Isaac And Brittany .com

Merry Christmas from Isaac and Brittany

We want to thank all for loving and supporting us this year.

We love and appreciate you all so much and we want to ask you all to stay in contact with us in this next year!

We love you all so much!
Merry Christmas

Isaac and Brittany Oltersdorf

Brittany and I want to offer all of you a special opportunity to give this Christmas.

Paul and Margret and thier children Augusta and Isaac (named after Me!!) are pictured to the left.
Paul is blind, he and his family have become close friends of ours and we want to ask if anyone would be interested in helping to support this family for Christmas.

Our plan is to help Margret start a small buisness and from there help to provide for the needs of the children and also for Paul to continue his education.

If you want to help them please let us know!
Merry Christmas
Isaac and Brittany

I want to write to you all about what I have learned recently about compassion and its power. I know that some of you who read our blog posts dont necessarily believe in devine healing. I am going to talk about it but with an emphasis I think a little closer to what it should be. Recently one of our church members Baba gave me a letter. He gave me permission to share from it.
In the letter he thanked me and God for what was happening in His life. I was so blessed because every other 'letter' I have received here has been a request for money. His was not, in it he related to me that since the time he was a young boy 3-4 he has never walked on his own and has never felt like a man. Since the previous sunday when we prayed for Him he has begun to walk. His right knee which he had never been able to move began to move and the muscles in his feet also. He said 'pastor I can kick now and the other night I stood for a long time with no assistance'. I am changed through this testimony. I must confess that in the past divine healing has been something that really excited me but until this testimony, it was something that never touched my heart this deep, I never experienced the compassion of God. I saw in Baba the restoration of not just his legs but his dreams. He talks now, as his legs get progressivly stronger, about playing football on the beach with us. He now dresses to impress, and carries himself with an aura of confidence. He can now walk quickly without any crutches when before he needed two. He is happy. He knows that he is loved, by us, but more profoundly by his Creator.
There is another story I want to share with a similar heart. We have been housing 8 guys from off the street who are now attending Bible college. One of them, Ali, has the biggest heart of them all. He also has the biggest temper. Pastor Andrew and I realized that this temper was not getting better no matter what we did. We told him, after a morning fight, that we wanted to have a special meeting with him that night. We sat him down and Andrew began to pray and talk to Ali. He asked Ali what was going on inside of him. In the middle of Ali's explaination Andrew interrupted Him, with a kind of insight that only could have come from God, and a kind of heart that could only come from a father. Andrew spoke truth to Ali about the forgivness of God and the love we have for him of the truth that its not Ali's fault. His part in the war as a child soldier, the people he killed and thing things he did, were him being taken advantage of by wicked people. Ali just cried and recieved the love. I sat in awe. It felt like family. Ali felt it. I felt it, and Andrew definitly did as well. I wanted to cry all night as I thought about what happend. This guy who has never known a stable home, who is an outcast from his own family and village, was finnaly recieveing the love of the Father in heaven and a father on earth in Andrew. I felt the heart of God for these guys, the fatherless, the ostricised. God sees them. He feels for them so deeply. Im beginning to too.
Both of these stories together are trying to teach me something. I say this becaus the Bible says it. It calls testimonies 'our teachers'. I am learning that God values a kind of living that only He makes possible. Its a kind of living that has hope for the world around us beyond the help of the world around us or the abilities within us. It is the 'audacity of hope' that having faith in the one who died for our sins and by whose 'stripes we are healed' produces. I am challenged to believe again. I am challenged to turn my head towards and not away from the one in need. I am challenged to believe that when I choose to love that my weakness is met not only with Gods strength but also His compassion. A kind of compassion that I am learning melts my heart completely. I am learning that in a world that says I need to be more (stronger, wiser, richer, better planned) that I can be less. That I can be weak, that I dont have to be better than anyone else, or prove myself to myself or to the world around me. I want to learn instead that there is hope for the hopeless, and to be a part of delievering that same hope. There are better things going on. Baba's and Ali's that God wants to bless me to know and wants to touch with His love. I like that and I pray we will all learn more together.
Love you
Isaac

Hello all,

It has been just over a year since Brittany and I arrived in Sierra Leone. We have seen so much happen and I am writing to tell you thanks. In the midst of a country filled with poverty and oppressive conditions. I look at all of my friends and family, their support and encouragement and I am so grateful. It has been you that have inspired us, challenged us, supported us, prayed for us. It has been you most of all that have believed.

Since coming we have seen so much happen. I can only attribute it to the grace and favor of God. When we came we were met with an unfinished one story brick building with only our room and bathroom complete. Pastor Andrew and his family living in a 'pan body' house attached to the side. We had no running water but to walk 100 yards to a tap. We had no electricity except for a generator that we only used a couple nights a week. We slept on a thin mattress on the ground and lived on minimial finances. The one church, also attached to the house, was made of wood and tarpoline (still is :). For a few months we were the sole financial supporters of the ministry.
In one year...

> We took in 5 kids who lost thier mother and father.
> -we took one into our room :)
> 5 more churches have been planted in the surrounding communities
> -two tailored specifically to street boys and prostitutes
> A ministry from the US called No Boundaries International began to partner with us brining much needed financial support and added vision/manpower.
> -they spearheaded all the work with the streetboys and provided the Bible college
> We began two outreaches to groups of streetboys in different parts of Freetown with a time of feeding and a small church service (football too:)
> Another Pastor has recently decided to visit us with his son.
> -his heart is for streetboys and his son is a sound studio owner
> -those two things are the main focuses of Pastor Andrew and I. (I love how God brings people together)
> A man with a vision for agriculture has begun to take trips to set up a program here providing jobs and income and opportunities.
> Our discipleship team went from 2 to 10 with 20 more Bible college students.
> The house is now two full levels with an small third level for a music studio.
> -the first floor is completely finished, the second about half.
> We have power from the government about 30% of the time!
> We have running water about 40% of the time in the house!
> Brit and I have a nice canopy bed made by a church member!
> We have seen multiple incredible healings and changed lives.
> We live with 8 guys from off the street who are attending our Bible college and training in business, welding, and tailoring.
> A property was given to us in a village where we have a Secondary school 90% finished, farming, a church and missionary house planned.
> We just finished, successfully, the first semester of the Bible college.
> We feed about 30 people per day.
> Brittany and I taught and prepped the kids for school until July. teaching everything from the abc's to astronomy.
> The kids have started school and are doing well.
> We have pending agriculture projects and outreaches into the provinces following the Bible college.
> We have started 4 small Businesses via micro loans to church members.
> We have all night prayer 7 days a week (I know that sounds crazy to most people but its awesome) from 12am to 4am
> -4 teams take 2 nights a week each.
> All of the above has not been one persons vision or work, it has been a divine mixture of talent, coincidence, vision, and effort. That have come together in such beautiful way involving such beautiful people
> -and that's why I'm thanking all of you!
> We are so privileged to be here.
Thank you for the support

> God is so good> Love you all> Isaac

In Sierra Leone there is a huge number of men in thier late teens to thier late 20's that live in the street. Many of them were child soldiers, many others were displaced to freetown during the war never having fought themselves. Almost all have witnessed and taken part in unimaginable things. These guys are the marginalized , the outcasts (along with the disabled), in sierra leone. They are the cause of most of the trouble and conversly they are the future of the nation since they are a large portion of the men of a generation. We believe God has given us a call to minister to these guys His love and acceptance. After 6-9 months (depending on the area) of doing outreaches and prayer meetings with these guys we now have about 14 enrolled in Bible college and we are also starting tayloring and other trade training alongside it. We are housing 8 of them (a total joy). The Bible school has around 30 students total and we meet now three days a week. Its a DVD curriculum from the states that gives time for translation. We have seen these guys really catch hold of a greater vision for thier lives. They are excited and empowered. The word of God is the most empowering thing in the world. Read Ephesians 1:1-9 for an example. These guys are worth something to God, he loves them and can redeem thier lives of violence and drug addiction and their past of trauma and hardship. We are so excited for what God is doing so be praying for Ali, Ibriham, Bangali, Abriham, Jawad, Elton, Humphrey, Francis, Abu, Abu, Raymond, Fofonna, Junior, and Foday. I hope to be able to share with you all more about these guys It has been such a pleasure growing to love them and help them to be all that God created them to be. We are doing the impossible. I spoke with one ex government official who used to work with the youth. He said that they wont listen to anyone but maybe they will listen to God. They are and His love is doing the impossible.

In order (David, the team, Brit and Isaac's anniversary, Johnny preaching, Mr Manna, Samuel Isaac and Sylvester, the house.

Tonight the street boys gathered under their temporary housing. Its about a 30 by 5 yard strip with a ten foot wall on one side and a 7 foot side that is open except for beams and a small wall. Each Wed evening we all get together and have a small church service and then provide food. 40-50 came this Wed and we gathered around sang praise and worship and then sat. I began to preach on a scripture that says that God looks throughout the earth to see if any are seeking him. The Bible says in Hebrews that we must believe that God is and seek Him and he will reward us. We all sat seeking God. All of the sudden the police came in three large trucks, there were maybe 50 of them. Some had guns, riot gear, gas masks. These guys were ready for action. Since this is the street boys’ area they come frequently and make wholesale arrests. They came and tore down a 'bar' about 200 yards away and some passed by us. The streetboys didn’t know what to do they wanted to run but knew if they did they would be arrested. I thought "this is either really good that we are all here together or really bad". The police just passed guns gasmasks and everything. You could see them pointing and talking about us from a distance. Since they knew we were a 'church' service though they didn’t say anything except one police officers comment of 'hallelujah' as she passed. Other people were arrested and taken away. Temporary structures for businesses were broken. We prayed. I told them about Psalm 91 that even if 10000 pass on my right the Lord will save me. I told them to trust Him, to begin to seek Him. He is waiting like the father of the prodigal son for his children to return to Him. If he sees one seeking Him he runs to them! We prayed and all the guys asked God to change their lives to come and help them and to provide for them. Afterwards as we all ate they rejoiced. The police left, none of them were arrested, we asked them and they said that if we had not been doing church when they came they would have arrested everyone. Instead they came and sought God and he rewarded them, His sons. I felt like an intercessor. The Bible says that Jesus was the great intercessor. An intercessor is someone who stands and speaks for someone, usually asking for mercy or help, but giving themselves for the life of another. Jesus gave his life for all of mankind and we are called to do the same. I was so glad that we have been led to love these guys. Since we are 'interceding' for them, they are finding acceptance, honor, love, hope, dignity, and protection. They know that there is a God who loves them, laid down His life for them, and He is turning their hearts toward Him little by little. They all exclaimed with laughter and childlike awe and excitement that God had saved them! We started singing "It is a great day to serve the Lord, It is a great day to serve the Lord, Walking in the light of God," They all joined and we danced with gratitude and love.