Finding Oasis by Clare Nonhebel


FINDING OASIS
Powerful stories from the slums of Mumbai
Clare Nonhebel

Challenged by a seminar at church about mission, Clare Nonhebel answered the question posed about short term work by answering "I didn`t need excuses, having a valid reason: I would be useless, a burden."  On reflection she asked God to take her out of her comfort zone.  She remembered that her nephew John and his Indian wife Charmaine had invited her once to visit them in Bombay and to date she hadn`t taken up the offer.  That offer was made again but Clare told John that she didn`t want to come as a tourist, to which John outlined a writing project she could help him with.

The Oasis Trust was set up by Steve Chalke.  "Oasis set out to empower the poorest and most ignored people to improve their own lives with whatever help was needed but always including and arising from the workers` own faith in Jesus Christ."  They work with street children, slum dwellers, women trapped in prostitution, people with HIV and children orphaned by AIDS.

What happened during her short 10 day stay in India was a whistle stop tour visiting the projects Oasis was involved in, meeting individuals who were benefiting from the projects, writing their stories and finding for herself that she was only capable of feeling a fraction of what they felt.  It was a life changing experience as Clare realised what it really meant to follow Christ amidst all the difficulties of Indian society.


 

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