Cedar Grove Community Church

After a long day of travel, our team arrived safely in Oracle, AZ. Oracle is a small town about 40 miles from Tucson. We will be partnering this week with First Baptist here in Oracle. When we arrived, we were greeted by Pastor Ray, who welcomed us. After unloading and getting settled into our rooms, we had a quick welcome and orientation meeting. Tomorrow we will be going to church and getting to know the congregation here in Oracle. We are so excited to see God move this week!

We were welcomed in to First Baptist Church of Oracle today. Our students opened Sunday morning service with some worship songs. Paster Ray gave the message on friendship, which led in to what we are looking forward to with the community this week.

We spent the afternoon getting to know the members of the church. The church provided a delicious potluck lunch for us. Here we are getting to know, Harrold and his dog Tinkerbell. After hearing some of the church members stories we are pumped for what is to come the rest of the week!

This morning we hiked to the top of a hill in the Oracle Cemetery to watch the sunrise. We spent time in prayer for the community, and reflected on what legacy we can leave during our week here, as well as throughout our lives. Hearts were changed this morning seeing the sunrise and witnessing God's beauty of creation.

In Oracle Cemetery we cared for and cleaned graves throughout. Some of the graves go as far back as the late 1800's. Some of the older graves are up a hill and hard to reach, so it can be difficult for older community members to do. We were blessed to get to be a part of such a sacred place in this community.

This evening we cleaned up the church. It may not seem like a huge task but in reality we are helping the church grow again. The building is actually an old historic hotel, and the local historical societynhas plans to offer tours, which will bless the church financialy. By planting that seed and cleaning up the church we are making the foundation on what is to come. First Baptist Church of Oracle is that mustard seed that will grow and spread God's word through the local towns. We are just planting that seed and pray that God will bless the church with growth.

Today we visited Mission San Xavier del Bac, located in Tucson, AZ. This church is a Catholic mission established in the 17th century. It was absolutely beautiful. We also tried Indian Fry Bread, which was a delicious treat.

This afternoon we mingled with neighborhood kids of San Manuel. We were able to connect and build small but growing relationships with people who were complete strangers to us. All of us can't wait to return tomorrow!

We spent Tuesday morning walking around Oracle in prayer for the city. We prayed for the current residents, as well as the future of the city. We asked God to send revival here, as well as raise up leaders here to reach the next generation for Christ.

We spent some time with some local children Tuesday night at Kids Club at the church. We love singing with them, as well as doing crafts. But we know the most important is teaching the Gospel message.