INTERNATIONAL UPDATE AUGUST 2008

OM International

OM International

By Peter Maiden, International Coordinator

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Dear partners in prayers,

Greetings from the Keswick Convention in the North of England. Over a three-week period around 16,000 Christians gather to hear the word of God proclaimed. There has been excellent ministry from Bible teachers from all around the world and we’ve been very encouraged by the response. As usual, there has been a strong missions emphasis throughout and a good number of people have responded to the public call to consider full-time Christian ministry.

Over the next few weeks some very important OM events take place in Europe, and we would appreciate your prayers. In a few days, the huge Teen Street congress in Germany will take place. Please pray for Steffen Zöge, responsible for logistics, and Josh and Debs Walker, responsible for the programme. Allister Fugill and Peter Magnusson also have considerable responsibility during these days.
Then a smaller but very significant conference takes place called MTO (Mission Teens Only), a very important opportunity for teenagers of OM families around the world to get together for Bible teaching, fellowship and encouragement. Pray for Dan and Suzie Potter who have led this event for a number of years.

Immediately after that, we have our Global Orientation conference when people joining OM from all around the world will gather together in the Netherlands for two weeks. These are three very important events and your prayers for them would be sincerely appreciated.

pioneering initiatives

Italy: A Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) team from the USA linked with OM to offer two sports ministry events this summer. A team of six, led by soccer coach Tracy Duck, ran a highly successful sports outreach in Torre Pellice in June.

Although the area had been deluged with rain for six weeks, the rain stopped on the opening morning, and the rest of the week remained sunny and hot. Field Leader Eliseo Guadagno who coordinated activities said there were a good variety of sports offered. “The numbers that came were unbelievable! And when you start loving peoples’ kids, the parents come, too.”

Dozens of children enjoyed making Good News bracelets and learning what each coloured bead represents. The team saw some repeat the gospel story to friends and parents. At the end of the week the church and team held a barbecue for participants and their families. “The church was thrilled by the response,” notes Eliseo, “And the community saw the church was serving them. Now we need to follow up and show this as an ongoing attitude.”

Austria: After a month of football fever and the European Football championships, team members from outreaches in Innsbruck and Klagenfurt have returned, tired but encouraged. In Innsbruck, 120 members from eight churches and 70 helpers from different missions worked together to make Kickoff 2008 a success. Teams shared their faith through music, drama, dance, testimonies, conversations, literature, etc. They were given permission to have a stage on the fan mile, and daily held programmes for children, youth and fans who passed by.

In Klagenfurt, Christians set up the Scripture Union Bible Bus and a local church’s tea bus in a park near the stadium, and many had good conversations with fans. Thousands of people took home something of the gospel, from a vague awareness of caring Christians to a clear presentation of the Way to salvation. Please pray for the seeds planted during the outreach, and for continued unity of the churches who worked together.

Argentina: SportsLink recently held their annual football competition at a children’s home in Buenos Aires. Eighty people enjoyed the event. One leader shared his testimony how, like them, he had grown up in a childrenís home. OMers saw changes within the children as they shared the message of Christ through the avenue of sports. Praise God for lives changed at this sports outreach. Pray for more OM staff and funding for the team in Buenos Aires.

Australia: The Mosaic Church began in Sydney in 2007 and has been growing ever since. Ministering to the unreached migrant population, the church has enabled relationships and friendships to blossom. About 40–50 people attend services from 10 different nationalities. Pastor Eun Tae Jo would love to see this grow to 20 nationalities by Christmas.

Recently a Chinese university student gave her life to the Lord as Jong Mee Jo shared the Gospel in a Bible study. In May, the church also celebrated two new lives in Christ through baptism. English classes and music lessons for the children are also available, which gives teachers a chance to connect with the parents. Many children are on the waiting list for music classes, but there is not enough room to cater for them all.

Please pray that those who come to Mosaic services would come to know Jesus personally. Pray also that the church can staff the classes so that more children can come.

emerging mission movements

Russia: More and more believers are being sent out from Russia as missionaries. In September, four Russians plan to join Logos Hope, to make a total of six Russian missionaries serving on the ship—all with a two-year commitment. Please pray as they make preparations, in particular for the necessary visas for the OM entry conference in the Netherlands and for travelling to the ship.

Panama: Missions Extreme 2008 runs from July 15-September 15. Participants from Australia, Germany, Switzerland, France and Panama begin with a few days’ learning about different major religions. They then travel for seven hours by bus to the OM base in Volcan, Chiriquí for ten days of spiritual training and preparation. During the two months, the team will also visit churches and share their stories with the congregations, and organize programs with church teams to share the gospel on the streets and door-to-door.

Please pray for safe travel, good relationships, good weather (it is the rainy season and the team will be camping and spending much of their time outside), language challenges for those who don’t speak Spanish, and for a spiritual harvest.

resourcing

Philippines: On July 4th, OM was able to purchase a 479 sq.m. house and lot as a permanent base. Renovation is now underway and moving in is slated before end of August. Pray with us for the financial realities for the renovation. Our deepest appreciation for each of you who have participated in praying and giving.

relief & development

Myanmar: The aftermath of Cyclone Nargis still permeates the country. Staff have travelled to two partnering villages to assess future long-term work.
In one village, sea water has made half the arable land unfit for crops. Only 37 farmers are left to manage the land. We hope to equip these villages with tractors, tools and seed to sow for them to live on next year, making them less dependent on outside aid. We donated basic foodstuffs among the families, as well as tarpaulins for roof repairs.

Clean water is a major need and project and to this end we provided well digging equipment and resources to build a well and water tank, a pump, generator and diesel. The villagers will then be able to supply limited amounts of water to other villages in the area until we are able to assist them to build their own wells. Please continue to pray for help in easing our burden.

India: A young student burned both hands when he fell into boiling food cooking over the open fire outside his small grass and wooden hut. His parents took him to an OM Community Health Worker (CHW) recently hired for the local Dalit Education Centre school who treated his burns to prevent infection. She instructed the parents in wound/burn care, and gave tips on preventing future such accidents. The boy’s hands are on the way to making a full recovery. His parents are thankful and told of others with the same injury that had lost fingers or limbs because of a lack of healthcare. Pray for God to raise more people to help with the many health care needs in India.

Middle East: An Operation Mercy team, working in partnership with OM, recently received a container of wheelchairs and other orthopaedic equipment from Wheels for the World. The team will travel around the country, assessing individuals to determine their eligibility. These assessment meetings also provide an opportunity to have contact with local people and to begin to build relationships. They have 75 listed names for wheelchairs so far, and two more clinics to go (approximately another 20 or 30 names potentially).

An expert team from Wheels for the World will arrive in the beginning of August. Until then, the team is busily planning the itinerary and coordination. Each component of the planning (transport, accommodation, etc) takes a long time. Please pray for smooth travel and logistical planning, and good relationships with local people.

europe

Bosnia-Herzegovina: At a Year of Prayer conference in Sarajevo, over 200 people from all over gathered on June 20–22 to worship, pray and intercede for their country. There were lots of local Christians as well as many visiting groups from other countries.

Belgium: OM hosted its second Hope Brussels outreach 27 June–11 July. Although home to the European Union headquarters and NATO, with a proud history and affluent culture, many of Brussel’s people suffer the effects of discarding personal faith. Close collaboration with Mission to the World (MTW), who fielded 24 of the 41 participants, allowed the group to divide into three teams alongside Arabic, Spanish and Flemish churches.

Mexican participants brought materials for training Spanish Sunday school teachers. The pastor of the tiny Flemish church was greatly encouraged to have a large team stuffing several thousand letter boxes with French and Flemish Christian literature, working in the coffee bar and holding open airs in the park. Those working with the Arabic church were astonished to find parts of the city that looked more like the Middle East than Europe, with tens of thousands of Moroccan, Turkish and Algerian immigrants.

20-year-old Joseph from Egypt enthused, ”It’s much easier to share here than in my country. People accepted literature willingly. In forty minutes we handed out 500 Arabic CDs, DVDs and Gospels.”

Self-employed musician Nate was saved five years ago out of a life of drugs, depression and darkness. He joined Hope Brussels to stretch himself and his faith: “My personal highlight was when two boys in the park came and asked me how to become a Christian.”

Wales: Reach the City (Cardiff) involved 89 participants from 16 different countries; 32 people, including six Chinese (2 in catering and 4 university students), made first-time commitments to Christ and many lives were touched. Some testimonies:

• “God worked in significant ways in the lives of our team. We leave Cardiff with very practical ideas to use in evangelism back home.” (Dave)
• “We were told in training to ‘use our evangelism skills or lose them’. My first attempt to use a rope illustration with three teenagers failed dramatically. I tried again; it worked, and the teenagers were amazed. I learned not to be afraid of making mistakes; practice is the key to success.” (Barry)
• “I’m a member of a local church in Cardiff and had never done street evangelism before. I was quite nervous. Almost immediately I got into a conversation with a Muslim man from Iraq. I shared my testimony with him. He said, ‘I have been waiting more than 10 years for someone to tell me about Christ.’ Wow! I will be following him up over the next few weeks.” (Neil)
• “I realized that it is not difficult to talk to people about Christ. However, I have missed a lot of chances because I was not looking for them. In the future I am determined to look for more openings to share my faith with people. Thank you for helping me to understand this principle.” (Terry)
• “For me the most exciting thing was praying publicly for people on the streets. I am now convinced of the incredible power when we take a risk and pray for people in their time of need.” (Bill)
• “After we had finished an open air presentation, we visited the Welsh National Assembly. We had to empty our pockets and put everything through x-ray scanners. I forgot that I had three ropes in my pocket that I use to illustrate the Gospel. The security guards asked me what the ropes were for and I was able to share the Gospel with them right then and there!” (Yorke)

A much fuller report with testimonies is available from OM Lifehope: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Switzerland: The Chrischtehüsli Team has shrunk considerably recently, and has changed its strategy accordingly: instead of always being open for lunch, the Chrischtehüsli is now only open to guests at the express invitation of the workers, who now go out in pairs onto the street for the whole day, bringing them closer to the drug addicts and other marginalized people they seek to impact. As a result, more addicts are interested in therapy, and a few have already gone to a detox station.

EURO 08 OUTREACH: Three weeks ago, 30 participants from eight countries met fans in Zürich during the football championship. From these meetings came many good conversations, and hundreds of copies of the Gospel of Luke were given out. Two testimonies:

“I was frustrated today because there were no serious conversations. In a final attempt, I gave a flyer from the Internet website Gott kennen (Knowing God) to somebody walking past. He called me back, and proved to be very interested in Jesus and faith. He was so excited to learn about these things, telling his girlfriend to wait, because he really wanted to hear everything.”

“I am not at all interested in football, and am rather shy. So I asked God to arrange a meeting with somebody. Everybody was watching football on television, so I sat at the back of the restaurant doing a Sudoku puzzle. A man came and sat beside me, and we started talking. We spoke for an hour and I challenged him to read and study the bible.”

Remarkably, used stamps can still be sold to raise money for OM. This has been done for more than 20 years and has resulted in more than £20,000 being raised. The only stamps we cannot sell are small first- and second-class UK stamps. Non-UK stamps are very welcome. The stamps need to be cut with a border of approximately 5mm of paper around the stamp and be on a single paper. Please save your stamps and send them (when you have a good number) to OM, The Quinta, Weston Rhyn, Oswestry SY10 7LT, United Kingdom. Thanks for your help in this area.

Once again, on behalf of all our people and those they will impact in the coming weeks, I thank you for your prayers and support.

Your brother in Christ,

Peter Maiden

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Think again
Knowing our history matters

A humorous highlight of many OM conferences over the years has been a slideshow by Peter Conlan, sometimes accompanied by readings from ‘early days’ leadership memos and policy manuals. We laugh now at some of those early policies. In the early 1960s tea, for example, was reported to be “a healthy drink” but coffee a waste of money and to be shunned. (Of course ‘multiple use’ tea bags were even more the mark of a true disciple!)

Fifty years since OM began, forty years since the Logos was purchased, twenty years since the first Love Europe…the world has changed, and so has OM. But we would not be what we are today without that rich history, both the spiritual highpoints as well as the humorous (if not almost embarrassing) quirks of the past.

No golden age

When we look back at the past, especially those of us who have been around a while, we have a danger of acting as if it was a golden age. God did some amazing things, but it was also tough—and there usually was not much gold! Being part of those past experiences is a privilege, but not a reason for pride.

It would take an encyclopedia to tell the incredibly rich story of OM. Most of us know at least something about the big events, the ships, and our senior leaders. But the core of the OM story is not the headline news of past days but the virtually unknown, ordinary people, working together in the grace of God, seeing lives and communities transformed. Ian Randall, in his just-released Spiritual Revolution: The Story of OM (Authentic 2008)* does a masterful job of narrating the big picture while drawing out fine details that show the grace-enabled, human side of our movement.

Forgetting and belittling the past

We should never idolize the past, nor should we forget it. Do you remember looking forward to something, some major event? For a year, all over Switzerland we saw countdown clocks marking days left until the start of the Euro2008 Football Championships. Now, barely four weeks after the final whistle, the tournament is a rapidly-fading memory. Like Euro2008, the project you are dreaming about, the conference we are planning may, before long, be only a memory unless there is lasting fruit: a book, a building, a friendship, a changed life.

There is also a danger of belittling the past. If we look down as we look back, we may fall into the trap described by George Santayana that “Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” In missions history in general, there is a danger of revisionist history, demeaning earlier missionaries without understanding their setting. In early-day OM there was a reason why tea was drunk, and not coffee—misguided by current standards, but serious at the time.

Scripture and history

In forming Israel into a nation, God called them to be a people of history. Among other things, they were to:

• Remember their past, and realize what they would have been but for God’s grace. Deuteronomy 5:15, 6:12
• Remember what God had done to deliver them. Deuteronomy 7:18, 19
• Remember how God had provided for them. Deuteronomy 8:1-13

Psalm 78, though, records the tragic consequences of their forgetfulness. Israel’s failure to remember contributed to their continuing sin (17), putting God to the test (18), complaint and rebellious lack of gratitude (19), craving things God did not intend to give them (29) and lives ended in futility, under the wrath of God (33).

People who know their roots

Remembering the past may help us through those times when we are discouraged and want to give up. Knowing our roots, the story of those who went before us, and the reasons for some of their radical acts and attitudes may help us more fully accomplish our God-given potential today. By comparison, ignoring those who went before us may lead to our not building the right structure or with the right materials (1 Corinthians 3:10).

A century ago, American President Woodrow Wilson wrote that “A nation which does not know what it was yesterday, does not know what it is today, nor what it is trying to do.” Could his observation apply to a movement like OM as well?

Dr. David Greenlee is OM’s International Research Associate. Comments are welcome care of This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

* Soon available through OM offices. Also available at:
• www.authenticmedia.co.uk/AuthenticSite/product/9781850787662.htm
• www.stl-distribution.com/details/?id=9781850787662

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OM International Update is a publication of OM News & Information (OMNI) through which the International Co-ordinator highlights timely developments, important issues and concerns for prayer and response worldwide. It is issued monthly in digital form. Feedback, questions and ideas are welcome. © 2008

OM International • Peter Maiden, International Co-ordinator
PO Box 27, Carlisle, Cumbria, CA1 1HG, United Kingdom
Tel. (+44) 1228-615100
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