The countdown has begun toward the historic raffle drawing in which a house valued at $600,000 will be awarded, all part of an effort to raise funds to build a new worship space at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Oxnard.

A little more than a month remains until the Dec. 12 drawing at which the winner will be announced at the largely Latino parish in the La Colonia district that serves 7,000 families. To date, "we have sold a little over 7,000 tickets [at $100 per ticket] and still have roughly 3,000 tickets to sell if we are to show a positive return on our initial investment," said Vilma P. Contreras, executive manager of the parish Construction Project.

Open houses have been held monthly since August. The remaining chances to view the three-bedroom, two-bathroom house (at 937 Entrada Dr., Oxnard) are Nov. 6 and 20 and Dec. 4, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., with tickets available for purchase at the open house.

Contreras said Our Lady of Guadalupe has received assistance in promoting its effort from the greater community, including neighbor Catholic parishes.

Sacred Heart Church in Ventura has shown "considerable support," she said. "Father Daniel O'Sullivan, the pastor, allowed us to make presentations after Mass and sell tickets, and also put up a poster and maintain tickets at the parish in order to sell them to interested individuals."

Other parishes that have supported Our Lady of Guadalupe through donations or by allowing the parish to make presentations after Mass and sell tickets include Our Lady of Guadalupe in Santa Paula, St. Anthony in Oxnard and Mission San Buenaventura in Ventura.

Other churches around the Los Angeles area have placed the announcement of the house raffle into their Sunday bulletins. Our Lady of Guadalupe has also been invited to make a presentation and sell tickets on Nov. 13 at St. Martha Church in Huntington Park, and Nov. 20 at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Santa Barbara.

"Our greatest success has come from The Tidings," she said. "People read the Aug. 12 article and responded in a way no other source has." A local radio show (103.3 The Vibe) has placed information regarding the raffle on its web-site (http://www.ricoandmambo.com), and an Oxnard furniture store (FAMSA) co-produced a DVD of the house that the store plays.

"This house raffle has been quite an extraordinary experience," said Contreras. "Our church is not the most prosperous, and we would not be doing a house raffle if we could build a church on donations from parishioners. We have worked tirelessly to get the word out regarding our raffle and have done this with an extremely small budget. I thank everyone whole-heartedly for their continued interest."

Tickets can still be purchased by mail by sending name, address, phone number and payment (payable to Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish) to: OLG Parish, 500 N. Juanita Ave., Oxnard, CA 93030, ATTN: House. They can also be bought by phone by calling the parish, (805) 483-0987.

---Mike Nelson