OM Preparing for Major Student Events

Some members of OM’s USA staff are gearing up for a very busy season. Not Christmas or New Year’s, but the season of the Urbana missions conference and the Passion gathering. Each is a huge event happening during the Christmas and New Year’s holiday season.
 
Urbana, which usually draws approximately 20,000 college students, takes place in St. Louis, December 27-31. Urbana brings together the largest gathering of mission agencies in North America, and OM USA and OM Canada will together have a creative, multimedia presence in the huge exhibition hall. A team of staff, some not far from college age themselves and most with overseas missions experience, will be there to interact with students, answer questions, pray with them, and help them explore their role in missions.
 
Passion is a worship gathering for young people ages 18 through 25 and also draws approximately 20,000 participants. Passion 2010 will be held in Atlanta, January 2-5. The emphasis is on worship, teaching, and being challenged to live for God’s renown in all areas of life. Passion presents opportunities for participants to help make a difference in causes related to poverty, unreached people, the underground church, injustice, and more. OM USA will have a team of people at the event interacting with participants and representing a particular cause which Passion 2010 has chosen: OM’s work among the outcast Dalit people in India. Passion has the goal of raising enough funds during the event to build an entire Dalit school.
 
These events require a great deal of advance preparation and will make for a very busy holiday season for those representing OM! Pray that God will use the team to speak to just the right people at each event, speaking through the team to give guidance and using them in ways they may not even know about.