“Spring, whispers the promise of brighter and warmer days ahead, painting the world with the colors of God’s hope.” –Unknown Author

I know most of us are more than excited with spring right around the corner. This winter has been something else, but if it had not been for the harshness of winter, would we truly appreciate the gift of spring? Sometimes we can’t appreciate what’s ahead without first dealing with the harshness of the present. Now, there have been whispers about my future with Oasis as its director, and I wanted to clear somethings up and mention briefly what is happing. It was a shock for us (my wife and I) to find that she has been assigned to a different church and district, by July 1st.

With her being moved, along with my family, I have requested to be moved to the same district, so I could be near my wife, kids and family. So by July 1st, I will be stepping down as Oasis’s youth director. Not what we planned but more times than not; God has already gone before and made a way, and with that we have no doubt. I am thankful for every opportunity I had to teach and lead this group, it is made of some of the best people; and with time they will become great leaders in the name of Christ, again with that I have no doubt. I trust that God will lead our youth and empower them for whatever this world has for them.

As for what Oasis has been up too, we have continued to challenge our students to ask deep questions; allowing them to ask what they want to learn from the bible. All in the hopes of encouraging them to rely on looking up life’s tough questions within the inspired word of God but also helping them develop long lasting faith, in the God we all serve. We started this month with “are there mythological creatures in the bible”, then we moved on too “is mental health talked about in the bible”, then lastly “why are the temptations important?”

All great questions and with the help of Pastor Jeff, we were able to list up to 8-10 mythological creatures within the bible ranging from ghost to witches, giants to talking animals, a werewolf-like creature to possible zombies. Again, we made sure to back up all findings within the bible; and some of the kids were surprised. We also mentioned mental health as well. When we went over this, we made sure to look up some of the bibles main biblical heroes, list all their strengths and then list the all the issues they dealt it. We learned that regardless of the biblical hero’s disorder, it was through God that they were able to find the strength to continue on and inspire the people of God for generations to generations. We explained that God never left them in their worst place and he would never leave us either.

Lastly, about a week ago, Oasis ventured to Cincinnati to participate in the awesomeness that is WinterJam 26! We had so much fun; the group all got to bond and rock out to some of the big names that were present that night! Soon after we all drove back around 11:30pm and had our groups first ever Lock-in at First UMC! I was great, the youth got to play basketball, videogames, we had a nerf war, and had a mini-ice cream bar open! We also had our latest bible study ever (2am) where we covered why the temptations in the bible were so important, and why the victory in Jesus was so necessary as we walk into the lent season. Again, overall great time, but it would not have been possible without Heather and Jera! They were the ones who kept the night moving on; they help organize and set up; then tear down. Without women like them, without faithful servant of Christ, I’m not sure if our night would have been as great as it was; again, huge shout out to them and to all the families that volunteered to help carpool and donate! Together you all made this great night happen, and praise be to God for that! I am excited to see what March has for us and what God will continue to do with this special group.

Stephen Flores 

Stephen Flores II

Youth Director of Oasis Youth Ministry