"About two years ago, we truly felt we were being commissioned by God to assist the poor and needy, but not where we were," he said. "We were thinking it would end up being somewhere down south, like Tennessee or West Virginia."
     Oostdyk said at the time he had been serving at a discipleship center through Gilgal Ministries in West Milford, N.J., for 25 years and had also been very involved in missionary work in New Mexico as well as New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.
     "It was a very wealthy area of New Jersey, but I felt two years before I came here I was meant to move somewhere where the needs were greater," Oostdyk explained.
     He said not soon after the nudge from God, he was informed of the need right here in the Oswego area by his family.
     "My son-in-law Wade Smith is the pastor at the Oswego Christian Missionary Alliance Church on Thompson Road," Oostdyk said. "He and Wendy (Oostdyk's daughter) began telling us about the need in this area. It sure is poor and broken up here."
     As a result, he and his wife moved here with strong support from his church in New Jersey, which he said still helps to fund his mission of discipleship and teaching.
     The Oostdyks' ministry serves the Oswego area and includes the help of their children – son, Danny and his wife Alyse; and daughter Melody Williams and her husband Stevey. There are also other couples who live on site and have made Grace and Glory their ministry, in particular Oostdyk said, Kevin and Jenn Herrick, a couple from New Jersey.
     "They wanted to come with us when we left and we asked them for a three-year head start. They gave us two," he said with a laugh. "I am 65 and ultimately will have to bow out. Kevin will eventually take my place. Danny and Alyse are also in it for the long haul. It's nice to know when you are done someone will keep it going."
     Oostdyk explained that the ministry, located at 7877 state Route 104, in Oswego, primarily serves as a discipleship center for young people heading into ministry.
     "We help train them to get ready to pursue that. We give them opportunity for ministry here and they meet with men in groups of about five and talk, study scripture," he said. "It serves to get them strong before they start their mission for God."
     Oostdyk cited Young Life and SUNY Oswego students as some of the young people they train for mission work.
     "There is also a local association of five Evangelical churches that have banded together and we are asked by them at times to help members in need," he noted. "We also help the homeless, including teenagers.
     But, Oostdyk stressed, they do this through local churches as their facility is not a halfway house.
     "We are sort of a refugee church as well," Oostdyk said. "We recently had a gentleman from the Congo stay with us until he could get set up."
     "There are many weekly discipleship and counseling groups that meet throughout the week, for various age groups and purposes," Melody Williams, Oostdyk's daughter, added. "My dad and Kevin run groups for men, Jenn runs a group for women and my parents run a couples group together. Danny and Alyse work with teens and Kevin and Jenn Herrick run a college-age ministry."
     Grace and Glory also offers a summer camp and sports a reptile zoo. To read more about the zoo, click Grace and Glory Reptiles. To find out about the summer camp, click Camp Foundations.
     "Sometimes the house is very, very full and sometimes it is not," Oostdyk pointed out. "The average stay for someone trying to get on their feet can range from two to six months or a week. We do not have anyone staying here while the camp is in session, however."
     His wife, Sandy, he said, is very involved in the ministry as the head cook and cleaner, along with being his support system.
     All that the ministry does takes money and lots of space and the Oostdyk's have been busy adding on to the original structure to add the rooms needed for all they do.
     He said they do their own building and remodeling with a lot of help from New Jersey.
     "We've had as many as 24 people come (from New Jersey) to help," he said. "A lot of our funding comes from New Jersey from the churches and discipleships I pastored. A lot of people support our mission."
     The Oostdyks have also received local support from the community, receiving as much as $50,000 for the ministry, as well as support from the local government.
     "The town of Oswego has been great and so cooperative," Oostdyk said. "I have to say I am not used to that. We have done this type of work all of our lives and I am used to having to fight. But the town told me they welcomed (what we are doing) and are on board. It is such a blessing."
     Eventually, the ministry hopes to have a training center, where it can offer courses in theology and the Old and the New Testament for the community. He said it is all part of the training for people heading into the ministry, but anyone will be able to attend those classes.
     "We also hope to have weekend retreats," Oostdyk said. "Once we finish what we are working on now, then we can begin building some more houses for a retreat center."
     He revealed that they have no mortgage to worry about and the Lord has been providing what they need when they need it.
     "We just trust the Lord and He keeps providing; and then we step out again," Oostdyk added confidently. "We are simply trying to meet the needs of local churches and trying to help people with their lives."
     Grace and Glory Ministries is in the process of getting a web site up and running, but anyone wanting more information may contact Oostdyk at 216-4021.