About us

We believe that we are part of creation. We are human animals rediscovering our primal connection to God and the earth. This is a homecoming to the wild nature God originally bestowed on us. Embracing our identity as creatures allows us to become one with the Creator.

God’s design for man and woman is to form a family and multiply. The family is to become the primary unit or community where a child grows up. The parents are the guiding light to righteousness to the family, particularly the children. Understanding God’s design for the family helps parents adopt God’s purpose for their family and understand their key role in shaping godly children.

The family serves a crucial part in God’s kingdom on earth. The family is the means by which God communicates, preserves and further expands His holy influence. The home is the place in which His truths are taught and modeled.

We embrace the spirituality of imperfection. We believe that the intensity of sin is not diminished but God has enough space in Him to love us, His imperfect children. He makes allowances for us and embraces us despite our missing the mark. The light overcomes the darkness just as God’s love overcomes the sin.

Marriage is a very high calling. When a man and a woman are married, God joins them together and they become one flesh. Therefore, they should not separate or
divorce. However, divorce is considered if there is unfaithfulness in the marriage.

The Pharisees come to Jesus and ask “Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?”. Jesus’ answer goes back to the creation account and God’s original intention for marriage in Genesis 1 and 2. Jesus quotes Genesis 1:27 (the Creator “made them male and female”) and 2:24 (“therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh”). Next, He underlines the fact that when a man and woman are married they “are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate” (Matthew 19:6).

But what about Moses? Therefore, Jesus’ basic answer is that in marriage a man and woman are united/joined together by God – they become one flesh – therefore, they should not be separated (i.e. the shouldn’t get divorced). However, the Pharisees then ask another question: “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?” (Matthew 19:7). The Pharisees are referring to Deuteronomy 24:1, where Moses allows a man to give a certificate of divorce to his wife. Why then does Moses (who is speaking God’s words, not his own) allow divorce when God in Genesis 1 and 2 seems to forbid it?

Jesus’ answer is that it is “because of your hardness of heart” (Matthew 19:8), that Moses (speaking God’s words) permitted divorce. It is important to remember at this point that between Genesis 1 and 2 and Deuteronomy 24, an enormous tragedy took place: Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s command. As a result, God has judged them and they are no longer permitted to live in the Garden of Eden. People’s hearts are now hardened. Therefore, although a man and woman still become “one flesh” when they are married, God now permits divorce in certain situations. (Another way of looking at this is that in Genesis 1 and 2 divorce would have never been an issue, since a husband and wife would never have sinned against each other in any way, but that after Genesis 3 sin and divorce do become issues.)”

Our hardened hearts resulted in dysfunctional families and a dysfunctional world.

As we dedicate our lives to continuously and intentionally move towards the light we slowly become the light for others. Our calling and design is to be the light in the darkness. The darkness can be overwhelming and so we must persevere to sustain the light

Mathew 5:16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. John 1:5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

John 8:12 When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Restoration is at the heart of God. On the third day denotes a process of separation to restoration, from death to resurrection. God continuously pursues us until we are back in communion with Him because He loves us. Jesus’ death and  resurrection exemplified God’s desire to restore us. The invitation for us is to die to ourselves and to allow the Holy Spirit to lead us back to the heart of God where, in communion with God, we receive the resurrection
power to become fully alive.

In His death and resurrection Jesus encouraged us, through His appearance to Mary Magdalene who later gathered the apostles, to have peace in the midst of the terrible experience of His death. We are invited to sit and be at peace in this great tension. This is the deeper meaning and mystery of Jesus’ death and resurrection.

Mary Magdalene was given the opportunity to be the first to see the Risen Christ. Despite not fully understanding what was happening, she exercised her faith. She was prepared to accept the death of the human body of Jesus Christ only to witness the presence of the soul and spirit of God. Like Mary Magdalene, we are invited to sit in the tensions of life.

Here is an excerpt from the Holy See press Office, Mary Magdalene, apostle of the apostles, 10.06.2016:

The archbishop Arthur Roche took the opportunity to highlight two ideas inherent in the biblical and liturgical texts of the new feast, which may contribute to a better understanding of the current importance of a saint such as Mary Magdalene.

“On the one hand, she has the honour of being the ‘prima testis’ to the resurrection of the Lord, the first to see the empty tomb and the first to hear the truth of His resurrection. Christ has a special consideration and mercy for this woman, who shows her love for Him, looking for Him in the garden with anguish and suffering, with ‘lacrimas humilitatis’, as St. Anselm says in the aforementioned prayer. In this sense, I would like to show the difference between the two women present in the garden of Paradise, and in the garden of the Resurrection. The first disseminates death where there was life, and the second proclaims Life from a tomb, the place of death. Likewise, it is in the garden of resurrection that the Lord says to Mary Magdalene, ‘Noli me tangere’. It is an invitation not only to Mary, but also to all the Church, to enter into an experience of faith that overcomes any materialistic appropriation or human understanding of the divine mystery. It has ecclesial importance. It is a good lesson for every disciple of Jesus: do not seek human securities and worldly honours, but faith in the Living and Risen Christ.”

“Precisely since she was an eyewitness to the Risen Christ, she was also the first to testify before the apostles. She fulfills the mandate the Risen Christ gives her: ‘go to my brothers and say to them, Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”— and that he had said these things to her. In this way she becomes, as is already known, an evangelist, or rather a messenger who announces the good news of the resurrection of the Lord; or, as Rabano Mauro and St. Thomas Aquinas said, ‘apostolorum apostola’, as she announces to the apostles what they in turn will announce to all the world. The Angelic Doctor is right to apply this term to Mary Magdalene: she is the witness to the Risen Christ and announces the message of the resurrection of the Lord, like the other apostles.

The primary example given to us by Mary Magdalene comes from the understanding that life and death are two opposing poles that cannot be without the other. We as humans need to understand and be at peace in the tension of that reality.

In life:
Where there is pain there is joy.
There is death and there is life.
There is darkness and there is light.
Where there is presence there is absence.
Where there is goodness there is evil.
Where there is love there is hate.
Where there is success there is failure.

We believe these are some of our realities. We can be spacious, flexible, and fluid as we go through life.

God is love so He puts love into us and desires for us to love others as we love ourselves. We are designed to be companions to others.

Galatians 6: 1-5 Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted.

Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves.

Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, for each one should carry their own load.

Companions do not judge each other. They do not think their opinion is the only correct one. They give space for everyone to be unique and express that uniqueness as God intended.

We are commissioned to teach people to anchor themselves on The Holy Trinity so they may become persons for others.

We inspire people to develop and cultivate the ground of their being, which is rooted in Christ. We, the ministers of OTTD, have received the robe from the Lord and the ministry becomes the vehicle so all may receive it. The robe brings light, truth, and love to others and the ultimate source is the Holy Trinity.