JohnOubre4Antigua

I would like to share the story within the story of the JohnOubre4Antigua fund.    

 

    John Oubre had just gotten back from Colorado, and within a day or two a ticket came available to go with Cross Point on a family mission trip to Antigua. On this mission, there has been a group of around 100 people going for the last 5 years. One part of the mission is a construction group of about 12-14 men that has been helping build a new worship building for the Villa Church of Christ.  The other members of the mission group conduct a soccer camp for the children of the area around the church. I first had the privilege to go on the trip last year. I really didn’t know what to expect. The Island is amazing and the people of the Villa Church are a very proud but loving group. It really took a couple of days to grasp everything, but as I watched the ladies of the church fix sandwiches for 300+kids,  saw 100+ of our members holding the soccer camp, watched the children at church, and served with my fellow construction workers, my heart really began to open to this place.  What happens within the walls of the old soccer field is the most amazing thing to see. The soccer camp lasts for four days, and by the last day, there are over 350 kids who come to play soccer and learn of the Word from God. Many of these children come from what is known as “from behind the fence.” A very poor and rough area. One young man, Bernard, made it out of that area and now is the minister of the Villa church.  He truly is an amazing person. While we are there, we hear so many wonderful and heart-wrenching stories that come from these children. After the mission team leaves, there is no one there to follow up on the children that came to the camp and VBS. 

 

    The men of the Villa church are some of the most religious and loving men I have ever met, but they are few in number and have to work to provide for their families. These children, like John Oubre, are looking for something good to wrap their arms around.

 

 

    So when the ticket came available, I wanted John Oubre to go and asked for the ticket for him. Then I told J.O. about it and how I thought it would be a life-changing thing for him to be a part of.  He agreed and wanted to go. The only problem was that the available ticket was going with the main group instead of the construction group that was going a few days early. This was a dilemma because the airline wouldn’t change tickets, so he was going to have to wait and go later with the rest of the families.  But then, another “God thing”, as I see it, occurred. A young lady by the name of Rachel McGuire wanted a ticket. (Rachel is the one who has shared the story of her hike in the rainforest with John Oubre). So the solution was that Rachel bought JO’s ticket, so we were then able to get another ticket for him to go early. I tell you all this to let you know how I felt God was at work in John Oubre’s trip.

 

    I was blessed to be with JO on this trip. To watch him be himself as he wrapped his arms around working with construction crew, as he played with the kids after work by the church building, as he held the little girl in his arms while she slept, as he played with the kids at the soccer field, as he formed friendships with the men of the Villa church, as he connected with teens like the crippled girl who wanted him to baptize her, as he told in his excitement of the hiking trip. I was blessed… but so was he.

 

    A day after we got home, he came to me and stated that he wanted to go back to work with the children there. I suggested that he call my friend Russ Lambert, so he did. Russ had him to call Mark Killen, who heads up the mission trip. He met with Mark, and plans began to be made. John Oubre was set to go back to Antigua with Gena Killen, Michelle Simpson, and Adam Brown on the 18th of September. They had their plan on how they were going to go about their challenge. On August 26th this group had a planning meeting.  Michelle Simpson later shared her thoughts from that night with us.  She told us that she knew we all we were on the edge of something that would be life changing, and we were - just not the way we thought it would be. We believed that God was leading us to help John get ready for Antigua, but God was getting him ready for another mission far greater. (Thank you Michelle for those words.)

 

    So now you know a little more about the story and the reason for the fund. There was no money in the budget for John to go, but he was going anyway. So thank you to all that have supported and those that will support.

Our prayer is that someone will be touched as John Oubre was.  This will be a fund to support someone who is willing to step out to wrap their arms around this mission as John did.  

 

Thank you again for your support.

 

Mark Henderson