We would call it a Bible Study night... at the Oasis we just simply call it Wednesday night program... why? Because we want the refugees to come, learn, and be safe. Many of the refugees are Muslim and for them to willingly come to a Bible Study would be dangerous for them. Other refugees are skeptical and have to be enticed in... with some coffee/chai and cake. Once in it is their choice to stay and hear the Bible Message or leave. Some do leave with in the first few minutes which is fine because that just means those that stayed are the ones God had planned to reach tonight.
Tonight was a special night for us, Rob was the guest speaker! He chose to read from Luke... the Parable of the Lost Son. I have tried several times to download the video but I still have had no luck :-(
There were three different translators sharing what Rob was saying - Arabic, Farsi and French.
It is always amazing to hear the various languages all being spoken at once. It takes you to the story - Tower of Babel. Standing in a room where people literally cannot understand what someone else is saying because they speak a different language... Scary but amazing to see how God pushes that barrier away and provides people to translate or uses other ways for us to communicate.
Once Rob finished the parable he shared about how he was the wild son - spending all his money and that when he hit rock bottom in life he turned to God completely and asked for forgiveness. He told them his WILD days were fun, but what God has given him now is SOOOO much BETTER!
At the end of the service the people made a point to come and meet us and even thank him for sharing his story. I wish we could stay longer to see how God used the Wednesday Night Service to impact those that came.
Was it Rob's message, the coffee and cake, maybe the matchbox cars we gave a couple of boys... or was it just a simple smile and handshake from one of the volunteers. All I know is God had all of us together for HIS purpose... and that is so COOL~
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