FOCAS

Fall Breakfasts

focas — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 12:50:41 +0000

The Lord’s Gym 20th Year Anniversary is next month. Dick Taylor’s implementation of his vision for the Lord’s Gym occurred July of 1993. We will be celebrating this theme this fall at our Lord’s Gym Community Awareness breakfasts on Tuesday, Sept 17 at the Kenwood Country Club and Wednesday, October 2nd at the Sharonville Convention Center.

FOCAS GoKart Kup Event

focas — Wed, 22 May 2013 15:57:42 +0000

Watch this video of the GoKart Kup event held at Full Throttle Indoor Karting on 03-11-2013. It was a blast and a success! We will be making plans for next years event. So, stay tuned for the details.

http://animoto.com/play/zLTl0X8fh3ex44T06ECXHg

FOCAS 260 Go-Kart Kup

focas — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 17:42:57 +0000

Join us for our 1st annual inaugural event of the FOCAS 260 Go-Kart Kup to change lives in Over-the-Rhine and Haiti. Bring your clients, employees, and others to join us for a fun-filled and exhilarating afternoon of racing go-karts up to 40 mph (indoors) and slot cars for a great cause. Select drivers from each kart will team up for a climatic race called the Shootout. Only 20 go-karts, with four-person teams, will vie for the kup. So, reserve your kart today!

Date: March 11, 2013
Time: 1:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.

At Full Throttle Indoor Karting
11725 Commons Drive
Springdale, OH 45246
(513) 341-5278
www.CincyKarting.com

For further information contact:
Scott Bowers, Event Coordinator
513-621-5300
Sbowers@focas-us.org

Haiti 48

focas — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 16:19:52 +0000

Haiti 48 Rescheduled – The first 2013 FOCAS missions trip to Haiti has been delayed until April 28 – May 6. We would like to have strong medical and teaching teams plus friends that want to visit schools and orphanages to love on the kids and learn more about Haiti and poverty. It is a great experience and, for many, life changing. Cost is $1,600 from Cincinnati. Pray about it and contact Dick Taylor at rptaylor@focas-us.org or call 513-621-5300.

FOCAS Haiti Damage Done by Issac

focas — Tue, 04 Sep 2012 15:10:51 +0000

Before Issac pummeled the coast of the US as a Cat 1 hurricane, it stormed across Haiti as a heavy tropical storm inflicting its wrath. Port au Prince sustained heavy flooding, damage, and 24 deaths according to the Miami Herald. FOCAS Haiti sustained damage to the roof of the church in Callebasse; but, we praise God that no one was hurt or killed in the storm’s wake. The metal roof was blown off and some trusses may have been damaged, which is all repairable. Sadly, it was the same church that sustained damage from the 2010 earthquake that cracked walls and the corner of the foundation. We are getting estimates, but believe the repairs to be in the $6,000 to $12,000 (US) range. Please pray about this need and if you would be led to give to the repair of the church by going to the” donate now” section on the upper right hand of our home page or sending a check to FOCAS, PO Box 428760 Cincinnati, OH, 45242-8760. Any money received beyond the repair of the roof will be applied toward ongoing earthquake repairs in Callebasse. If you have any questions please contact Scott at 513-621-5300.

How You Can Get Involved

focas — Fri, 25 May 2012 14:55:09 +0000

Would you be willing to join me at one of our upcoming Lord’s Gym Community Awareness Breakfasts and bring a friend who you think would like to learn about FOCAS? (As you know they are free.) Our Breakfasts are scheduled on September 19th at Kenwood Country Club and October 3rd at Sharonville Convention Center.

Church in Uganda

focas — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 15:45:06 +0000

A Message from Dick Taylor-

It is difficult to express the many feelings from my first week in Uganda. Pastor Oyako, his family and his co-workers have been extremely gracious. Meals are a celebration! Certainly just when guests are there. But many items and prepared with love.
Church services and other meetings show the enthusiasm and zeal they have for God. And Pastor Oyako’s ministry Revival Time Ministries is having m…ajor impact on some very poor and needy rural communities. Particularly impressive have been 1) The Blind Village, 2) Micro-credit and Literacy, and Pastor Mentoring & Training.
Here is a photo of a Micro-credit/Literacy gathering. About 120 people in a remote area. The excitement and enthusiasm was fantastic. As were testimonies of women getting income for their large families from projects financed by the program. Praise God!!

My Office View

focas — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 15:39:22 +0000

This building is across the street from my office in the inner-city of Cincinnati’s Over-the-Rhine neighborhood. (The park adjacent to it and the alleys behind it have been some of the most violent in Cincinnati during the last decade.) Now…, a developer is restoring the building and having to completely replace the mortar on the back wall and one half of the wall pictured. The bricks are good, but the mortar apparently needs to be replaced – hence an expensive and aggressive overhaul just to bring make the building safe and usable. Seems like there is a metaphor here? God seems to take people from their worst position in life and bring restoration to their lives through His indwelling Spirit where He “slowly” rebuilds and restores their (our) lives. He uses the same materials, but now He is the adhesive that holds a life together and changes behavior. Just a thought from my office view. Scott Bowers

Why Does the Pump N Run Matter?

focas — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 15:36:16 +0000

Why does the Pump N Run matter? You are not just lifting weights and running. You are participating in an event that
involves you in making a difference in the lives of people you will likely never meet. Read the following which I observed from my office window in the heart of Cincinnati’s Over-the-Rhine. (It’s one of the worst areas concerning drug trafficking and violence.)

The guy was rolling dice in his underwear at 1:45 PM in the afternoon teaching a 4 year old how to roll dice – all while four men and one woman watched sitting on a bench nearby. (I can’t make this up.) The guy kept pulling up his drawers, but every time he bent over to roll his dice, his pants drooped. I pause, and I pray. This is just one of the many scenes I’ve seen from my office window over the last 11 years.

Today, individual buildings in the neighborhood are seeing their share of transformation, but it is the opposite for many of the individual lives in this neighborhood. They need transformation too.

The Lord’s Gym and Nicholas Hoyer SportsCenter reach out to this At-Risk generation of young men and children. Staff and
volunteers understand that it takes creating a common ground and building relationships with people living in the neighborhood.

Later in the day, around 4:30 PM, I look from the back window down onto our basketball courts and playground. I see alumni from the SportsCenter watching and coaching the kids. Our alumni have jobs and one of them has his own children with him. Only 100 yards separate the group teaching dice and the group teaching life skills. Each group has it’s own role models.

When you participate in the Pump N Run, you make a difference in changing lives.

Uganda

focas — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 13:21:24 +0000

Message from Dick Taylor:

Third day in Uganda today. Great church service this morning as many agreed to a life of compassion and evangelism efforts. Then an incredible visit to a “Blind Village’. The community has brought the blind together so they can better care for them.