The Future Of Bakken Oil Rush Ministry

Bakken Oil Rush is excited about the continued impact the organization has in the community. Since the beginning, the organization has helped over 12,500 families with clothing items and households goods. The monthly "Gathering Place", Annual Comedy Cafe and Christmas Event/Toy Mall have become mainstay Bakken Oil Rush events. We look forward to serving Watford City for years to come and are incredibly thankful for the support of businesses, churches and individuals in the community.

The success of Bakken Oil Rush started with a Miracle Offering in 2013, a vision laid on the heart of the Dakotas Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. Folks in Bismarck, ND, decided to use this Miracle Offering to fund an outreach mission in the Bakken with a purpose of providing cold weather items to new families in the area. The conference commissioned Jim and Kathie Konsor to bring a "mobile thrift store", in the form of an RV repurposed as a "coat closet", to Watford City. People were spending everything they had just to get to Watford City. Bakken Oil Rush was there to provide much needed items to these desperate newcomers. It was the heart of Jim and Kathie to meet the needs of the people.

In June of 2016, the thrift store moved into a rented facility which soon became it's permanent home. Bakken Oil Rush purchased the building and adjacent large storage facility in January of 2017. In the last two years, major facility improvements have been funded by the annual fundraiser, Comedy Cafe, and generous donors and churches from the community. Bakken Thrift Store is now planning to add more store hours and increase its capacity to accept donations, as well as increasing staff and volunteer hours to meet the growing needs of the community. New families still require a bit of assistance to make ends meet with the elevated cost of living in Watford City. The organization has also served a unique alternative in retail to provide a place where anyone can come shop for quality and gently used treasures without breaking their pocket books. The ultimate goal has always been and will continue to be helping people find a place where they feel cared for and where Watford City feels like home.

Jim and Kathie are thrilled with the success of Bakken Oil Rush Ministry and want to see it continue to grow and flourish. However, being of retirement age, they are also struggling with increased health issues and have a desire to be closer to grandchildren. Therefore, the Konsors have made a difficult decision to retire from Bakken Oil Rush Ministry at the end of June 2019 and move on to the next chapter in their lives.

It has always been a goal to increase community ownership of the mission so that Bakken Oil Rush belongs to the community, not a select few. Watford City is known as a community which gets things done. Jim & Kathie have recognized that "Can Do" attitude and feel confident leaving their "baby" in the good hands of Watford City residents. A local board for Bakken Oil Rush was established in 2016 and has been progressively preparing for the retirement of Jim and Kathie.

Moving forward, the board will be actively seeking people to fill several positions to help in the transition and growth of the mission. Look for more information in the next months concerning the recruitment of these positions. The board is also passionately committed to celebrating the work of Jim and Kathie Konsor. A large retirement celebration and appreciation event is being planned for the entire community in June of 2019.