Don: Michael it's great to have you share with our friends. We met you a couple of weeks ago here in Dallas. Cathy and I were delighted to hear about what you're doing and then connect you with our friend Charles Anderson and what he's doing in Houston. Now we are looking for ways to bridge the work between these two Texas cities. Please give an overview of your ministry.
Michael: Oasis Center is a ministry that we started in 2001 to assist first-time youth offenders and formerly incarcerated persons with life changing services and programs. And since we started this through the church before we became a 501C3, we want to make sure we still focus on the church in serving those returning citizens and anyone who is unemployed, underemployed or hard to employ. Charles and Cathy have introduced me to ministries who are already at work inside the prison, preparing people through formalized programs approved by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. We want Oasis Center to be one of those organizations that is at the forefront here in Dallas, providing them with needed services such as food, clothing, health, digital divide, and you name it through the collaborations that the Lord blessed us with. One of the things I'm really excited about is the opportunity for Oasis Center to do something more defined in terms of discipleship. Aftercare is great, and providing services are good, and evangelism in prison is good, but discipleship on the outside is what we are most excited about.
Don: We're so excited about what you're doing at Oasis and working together here in DFW and beyond.
