Published: November 07, 2009 12:36 am      

OCS ‘Bite Back’ raises $55,345

EDMOND — More than 1,000 Oklahoma Christian School students filled the LifeChurch.tv auditorium Friday as they unveiled the $55,345.55 raised during H.E.R.O.E.S. Week, its annual fundraiser.

“Malaria Bites, Bite Back” was the theme of Hands Extended Reflecting Our Exalted Savior and the students’ purpose was to provide mosquito netting, disease education, prevention and education for the people of Kenya as they battle a malaria epidemic.

The money will be funneled through Compassion International to the 12 churches in and around Meru, Africa. Each treated mosquito net costs $10 and will cover two small children at night.

“Until we do something like this, our Bible education program is just words,” said Headmaster Dallas Caldwell. “This is when the Bible comes alive and our deeds reflect the gospel.”

In the DARE Assembly on Thursday and during the assembly Friday, Student Council sponsor Julie Divilbiss, and Caldwell told the students to understand God knew the amount He needed, and that He would help them raise that amount.

“Little did I know how prophetic those words would be,” Divilbiss said. “After the final assembly (Friday), the Student Council stayed in the auditorium to visit with (two members of Compassion International) and help with some of the stage decorations.

“As Scott Werner was working, he began to think about the $55,000 that had been revealed a few minutes before. Something was strangely familiar about the number.

“He checked his iPhone, began chuckling and called me over. He showed me the e-mail he had received from Compassion International last September regarding the proposed amount that they would need to complete the many projects in and around Meru. Their request was for $55,619.”

The students had nearly hit that mark at $55,345.

Divilbiss laughed and shared the story with the StuCo officers.

“Watching their eyes light up as they realized that God had made a bold statement about being in control, but using his children in such a big way, was priceless,” Divilbiss said. “We’re still thrilled.”

In the past, the school has helped members of the OCS family who have medical needs, have raised money for a Christian school in Haiti and have raised funds for a medical center in Sierra Leone. Altogether, OCS’s mission-focused H.E.R.O.E.S. Week has raised more than $420,000 to benefit the community and world since 2003.



FOR MORE INFORMATION about purchasing mosquito netting, go to www.biteback.net. To donate to the 2009 OCS Heroes Week mission project, e-mail Julie Divilbiss, OCS STUCO Sponsor, at jdivilbiss@ocssaints.org or call her at 341-2265, ext. 3.