INTERNATIONAL UPDATE SEPTEMBER 2008

OM International

OM International Update, September 2008
By Peter Maiden, International Coordinator

Dear partners in prayer,

I have just returned from welcoming 256 newcomers to our movement at our annual event in the Netherlands. One or two were unable to get visas in time to attend the conference, but should join in the next weeks. A smaller conference in connection with the MV Doulos visit to Australia is also being held. We are very encouraged by these people joining us. Please pray for the remaining days of the conference, which ends on 30th August, and then for safe travel to the various fields and integration into the existing teams.

Gordon Magney is gravely ill as I write, and I would appreciate your prayers for him and for his wife, Grace. They are an amazing couple who have given their lives for one of the least reached peoples in this world. Thank God for the example and the challenge that Gordon has been to us all.

After a year of transitional leadership, at the end of September Trevor Allan together with his wife Manoli will assume the field leadership of OM Spain. From their base in Galicia (in the northwest) they will give oversight to the team of about a dozen long-term workers while preparing to receive Global Action trainees for one or two years. A special hand-over service of prayer and thanksgiving is being planned. Please pray for the Allans, for interim Field Leader David Greenlee, the Board, and other OM Spain workers in this transition and the start of a new phase of OM’s ministry in Spain. Please pray also for Pedro and Antonia Arbalat, leaders in Spain for many years, who have now left OM and are pursuing other ministries.

We would appreciate your prayers for the security situation in Afghanistan which seems to be deteriorating rapidly. Pray for safety and for wisdom for those in leadership who have to make vital decisions.

Ships

Logos Hope: Kitchen equipment has recently been installed throughout the ship, and our plumbers and electricians continue to connect it to the water and electrical systems. Carpenters and plumbers are fitting kitchenettes into family and couples’ cabins, making it a lot easier to enjoy ‘home’ cooking to suit individual cultural tastes!

The catering area of the Hope Theatre is being worked on, designed to provide refreshments at the many conferences which will eventually be held. With a capacity of around 430 people, it will be an ideal venue for large events. Meanwhile, accommodation sections on the lower decks are almost completed.
Since the ship’s arrival in Køge, Denmark, on 22nd June, there has been no public ministry, releasing crew and staff normally working in offices, public ministry roles, galley and accommodation, to help project teams in painting, laying carpet, etc. Project teams continue to work hard on this final push to achieve the Passenger Ship Safety Certificate (PSSC).

In Landskrona, the reconditioned Bergen diesel generator was installed in the Engine Room. After building a new exhaust pipe to accommodate the generator’s larger size, teams are currently replacing the silencers which muffle this pipe. The greatest challenge of the installation is the adaptation of the electrical switchboard. The plans for this are currently with Lloyd’s Register awaiting approval.

During July, shelving for the Book Fair arrived from the UK, and the space has begun to take shape. One area has already been completed and just this week books were stacked on the shelves. This weekend will be the first of several over the next weeks that the ship will officially open to the public, welcoming on board tour groups and individuals. Visit www.logoshope.org to follow construction in progress.

* Praise God for the amount of work that has been done in the last month, and the service of many on board to make this possible.
* Pray for the ongoing generator installation. Pray for funds to pay for spare parts, and wisdom for the engineers and electricians working on this challenging task.
* Pray for more carpenters to help with the book fair shelving installation.
* Pray also that God would meet the ship’s current need for certified welders, engineers, electricians and plumbers.
* Pray that those who will eventually attend a conference in the Hope Theatre would be brought into a deeper relationship with God.

World faiths

Love Middle East, a short-term training and outreach program for Arabs to reach other Arabs, involved 55 people for a three-day teaching and training conference after which 42 participants left for a two-week outreach to different Arab countries. Please pray for the participants to have life-changing experiences and see God at work! Pray that peoples’ hearts and ears will be open to listen to the Word of God and His messengers. Pray for God to protect His people as they witness and share. Pray that they will come back and share with others about their experiences, leading more Arab believers to be mobilized to reach out to the Majority.

Turkey: Ergin lives in Ankara with his parents, wife and daughter. He works as a lorry driver and drives throughout Turkey. A few days ago he was staying in a small hotel in the centre of Sivas. In a rubbish bin next to the hotel, he found a New Testament and another book from the Bible Correspondence Course (BCC). After reading the New Testament, Ergin felt Jesus is true and he worshipped God. A BCC staff member phoned Ergin and gave information about a church in Ankara where he can attend. Ergin said he had received Christ as his personal saviour and prayed the prayer of repentance, his voice almost crying as he prayed!
Praise the Lord for how He works in peoples’ lives. Someone asked for a New Testament and threw it away, but somebody else who was hungry for God found it…and the Saviour.

Pioneering initiatives

Canada: Toronto Challenge, themed Making friends...introducing our best Friend, started on July 19 with a group of 44 participants from Germany, UK, Finland, USA, and Canada, 19 of whom are from the host church, Morningstar Christian Fellowship. During the first two days the team learned how to share their faith and reach out to people. The outreach was held in the greater Toronto area of five million people. The group visited a mosque and Buddhist temple and in the evenings held special prayer evangelism outreach, going door-to-door to ask people how they can pray for them. The group also spent time ministering to immigrants, the homeless and people on the street. Pray that through these visits relationships were forged, and for follow-up visits with those worshipping at the Muslim and Buddhist sites.

Emerging mission movements

South Africa: Pranesh and Heather Anandlal with their three children have arrived in Pretoria. Pray they would quickly find a house and settle. Pranesh and Peter Tarantal will work together from September towards complete handover of field leadership by the end of the year.
Durban Challenge was a successful two-week outreach with 300 participants teamed with local churches to bring the gospel to the area. One team showed the children’s version of the Jesus film in Zulu against the wall of an old container in a squatter camp. They started with 10 viewers but by the end had gathered a crowd of 150, all listening intently. Afterwards the team prayed with 42 who wanted to make commitments for Christ to be Lord of their lives.

Nepal: Her mother was a Commercial Sex Worker (CSW) who died of AIDS. While Raita’s* mother was still alive, the family moved to a large town so her mother could find more work. Raita cared for the brothel keeper’s children and worked as a maid. Though still a child, Raita fell in love with a 25-year-old man. He acted as though they were married, even though she had not yet reached puberty. When she was 13, Raita ran away from him back to her mother, and again worked as a maid for the brothel keeper’s children. The brothel keeper tried to persuade Raita to marry her son to pay off the mother’s loan. But instead, Raita went into CSW work.
Finally, the police rescued her and sent her to a rehabilitation home. Soon she ended up in another brothel where she developed tuberculosis. A blood test revealed that Raita was also infected with HIV, like her mother. A social worker rescued her and took her to a care centre for treatment. Raita, now 19, is attending a local fellowship and her life has changed significantly. Please pray for Raita, as she still has a long road to recovery. Pray for the thousands of other girls who are forced into sexual slavery.

Next generation

TeenStreet Germany: 3,000 teenagers aged 13-17 from 22 countries flooded Oldenburg for an afternoon of evangelism outreach, sharing the love of Christ with people of the city. After a week of learning about what it means to live by faith, not by sight (the theme of the week was BlindSight) teens took part in activities to share the Gospel. Some groups picked up garbage in the parks; others wrote Bible verses on the streets. One group sat in the city centre wearing signs that said, “I believe what my neighbour to my right believes.” Each had the same sign except the last person in line, who didn’t wear one. The group wanted to intrigue people into asking questions.

One group of Finnish girls went from house to house, giving flowers to people. At one house a man answered the door and was overjoyed to find a group from Finland standing on his doorstep. He told them he loved Finland, had been there 25 times and spoke Finnish. He invited them in to chat with him and his wife, and the group prayed for the couple. Both the couple and the group were moved by the experience.
Please pray for the teenagers as they go back to their homes and schools as lights to their communities. Please pray also for preparation for TeenStreet 2009.

South Africa: TeenStreet Metamorphosis. Pray that God would be preparing teens for the next TeenStreet event happening at the Altelekker Campsite, Pretoria on 8-13 December. The team’s vision is to see the lives of young people transformed stage by stage into the likeness of Christ.

Europe

Belgium: The century-old former paper mill crucial to OM’s expansion in Europe is slowly undergoing a dramatic transformation. After it ceased functioning as OM’s Central Accounting Office in the ‘90s, some of the building was converted into conference facilities. Located only minutes from Belgium’s international airport, ZavCentre has provided a welcome central venue for OM’s smaller training events and meetings. As the need for more space became apparent, more rooms were converted for guests. At the same time, OM Belgium’s operations continued to grow to the point where ZavCentre is almost unable to host them. A large part of the garage has therefore been rebuilt to provide ten new offices and two small meeting rooms.
ZavCentre Manager Al Meyer, who joined the Zaventem team as a young mechanic back in ‘79, says the plan is to eventually have twenty bedrooms, half of them en suite, which can expand to accommodate from two to four people each if necessary. The building already offers a 140-seat conference room (currently being used on Sundays by a local church), a half-dozen smaller meeting rooms and dining room.
OM’s 50th anniversary is a good time to remember Zaventem’s key role in putting the mission on the map. Pray for willing hands and resources to steer plans forward. Ask God to direct the whole spectrum of OM’s ministries that are working for change within the spiritually hurting nation of Belgium.

Slovakia: Peter*, 28, came to OM’s Bus4Life four-day ministry in Dunajska Streda recently. When Valentine, pastor of the host church, first saw Peter in the bus, he sensed that he was honestly seeking God. Valentine helped him find a devotional book, and then asked if he could pray for Peter and his very serious health problem. Peter returned the following day and had a longer conversation with Valentine, sharing that he often ‘hears voices in his mind’ telling him how bad he is. Valentine explained to him that this can either be from the Enemy, or from the convicting work of the Holy Spirit. Peter felt an assurance that it was from the Holy Spirit, and was very open to hear the Gospel and agreed to receive more prayer, even praying together with Valentine and asking Jesus to forgive his sins, and to be his Lord and Saviour! He came back again in less than an hour, this time with a smile on his face that the Bus4Life team had not seen before. Peter brought one of his cousins so that she could hear the Gospel, too!
Please pray that Peter will keep growing in his faith. Pray also for his health, his desire to be married, and for his cousin, who also heard the Gospel.

Relief & development

Dr. Patrick Railey, leads OM Medical Ministries based in the USA. Laura Dean, a Physician Assistant working in a family practice, is the new Short-term Ministry Coordinator who will plan, train and staff future medical mission trips. She will also represent OM Medical at conferences around the country, and recruit other medical personnel. Vanessa Kuhr will join in 2009 as Disaster Response Coordinator, assembling a team from all over the USA to respond to international crises.
This June a medical outreach took place among indigenous tribes of Costa Rica. Says Dr. Pat, “It was a ground breaking trip! Our team of 17 had to ride in boats made from logs just to get there. They only saw 500 patients, but established relationships and made inroads so evangelists there can have greater influence. We will return in April.” This September and October trips are planned to India and Peru; in 2009 teams should be heading to Guatemala, India, Panama and El Salvador.
Please pray that God will use this ministry to bring both physical and spiritual healing to needy people. Medical and non-medical volunteers are welcome to participate! Contact This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it for more information.

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

*Names changed

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Think again
Moving from tent-making to tent-living

It had been a good visit: three days and two nights with a family we had known for some time. I had been in the men’s side of the tent, drinking endless cups of sweet black tea with Abu Ra’ad, talking about the rains (and the lack of them), the price of sheep and camels in the markets, and tribal news. People would stop by: relatives, traders, neighbours (i.e. those in tents just a couple of kilometers away), at whose arrival coffee would be served, followed by more tea, and then Abu Ra’ad insisting they honour him by staying for a meal. My wife had been with our host’s wife, Um Ra’ad, in the other half of the tent: preparing endless glasses of tea for the men, cooking for us and whoever else arrived, taking care of the eight children in the tent, milking the sheep, and talking about their concerns: the children, the future, and that Abu Ra’ad was thinking of taking a second wife. In amongst it all, we tried to draw our conversations towards Christ—often through stories, sometimes through proverbs, and sometimes by direct explanation.

As we said goodbye, our friends told us where they might be in the coming months (all dependent upon the rains and the will of God of course), and as we drove away across the desert I considered again what it would take for the gospel to really take root amongst the Bedouin.

Mission among nomadic Bedouin does not have a great history of success; very little progress has been made. Of course, to us it seems crazy that some former generations of missionaries believed that church buildings, clerical dress and a translated hymnal were essential to the task. We’ve moved beyond that, and these days these issues are treated in ‘Missions 101’. It is all God’s work of course, but we do have a part to play, and we need to play that part as best as we can.

When in the desert…
Christianity is typically seen by nomads as a sedentary thing—in the same category as fixed buildings, factory jobs, immorality, and a lack of hospitality—and thus is automatically seen as not for them. We may have moved beyond church buildings and translated hymnals, but we still think and act sedentarily and, instead of trying to adjust our familiar (sedentary) methods and models, we perhaps need to start thinking, and acting, nomadically.

I’m sure those former generations of missionaries could teach us some ‘no-brainer’ mission truths in all this about the part we play: that, if we are ministering amongst a people who are living a harsh and unpredictable life, maybe we will have to live a harsh and unpredictable life. If we are ministering amongst a people on the move, perhaps we will have to be on the move also. And if we think we can effectively minister whilst limiting ourselves to no longer than a few days without mobile phone coverage and internet access, or if we won’t go unless we can be assured of full insurance coverage and our own cultural comforts, or if we cannot possibly go unless we are part of a team and remain contactable, then maybe we are missing the point entirely. If we are unwilling or unable to enter their world, and live amongst them at the right time when they can listen to the story we have to tell, can we really expect to see a church emerge amongst nomadic Bedouin? It is easy to criticise previous generations but, perhaps for us, this is ‘Missions 101’.

The author serves with OM in the Middle East and North Africa. Comments are welcome care of This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

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

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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
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