:16:00.000-08:00

OASIS Calendar

November 25th NO Oasis
cuz of Thanksgiving

December 2nd Oasis 7 - 9 pm
(Drinking Part 3)

December 8th Edge 7 - 9 pm
Parent Meeting (Fireside room)

December 9th Oasis 7 - 9 pm
(Drinking Part 4: Words from one of our Leaders)

December 16th Oasis 7 - 9 pm
OASIS CHRISTMAS PARTY (Location TBA)

December 23rd NO Oasis
Enjoy the family at Christmas

December 30th NO Oasis
Enjoy your break!

January 6th Oasis 7 - 9 pm Oasis is BACK!!!
SEE YOU THERE !

January 13th Oasis 7 - 9 pm
January 20th Oasis 7 - 9 pm

January 22nd – 25th Oasis Snow Trip
Non Refundable Deposit $175 Total Cost: $225

January 27th NO Oasis
cuz of snow trip

February 3nd Oasis 7 - 9 pm
February 10th Oasis 7 - 9 pm

Invisible Children Here at Oasis

2009-07-14T12:03:00.000-07:00

This week, and this week ONLY!

JULY 14, 2009
Invisible Children
is Coming to High Street

Click the Link to Find out More information about Invisible Children. The Team will be here to show the documentary "Rescue" the follow up to the original Invisible children Documentary.

We will start in the Youth Room and venture to the sanctuary, where we play sanctuary Whoffle Ball (but not tonight, sorry).

You will hear from the volunteers, and will be watching the Movie. Bring your questions :) You will have an opportunity to buy videos bracelets and t-shirts that help support the cause of children soldiers in Uganda.

Our last morning

2009-04-10T08:26:00.000-07:00

This morning we woke to pack, to eat, and to Pray for Pastor Billy. This morning Tony got up early and drove our Speaker Scott & Worship Leader Ty to the Airport. We where immensely blessed by their word and song.

We as a team decided to bless Pastor Billy and the People of Galveston with a monetary gift of Love, from support that came in that was above and beyond our budget. We asked Annie to present two gifts, one, to be distributed to the people of Galveston by pastor Billy as he saw fit. The second gift, was to help pastor Billy and his Family to rebuild their lives, as they too lost everything with in the walls of their house.

We have cleaned... and soon we will jump into our rental cars and head to the airport to fly back home to Santa Cruz.

With love we will see you soon!

Texas 2009 Team

impacted

2009-04-10T00:21:00.000-07:00

Among the piles the cross still stood as a marker of what Christ has done through us.

This is our team. God moved in some HUGE ways!!! I cannot express what an impact this trip had on the people we met, the people in the bunk next to us, the people we served, and more than anything the impact God had on Our teams lives. We stand in awe.

Ty our worship leader led us in this song a few times and I believe it holds a lot of our heart. Below are the lyrics.

God of this City - Chris Tomlin

You're the God of this city

You're the King of these people

You're the Lord of this nation

You Are.

You're the light in this darkness

You're the hope to the hopeless

You're the peace to the restless

You Are.

For there is now one like Our God

For there is no one like You God

For greater things have yet to come and Greater things are still to be done

In this City

Greater things are still to be done here

You're the Lord of Creation

The Creator of all things

You're the King above all kings

You Are.

You're the strength in our weakness

You're the love to the broken

You're the Joy in the sadness

YOU ARE!

Greater things have yet to come

Greater things are still to be done

in this city

Greater things are still to be done here (in Galveston Texas)

on last full day

2009-04-09T21:44:00.000-07:00

This morning we woke up one hour later than normal to help detour us from us hitting the wall two days in a row. Why would we sleep in on our last day of work you ask? It seemed only fair that our hearts desire was to finish strong, and finish strong we did.

In the morning we chose to divide and conquered:

One Silver Van & One Maroon Truck went to the Ferry and on to work at our sight in Port Bolivar ...
One Blue Van was dropped off at the ferry and walked onto the ferry... then since our daily ferry line was so long they walked to our work sight as well. Scott (our speakers phone died) he made a trip into town as he needed to contact the family.
One Orange Van went to a demolished a deck in Galveston...then to the ferry to join us
One Tony & One Johnathon went to rebuilt the deck in Galveston that the students tore down
The ironic thing: We all ended up honestly getting to the sights at the same time, we don't know how that happened.

Isaac & Cole and many others worked really hard and making this deck usable before we left today, as well as a whole crew and many hands helped this process.

Nick & Michelle... still, on day seven, faithfully with others hung more and more drywall.

These ladies put the final touches on Mrs Shirley's home. Lenny, Marcie, Margaret, & Barbara really blessed Mrs Shirley by reorganizing, and cleaning so that the family could focus on rebuilding rather than clutter. Ginny (not pictured) spent days with Mr Shirley, & downsized as she made a clean sweep of her closets, as well as walked through removing her late husbands items that she could not get rid of. Truly a beautiful labor of love.

Analisa and I felt that today of all days we may have mastered mudding walls and are confident we could be hired as professionals.

I promise work was done! Yet what can one say when college friends reunite in a ministry setting... things happen and all are entertained.

Part of the reality is that things everywhere need to be cleaned. Bianca & Cassidy spent most of the day with the horses, providing some much needed TLC to these wonderful animals that survived Ike. Even the horses house needed to be cleaned of debris, so the Rollo's joined the girls for the cleaning.

It is finished...after the puzzle and the rearranging of the deck boards, this crew stayed a while after the rest of us finished and cleaned. Some times finishing strong means we hang out just a little bit longer at the sight.

Whataburger! After the whole week of yelling what a burger we decided to honor Jerry and finish the trip right. Tonight we took the whole team to Whataburger! We where told it was the In&Out of Texas to

Hitting the wall

2009-04-08T20:45:00.000-07:00

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a peninsula! Or is it... (Google Map: Galveston to Port Bolivar )

The worlds of people in Port Bolivar got turned upside down last September - along with this uprooted and flipped house.

Its bleach and its clean.... well as good as we can get it : )

Who needs a ladder when you can touch the sky?

Tony and Isaac continue to construct a level deck and set of stairs for Johnette

Nick lays flat in the flatbed of a pickup truch as even one of our hardest workers hits the wall.

We all felt that our hard work should be rewarded with some giggles. Cole, Cassidy, and Bianca took a stroll around the work

site to gain some much needed energy. After a long days work we were able to sit upon the steps of a new back porch.

Tuesday

2009-04-07T20:10:00.000-07:00

Barbara put down the oven mitts on Tuesday and picked up a power tool.

Morgan, Michelle, Nick, Ty, and Annie fit a piece of dry wall around a light bulb on the ceiling.

Sometimes it takes that extra leap of faith....

Todd and Lennie spent some time with the woman whose life we are helping to rebuild, Miss Shirley.

Tony, Annie, Isaac, and our Nehemiah's Vision friend Sean worked together in giving Johnette a fresh, new - and most importantly, non-slanted - deck.

What happened on Monday?

2009-04-07T16:23:00.000-07:00

We measured, cut, and insulated

our way through a Monday full of

progress in the reconstruction

of Johnette's decimated house.

Less than a year ago, some young child played with this little ducky.

On Monday, it was dug out by Bianca from a pile of rubble. In Hurricane Ike, homes were lost, lives were permanently changed, and childhood joys were washed away.

Cole fixing an old ATV

was just one example

of our team putting the

pieces back together

in Miss Shirley's life.

Thankfully our lunches had settled deep in our stomachs before our noses were assaulted by the horrendous stench of six month old standing water and foot deep decomposed sewer sludge. Ginny, Melinda, and Annie scooped out assorted treasures with only a sharp stench in common from outdoor

goldfish ponds, Bianca, Analisa, and Conor shoveled up muck in hopes of finding a leak from a clean water pipe - only that pipe happened to be a sewage pipe full of excrement.

On our Ferry ride home we learned the new trade of feeding the local seagulls thanks to Tony "Birdman" Armor. The interactions of man and wild were thwarted by the Ferry crew who did not think kindly of having dozens of seagulls defecating on their front deck and passengers.

by Conor Armor and Bianca Grossi

Sunday...a day of Rest

2009-04-06T20:37:00.000-07:00

We started out the morning with a day at our Base Camp Church. Where there were some really challenging questions.

After a fabulous lunch we had the day to enjoy the city before we started the work week. Did we mention we are having some really amazing food. Cuz we are...

Some people went to explore the island, some people took a nap, some people went to the beach, where some people caught a cannonball jelly fish, the high winds could not keeps away from the gulf of Mexico's water, reynauds had a short visit, and the mosquitos are ever present, then we took cold showers....just for fun (ok not for fun...we ran out of propane) we didn't have a choice.

Conor and "the ladies" went to the beach

At the end of our day we ventured off to the Spot... Where many Bikers & locals Frequented.

The food was good...

The hamburgers were good...

The sweet teeeea (insert Texas accent here) was good...

The hot wings were good...

& Conor enjoyed his oysters on half shells

and we felt right at home cause we all know that,

"We're a Little Different"

a word from Annie on behalf of the team

2009-04-06T19:22:00.000-07:00

We Rebuild

We, for I is not sufficient;

For it is

We who rebuild

Texas; lives; people . . .

We rebuild with hope by

giving hope to

fellow travelers . . .

To rebuild

we must be flexible; we must

breathe; we must

sit as we

listen, work, love, learn through

insulation and dry wall and the remnants of lives, and the

life amidst the muck . . .

--Oh look! A fiddler crab!

Yes, we are a bit

eccentric amidst motorcycles and mayhem;

yet we are

dependent in our necessary fellowship as are

children, as we

rebuild with

laughter and silence

for we are

free . . . free to

rebuild . . . free to have

faith . . . or to be

Gideonish; that is to

lack faith . . . for

God always comes through as

We Rebuild

This is the work we are doing : )

2009-04-04T20:42:00.001-07:00

Today we spent the day cleaning up drift wood, putting siding on a house, and doing insulation in the entire house, and started the drywall. : ) Good night.

I have no words.. Just Photos....

2009-04-04T20:33:00.000-07:00

Travel and our morning

2009-04-04T20:18:00.000-07:00

Yelling WHATABURGER! Has been a lovely pass time thus far as from the airport to University Baptist, Galveston Texas, we saw at least 50... ok maybe 10 : )

This Morning we jumped in the cars and waited in a line for the Ferry across... we laughed, chased birds (ok Cassidy did), and sat in the line waiting for our boat, all this time we where unaware of the devistation that waited for us across the way.

WE have arrived Safely

2009-04-04T17:17:00.000-07:00

Hey Gang!

Yesterday morning our team left Santa Cruz at 7 am and flew out of San Francisco and landed here in Huston around 6:30 ish Texas time. Our flights had a bit of turbulence, and quite a bit of laughter. The flight attendants on both flights announced and asked the flight to make notice of the "Team in Red Matching T-shirts from Santa Cruz" we didn't expect it, and thus it felt a little surreal, since at that point in time we still didn't know what we where doing other than cleaning up as needed. Below are pictures of the Airport Shenanigan's.

We as the team have just completed the first day of work here in Galveston.

Looking for something Deeper?

2009-02-24T13:01:00.000-08:00

Come
Join
us
before
Oasis

Starting this week OASIS LATE START...
February 25th until April 1st

Oasis Doors open at 7:30 Why you say....

Food 6 - 6:45 pm
Think it over time: 6:45 - 7 :45 pm
Oasis Doors open at 7:30
Oasis Starts at 7:45 pm - 9 pm

What is Lenten Services: Think it over time with God. Where time is what you make it!

Details

2009-01-14T14:52:00.000-08:00

JUST OPENED:

4 spots AVALABLE

for the Snow Trip

($50 depsit holds your spot)

*** NOTE****
Remember (for those coming on the trip):
No HELMET NO LIFT
No HELMENT NO SNOW PLAY...

...end of story

STILL ROOM 4
TEXAS Trip

Applications available NOW.

Call Melinda or Todd to sign up for either ASAP

Ohh Tonight

2009-01-07T16:20:00.001-08:00

AMIGOS...

Tonight = last night to sign up for snow trip.

All that is needed is a $50 DEPOSIT to hold your spot

NO EXCEPTIONS

Tonight will decide if the snow trip is on or is cancelled.

YES you can still turn in your

TEXAS APPLICATIONS for a few more weeks. : )

Snow trip DEADLINE

2009-01-05T11:19:00.000-08:00

3 days to Sign up... until

Wednesday January 7th =

last day to Sign up for SNOW TRIP.

THAT IS THIS WEEK

Note:

IF not enough people sign up:

SNOW TRIP CANCELLED : (

IF at least 10 people sign up:

SNOW TRIP IS ON!! : )

On Wednesday only those who are signed up can go on the

OASIS SNOW TRIP

No EXCEPTIONS

FINAL DAY TO SIGN UP WITH DEPOSIT: THIS WEDNESDAY by 9 pm.

Deposit is the only way to hold your spot
You can bring the deposit by the church office anytime.
If we are not in the office... don't panic:
Just make sure you have brought your envelope with:

MELINDA: "SNOW TRIP"

Checks are written to: HSCC (Memo: oasis snow trip)

Only Deposit is needed to be paid at this time to hold your spot.

Oasis Snow Trip

Feb 6th - 8th

** Why are we doing this:

On an average year, we usually only have a few spots remaining at this time. However this year finances are tough and life, always seems busier these days. Thus sign ups are at there record LOW. So Our deadline to cancel the trip with out loosing thousands of dollars has to be Wednesday night as soon as Oasis ends.

Trust us... that we (Todd & Melinda your youth pastors) have thought through this A LOT. There is not thing else we can do. If we do have to cancel the trip it will be the first time and we will be sad but we will also understand.

So Lets NOT CANCEL the Trip and Turn in your Deposits to the church or bring to Oasis BEFORE WEDNESDAY @ 9 PM

Questions CALL: 831.426.0207 ext 104

thanks. melinda.

Christmas Party Tonight

2008-12-17T16:56:00.000-08:00

OASIS Christmas Party Details:
December 17Th That's TONIGHT : )

6 – 9pm
Ponderosa Lodge
Bring White Elephant Gift
(it’s a funny gift that should not cost really anything)
You can Spend up to$7.00 on UR gift

*** TEXAS APPLICATIONS DUE TONIGHT ***
**Sign UP for SNOW TRIP 2009 TONIGHT **

Directions:
From Hwy 1,
Take Graham Hill Road approx 4 miles.
You will pass Lockwood St.
Turn right at the Ponderosa Lodge sign.
Look For OASIS Signs

TEXAS APPLICATIONS

2008-12-04T17:25:00.000-08:00

Hey Folks its Time to Get your

TEXAS 2009 APPLICATION:

Available at Oasis or the office :)

Snap Shot and details:

Leave Thursday April 2nd

Return Thursday April 10th or Friday April 11th

Application DUE: December 17th @ the CHRISTMAS PARTY @ PONDY

Texas Training Dates:

1st Meeting: January 25th (1-2 pm)

2nd Meeting: March 8th (1-4pm)

3rd Meeting: March 15th (1-4pm)

Texas Fundraising Dinner: March 22nd (All the team arrives @2:30pm)

Commissioning Service: March 29th (TBA)

4th Meeting: March 29th (1-4 pm)

because of Turkey day...

2008-11-25T15:57:00.000-08:00

NO OASIS...

November 26Th we will have NO OASIS. I know are you kidding me. But the truth is the truth...you can come but you will find nobody at the doors of Oasis!

We love you and hope that you have an

AMAZING THANKSGIVING!

Eat a bunch of turkey
Eat a bunch of mash potatoes
Eat a bunch of pumpkin pie
Eat a bunch of stuffing
Eat a bunch of Yummy things that are your families favorites
Eat a bunch of turkey in the days to follow

enjoy and be thankful for friends
enjoy and be thankful for family
enjoy and be thankful for living in Santa Cruz
enjoy and be thankful for who God has created YOU to be
enjoy and be thankful for ohh so many things.

Eat Enjoy & be thankful this week!

See you next week December 3rd:
TEXAS APPLICATIONS ARE COMING on DECEMBER 3rd! YES!
Be there or stop by our offices and pick them up!

Laser tag TONIGHT

2008-11-19T16:15:00.000-08:00

Amigos This past Sunday we went Paint balling. OH My that was fantastic and also very scary. Paint Balls hurt more when they don't break. ha ha! Ooh the welts that everyone has. Wheew so this First is a Shout out to those who braved the course.

This Week's Picture of the week:

OASIS GOES PAINTBALLING at Pondi!

THIS WEEK AT OASIS:

LASER TAG!!

Important Things to know:

Bring $3 (that's for 2 games)
BE at OASIS BY 7 pm
We will LEAVE YOU if you are not there by 7:10 pm
We will be back and done by 9pm.

much love

picture of the week

2008-11-12T17:15:00.000-08:00

This is the picture of the week and we will be trying to post something something from time to time so keep checking in : )
This week a little piece of the jungle. The makeup artists where amazing!
See you TONIGHT at OASIS!

BLANKET DRIVE & OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD

Oasis Wed night November 12th

2008-11-10T19:08:00.000-08:00

Blanket Gathering Night.
If you have blankets, coats, or sleeping bags you can bring them to Oasis.
We will be heading out around 7:20 to gather. We will be in the Westlake area.

AND

Operation Christmas Child. After we gather blankets we will be filling Christmas Child Boxes with items that you brought with you.

Also

Sign up for Paintball.

ONE MORE THING

Laser Tag is next week!

Nov. 5th 2008

2008-11-05T13:15:00.000-08:00

Oasis Tonight 7pm.

Special Guest Speaker Derek Dominguez

If you come tonight you can get signed up for
Paint Ball on Nov. 16th.

Coming Wed November 12th Coat, sleeping Bag, and blanket Drive

Coming Wed November 19th Lazer Tag. Cost is $3 for 2 games. Show up at the church on Time @ 7pm.

Oh the hootenanny

2008-10-27T23:10:00.000-07:00

Yes yes its true Harvest Hootenanny

is at the MILLER'S HOUSE

This Wednesday

7 pm to 9 pm

Come in Costume

(Keep the Costumes CLEAN)

But Have fun with the costumes too.

*** MOST CREATIVE COSTUME will WIN a PRIZE!

Need Directions call: 831.426.0207 or call Todd... or Call Peter...
Don't call Melinda because she is in Jury duty and although she would love to take your calls the Bailiff could confiscate her phone at any minute! Much love and see you there!!

Karaoke Until the requests stop coming

2008-10-22T14:17:00.000-07:00

So by request we will have Karaoke tonight at Oasis TONIGHT until the requests stop coming! last night we did this with all the jr highers and WOW it was amazing! All I have to say is that I am looking forward to seeing some hits from: Tristan, Sandra, Matt, Cassidy, and Conor to name a few.

You don't have to sing but I have to be honest: are you really going to let the JR HIGHERS Show you guys up? Last night we didn't even get to all the request, and everyone there but one student was on the stage!! AMAZING!

Looking forward to the same thing tonight! Just so you know there are now OVER 25 CD's to choose from and over half are NEW!!!

see you tonight!

the burps heard around the world

2008-10-15T15:21:00.000-07:00

Last week we where able to play many games that where funny from up front. This one pictured above, was Todd asking 5 students to drink a can of root beer and the best burp one. I have to say the crowd was quite impressed and a few had to think happy thoughts to that they would not loose there dinner. GROSS! Sorry that it is sideways... we didn't know how to flip it over oops, plus halfway through it turns.

Post your thoughts, Comments, and Laughs

See you Tonight. MIKE JONES is Speaking tonight

U Never Know What You Will Get

2008-10-01T16:16:00.001-07:00

At OASIS some times we Throw people OVER trash cans... just for fun. Cuz that's what everyone does RIGHT???

At Oasis Some times we ... well sometimes we... I am not sure what is happening in this picture. But I know its funny, and quite normal for us.

At OASIS sometimes we play games that are ... "Unique"

TONIGHT at OASIS is one of those nights where as you see Mike Jones the Leader (pictured below) has in his hands is a "FLOUR BALL" I will not lie we used these yesterday with EDGE and wow it was intense, and SO MUCH FUN! We may again be covered in some flour but I promise it all came off : ) See you TONIGHT

a glimps

2008-09-23T18:05:00.000-07:00

Hello friends compadres! Welcome to the NEW OASIS BLOG!

What indeed is Oasis?

We are a high school youth group from the city of SANTA CRUZ in the state of CALIFORNIA.

We are full of Shenanigans, laughter, and deep thoughts on: life, God, and how that relates to us and the people around us.

We Meet on Wednesday 7 - 9 pm

Hope that you can join us.

Here is a video that allows you to have a glimpse of things we do just because we can.

A shout out to the guys with the musical talent, & a shout out to those that endured, I mean enjoyed. I Hope you enjoy too : )