Orlando Childrens Church

Mustard Seed Service

OCC Admin — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 17:25:59 +0000

IT’S AMAZING how God will take our small “mustard seed” of service and use it to make a giant impact on the lives of these children and teens.

Liam was a disheveled and angry 4-year-old boy from a truly filthy trailer park off of Orange Blossom Trail.  I got to know him when I would ride on the bus serving as a bus monitor. He was very responsive to my love, but he would become enraged when he was teased or bullied. I don’t mean just anger, but uncontrollable rage. Because he was in such need and so responsive to our love, we tried desperately to keep him from encounters that would “set him off.”   Even with our best efforts, we couldn’t keep him from fighting. On one of those “bad” days, I called him over to let him know that he was going to be suspended.

Before I began to speak, I looked down at his feet and saw that he was wearing those water shoes that some people wear on a rocky beach. My heart broke. Here was this little boy that was teased mercilessly because of his appearance, and on top of that he had to wear these water shoes instead of normal shoes.

I just couldn’t suspend him. Instead, I made a visit to his trailer that week with a brand new pair of sneakers. He was so happy. The next week he proudly wore those shoes to church. He pulled me aside to ask how he could get a mark off that his brother had made with a permanent marker.   I could see that he had already tried to scrub it off himself but was unable to.

As I helped him, I thought about those sneakers that only cost about fifteen dollars but meant the world to him. It took so little time and money to bless that child, to make God’s love known to little Liam in a tangible way.

-Isabel O’Driscoll, OCC Founder and Volunteer

New Kissimmee Route

rebecca — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 13:49:23 +0000

From Pastor O

It is with great joy that I share what God is doing through OCC, particularly in the new Kissimmee route! Because of the distance, I was a little reluctant to send our buses into Osceola County, but when I visited I found the children in such desperate need. I am pleased to report that this new route is flourishing and many children and families are being touched with the love of Christ. We picked up just under 50 children each of the last two Saturdays. The families in these extended stay hotels have been so open to our presence. I am looking for volunteers who would be willing to spend some time with me in Kissimmee. There is so much ministry opportunity and so many that are receptive to the Gospel.

Over the past several weeks I’ve spent time with a family who just moved to the area from Utah. They have six children, which means a total of eight people in one motel room. They are from a Mormon background, so they were reluctant to talk at first. The mom would not open the door all the way but just cracked it a little to talk. It was apparent that they were in need of food, so the next time I visited I brought them a few bags of groceries. God used this act of kindness to open their hearts. The next week they trusted us enough to send their children on the OCC bus. The children are very open to the love of God through the volunteers on Saturday morning. This is just one of the many families that live in these rooms. We are scooping up kids at five extended stay motels. They are the Amber Inn, Oasis, Super 8, Carefree Inn (which can hardly describe the state of the inhabitants!) and Home Suite Home. The children are coming consistently and they love it!

Why OCC Does It

Sat, 21 May 2011 02:50:21 +0000

Many people would be quick to cast off the kind of kids we work with through OCC, rationalizing that it is too daunting a task to ask God to take back this culture of misogyny, hate, violence, self-gratification, gangs, drugs, broken homes, fatherless homes. At times, it is overwhelming, draining, heart-breaking, painful, dangerous, defeating, and scary. It is a fight to rescue these kids, and that is rarely forgotten and often felt. When you are out on the streets trying to speak truth into their lives and build relationships with them you realize more than anything what is stacked up against you. Even those who are believers and are walking out their faith still have to live among their peers and deal with the circumstances of life. How do we tell them to live in their world abiding by the rules we use to live in ours? What good is turning your cheek when there is a gun in your face?

For all the crossroads they endure, Jesus is the remedy. Most of these kids are steeped in generations worth of dysfunction and the road they are on will only breed more dysfunction. It’s like a thick, heavy, filthy muck weighing down the hopes of those that feel trapped in their world. But OCC believes that God is constantly in the middle of the muck. It’s a trait of God to do things in this world that only He could get the credit for doing. That when the life-scene is uncovered, only His fingerprints are there. The only Person who could ever clean up the muck is Jesus.

Here is why we can’t cast them off: We love them. Unconditionally. We desire to see their world change for the better. We want to see them be who they are with God consuming their entire life. We want them to know that they are smart enough to go to college or do whatever it is that they love; that they can choose a life that will keep them safe at night. We want to encourage our boys to grow up to be good dads, who love their kids and adore their wives; and teach our girls to be honorable women, who will raise their children to be honorable people. In loving and living out life with these kids, we get to celebrate their birthdays, help them study, bake cookies and paint pottery together, talk about making the world better, cheer them on at basketball games, show them a really great sunset…

We baptize them, teach them, and show up when they need us. We can’t cast them off, no matter how hard it may be at times, because it is with them that we meet with God.