Our walk with the Lord and our desire To See the Glory
Posted by Shawn on August 18, 2010
Returned home at 12:30 am this morning after driving round trip to Folsom California to aid in purchasing the shuttle van we will be using. Long day, but now we have a way to get to Florida!
It is a Ford Diesel van front shuttle with the wheelchair lift on the side. We will be able to have enough seats and then the room for the luggage and instruments. Thank you for all your prayers!
I will try to post some pictures later today.
Posted by Shawn on August 12, 2010
Never did I dream that this drive would be like this! We were hoping for a few, but now it is a full schedule. I know the Lord has plans, I just hope we follow Him all the way through it.
Oh, did I mention that we still have no vehicle to do this in? One more thing for God to complete as we move close the date of departure. We are still asking God to open the door to the right vehicle to safely get us there and Jeremy and Sam back.
Thank you for your prayers!
Hoping for a van like this:
Help find us the van?
Posted by Shawn on August 6, 2010
The time to leave is approaching very quickly and we will need a van that holds 9+ passengers. Please pray with us as we ask God for the van that will safely get us to Florida and Jeremy, Sam and possibly Matt back. We will probably have to tow a small enclosed trailer if anyone has one we could borrow it would be greatly appreciated!!
The plan, Lord willing, is to go to Colorado to visit my brother and family and my old best friend from High school. While we are there we hope to be able to present the ministry to at least one church (another prayer request.)
Then we will be off to Kansas City for Jeremy to play music and for us to present Island Light Ministries and our family. This is the home church of a band member playing with Michael Robert.
From there we have a place in Tennessee and then to Florida where we hope to have a couple of opportunities. God has been going before us and I pray we follow His lead. We have been praying that God will be the one to put it on the hearts of His people to support this ministry.
God has been working on my faith lately, feeling like Peter when he denied Christ when the pressure was on. I know I am only man and that He is God. I praise Him for showing me how weak I am, without Him none of this can happen. I hope that through our struggle and victories in the Lord that you (my friends and brothers and sisters in Christ) will be encouraged and your faith will be increased as well as ours!
May our Lord have mercy and Grace upon us always and may His glory be shown.
Posted by Shawn on August 1, 2010
We were invited to present the ministry at the Neighborhood Church in Medford Oregon today and I was blessed. The people there were so encouraging. A few of them had been missionaries and had some great things to say. One lady who lived a similar life to some of the Dominican’s we will be working, coming from a very poor area of a country and having no hope, to having hope in Christ. She touched me by thanking me for being willing to go and she cried as she prayed for us.
I will have to say, I didn’t really think I would be the one doing presentations at churches. I really don’t see myself as the right person, but God has other plans. We have a few stops already in the works on our drive to Florida.
We are still in need of a large van to fit 9 people and luggage along with Jeremy’s guitar and keyboard. Please pray for the right van to be presented that will work for this trip and to be used by Jeremy in touring or one we can borrow for the round trip.
God is good. Praise Him in all things!
p.s. Thank you to those who prayed for today’s presentation.
Posted by Shawn on July 28, 2010
We have finally purchased the plane tickets to the Dominican Republic, however, we did not get them to leave anywhere near home, but actually all the way on the other side of the USA.
Why in the world would we do this? We believe the Lord is directing our path across the U.S. with Jeremy and Sam to raise support. Jeremy will play shows at churches or wherever the Lord opens a door and we will present the ministry. We are having to do so much of this by faith, which I will tell you is like a roller coaster for me. I look to my self and see how I can’t make anything work, but when I look up to heaven and realize God has all things in His hands my worries fade. Oh how I need more faith!
God has already opened up some avenues without me even doing anything. I have yet to meet a man who set up Bethel Church in Medford for a benefit concert on the 12th of August. We have also been asked to present the ministry to the Neighborhood church in Medford this coming Sunday, again without my doing. Why do I fret? Why do I doubt? How gracious is my Lord and Savior for allowing me to serve Him or even call Him Lord. What a great God we serve!
I hope that over the next few weeks that I will continue to pass on and encourage others in the faith with many more examples of God’s loving care. Let us not be shaken. May the God of peace bless your home Today.
Posted by Shawn on July 11, 2010
Seeing my wife getting antsy as I packed up books I realized how much this verse spoke of us from 1 Corinthians 1:26
Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth.
We must not be the wisest pair to want to move to a foreign country with 5 kids and no money, but God chose us anyways.
Today Jessica and I packed 4 bags with books, towels, sheets, some tools and a motorcycle helmet. This made not sound like much, but it was a step of faith for us. These 4 bags all weighing about 49 pounds, making sure not to go overweight for the airlines, are going with a short term missions team to the Dominican Republic. The bags will end up being stored with other missionaries who live in Santo Domingo, the capital of the D.R.
Luggage going
The reason this is a step of faith for us is that we are sending things ahead of us that at this time we don’t have the funding to go and be missionaries, but we are trusting our Lord for the provisions. We believe He put it on our hearts and have seen confirmation of, for us to be missionaries in the Dominican Republic. We believe He is the one who has made the connections and sold our house. He is the one who will go before us and who prepares our path.
Luggage to the D.R.
Our biggest challenge of moving is knowing what to bring, what we can replace there and really what we need. Many things are not available or can be expensive there. Clothing would seem to be inexpensive, but we have learned otherwise. Shoes can be very expensive there and the quality of many things can be much lower quality than what you would want to spend money on. We have been told to bring sheets and towels as well as bringing shoes, sandals and other basics. Bringing five children and the amount of curriculum they will need for schooling is adding up to be quite the load, we are looking at shipping via the airlines, but that means getting a shipment to Sacramento or Portland and being set up with them as a business.
Please continue to pray for us as things move into place.
Posted by Shawn on July 1, 2010
Jim and Debra Tunnicliffe – our friends and ministry partners with Island Light Ministries are flying out this Saturday to the Dominican Republic. We are asking for prayer that over the next two weeks God will open the right doors and close the ones where we as a team are not to be. I am also asking that you prayerfully consider supporting the work of the ministry, since there is still a great financial need.
While the Tunnicliffe’s are there they hope to confirm some aspects of where we will be serving. Some of those areas are in trade school teaching, food ministry, youth ministry along with many other ideas and visions. Each of us will have somewhat different roles to play with all one thing in common – glorifying God and leading others to Christ.
I am excited about the work God has before us and I believe there will be a large harvest. I believe that the spies sent out by Joshua had it right when they talked about the size of the grapes. God will go before us to conquer the enemy as we follow in the path He has for us.
Posted by Shawn on May 12, 2010
We finally finished the brochure! It takes quite a bit of discussion to really get a brochure refined. Only so much space and there is so much we want to say. Below are the pages in PDF format.
Oliveria Missions Brochure page 1
Oliveria Missions Brochure Page 2
The blog software won’t allow a document over 2MB, so I had to split it into the 2 pages (front and back.) Feel free to print this out and pass it on to your friends and let them know what we are doing in the Dominican Republic.
Our goal is to be there around the middle of July and we are trusting in God for the support we need to get there and get started. It will take a few months to get fully engaged into the activities of the ministry, since we will also be working on the language (Spanish) as well. Currently we have a tutor helping my wife and I as well as two of the older children and we will either have a native tutor there or attend a language course.
Please pray for us and the Tunnicliffe’s as we embark on this adventure God has given us!
Oliveria Family
Posted by Shawn on May 4, 2010
We have been working on the brochure this last week and it has been an interesting challenge. Trying to put information on there for what we are planning on doing, yet not having all things established to do them. Basically we have to trust in the Lord for what He has put on our hearts to do in the Dominican Republic.
Part of the planning we have been doing involves another group that builds houses or a village for those in complete need. This group then has missionaries run different aspects of the villages. A problem that has been seen in the earlier villages is that people learn to be beggars instead of learning trades and working. This problem is caused by the ignorance of the short-term missions trips. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to see those stop by any means. It is just that those visiting see people in such great need that they will give not realizing that there is a habit of begging without really begging.
Our desire is to help and educate those in need to provide for their families in a way that reflects the values in God’s word. The witnessing and preaching the gospel are powerfully shown through love. The love that desires to help such a person to be able to provide for their family through work. This work is gained by having a skill, the skill by training.
To look at this in another way is to realize that many of these people were never taught much of anything besides what was passed on by previous generations. Many have never gone to school, learned a skill or know that they can.
To get back to the brochure, we had to decide how to explain some of the ministry functions even if they are not yet already in action. Our hope through all of this is to see God given the glory by obeying His word and what He has asked us to do as a family.
Did I mention, I love my wife? She is such a great gift the Lord has given me.
Posted by Shawn on January 27, 2010
Sorry about the long delay in posting, it has been quite the whirlwind of activities for the Oliveria family. First off the house sold, but before that we signed papers and left for Mexico. No we were not running away, we went to visit our oldest son Jeremy who was at the Mission/Discipleship school that is ran by Applegate Fellowship. We spent a week down there and then drove back to move.
The house was suppose to close on the 31st, but since it had not we still moved in faith. God provided us a house that was partially furnished for about 6 months. This was at a price we could afford, but was much nicer than we were expecting at that price. So, we got moved in and then the house closed! Now, after owning for almost 16 years, this was a strange feeling. We were now homeless in a way, but I think God wants me to realize how dependent on Him we really are. As I type this I am looking out over the Rogue Valley from above, out a 3rd story window with views of pines and the Table Rocks. Definitely much better than views of tagged fences in the areas we thought we were going to be renting.
Once we got moved, Jeremy called us and said he was coming back to Medford. This was a surprise since the last thing he ever wanted to do was return to Medford, but in this case He felt God wanted him to return to get a job and pay bills he left hanging. Please pray that he finds a job quickly. Now Jeremy has been here for a couple of weeks and has been ministering to his uncle who is only 1 year older than him and some friends.
Between getting the engraver set up and car problems, it seems I can’t get anything caught up. Much to do with the business and the planning for the big move to the Dominican Republic. Island Light Ministries seems to be were God has directed us to serve. This new ministry was started by Jim and Debra Tunnicliff with a few visions of feeding the poor, ministering to the youth (locals and foreign) and working with a planned neighborhood of housing for the poor.
Lots to do, but I know God is the one directing and our faith just grows as we follow Him.