Equip and perfect Pastors, Church Planters, and other Christian leaders both nationally and internationally to enhance the body of Christ.
Text: 2 Timothy 2:2 “And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.”
In 2015, Dr. Erskine Dodson became our Global Missions Director. He is a happily married man of over 50 years to Phyllis, whom he affectionately calls “Kitten.” They also have three adult children.
Dr. Dodson has a passion for teaching and extending the Gospel to the uttermost parts of the Earth. He currently teaches at the College of Biblical Studies (Indianapolis, Indiana campus). He has a hunger for the Word of God and has spent many years in preparation to utilize his gift of teaching and equipping God’s servants for the work of the ministry. As a Doctor of Ministry, combined with a passion for missions, he is a seamless fit with Oasis and our belief in the Great Commission, “Go, Teach, Baptize, and Make Disciples.”
Since 2015 to the present time as Director of Oasis of Hope’s Global Missions, Dr. Dodson teaches Pastors and church leaders in Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, East Africa, Ghana, Monrovia, West Africa, North and South India, and St. Lucia in the West Indies. He has also taken a team of Oasis members, including his wife, on the mission field with him. This work has expanded the Global missions of Oasis of Hope Church. Across the globe, we are “Building God’s Family, by Transforming Lives.”
Dr. Dodson’s conviction is: “By the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace towards me was not in vain;” I Cor. 15:10a.
OASIS MISSION FOR ORPHANS, DISABLED, AND UNACCOMPANIED CHILDREN – (MODUC)
OASIS MODUC mission is to minister to the needs of Liberian widows and orphans in their troubled time to enable them to live the life for which God created them: James 1:27.
The two Liberian wars ending in 2003 resulted in over two hundred thousand (200,000) civilian deaths. Its people were uprooted from their homes and fled city borders as refugees. Its children became homeless and abandoned orphans. Their flight took them to anywhere they could escape hunger, sickness, and disease to find some form of security. One such place was the home of Thomas and Mary Beh in Buchanan, Liberia. This was a difficult task for the Behs because they were unemployed and living off whatever means they were able to solicit.
In 1984, the late Pastor Frank Alexander and the Oasis of Hope Baptist Church became acquainted with the Behs during one of his trips with Missions for Rural Africa. The Behs shared with Pastor Alexander the plight of the children and their grave need for food and housing. Under Pastor’s leadership, Oasis of Hope Baptist Church committed backing to the Behs efforts to make life better for these displaced children. And with that, vision for the Mission for Orphans, Disabled, and Unaccompanied Children (MODUC) was born in 1995.
Oasis MODUC Ministry took the lead and became their primary support for food and clothing. The ministry’s financial provision grew to include money for medical care, education, and staffing in a Christian setting. As the children came and grew, Oasis MODUC expanded its care and funded college educations for high school graduates, which included room and board, tuition, and books. Some have reconnected to their families, and others have grown up, found employment, and started families of their own!
In 2017, thanks to donors, eight acres of land were purchased by Oasis MODUC. This land is located in the beautiful natural bay city of Buchanan, Liberia, just off the St. John River and the Atlantic Ocean. Oasis MODUC goal is to raise $350,000.00 to build a new orphanage on the property to replace the nearby existing one founded 25 years ago by Mary Beh.
The new orphanage will provide dormitory styled housing, complete with on-premise chaperons and security, for up to 75 children. Our goal is to make this facility self-sustaining.
Oasis MODUC Ministry stands on James 1:27. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
OASIS MISSION FOR ORPHANS, DISABLED, AND UNACCOMPANIED CHILDREN – MODUC was incorporated in 2019 as a 501C (3) organization.
OASIS CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
25th St. Development abstract:
Oasis Christian Community Development Corporation (OCCDC) was incorporated in 2000 as a 501C (3) organization. It is located in the Martindale Brightwood community. The mission of OCCDC is to provide comprehensive community development, which empowers people to live holistic and purposeful lives supporting themselves family and community. OCCDC's vision is a community sustained through strengthened and developed families, economic development, neighborly relations, and infrastructures that promote healthy relationships between individuals, families, and the larger community.
In pursuit of that vision and the fulfillment of its mission OCCDC has:
Brought more than $17 million in community development to the community. Included in that development was acquisition and upgrading of 185 unit multifamily low-income housing development, two 35 unit low-income senior citizen housing communities and that acquisition of additional land for development.
Introduced more than 300 youth between the ages of 13 and 18 to the world of work through classroom instructions, career exploration, work experience where they earned the stipend, and mentoring.
Families have been strengthened and assisted through social services, emergency assistance, job search assistance, and the VITA program.
Work with community groups in developing a quality of life plan for the community.
While continuing some of the above programs, OCCDC is now seeking to comprehensively enhance family and community income through job creation and community economic development. This effort will include:
Calling the community together to pray about community concerns.
Seeking to bring employment opportunities into the community and assisting with the vetting of employees.
Encourage and support the entrepreneurial efforts of persons in the community through an entrepreneurial incubator.
Expand homeownership in the community through acquiring abandoned homes and properties and renovating them with the help of sweat equity on the part of the future owner and unemployed persons learning building trades skills.
