INTERNATIONAL UPDATE SEPTEMBER 2007OM InternationalDownload as PDF (~200KB)OM International Update, September 2007 Dear prayer partners, I am writing this on board MV Doulos in South Korea. It always amazes me when I visit the ships to see the multi-faceted ministry which takes place from these vessels. This port in South Korea is relatively quiet, yet the ministry is still wide-ranging and seems to be extremely effective. It's wonderful to have a South Korean Director; the Rev Dr Daniel Chae and his wife, Helen, are very respected Christian leaders in this country. Last night we had a dinner to celebrate the 93rd birthday of the vessel. Leading pastors from Seoul and the senior Deputy Prime Minister were on board and the support for the ministry of the ships from these brothers and sisters was quite overwhelming. Please pray that the churches in South Korea will continue their support both in terms of personnel and finance for this ministry. I am now on my way to the newcomers' conference in De Bron, Holland with 230 new OM workers. Pray for safety in travel and for integration for these newcomers into teams, some of which have been operating for a long time. Thank the Lord of the Harvest for once again faithfully answering prayer and sending out labourers. People join OM the whole year round now in various ways, and we need to continue to see an increase in the number of newcomers into our fellowship. At our last International Executive Committee meeting, we began to pray and work towards a target of increasing our numbers by 10% annually. Would you join us in this very important prayer request? Relief & development Bangladesh: Torrential monsoon rain, compounded with water flowing from India and Nepal, resulted in over one-third of Bangladesh going under water on 2nd August. More than five million people have been displaced, over 150 people killed, and 600,000 hectares of crops destroyed. Many people have limited or no food supplies, few possessions and have abandoned their homes. Standing water and high temperatures increase the danger of water- and mosquito-borne disease. The Bangladesh Flood Relief Appeal has raised $50,000 to cover the first stage of flood relief. OM leadership has drawn up plans to help over 4000 families in the worst-affected spots. Local teams have visited people to assess needs. Those most needing help will receive 10 kg of rice, 1 kg of lentils and 5 packets of oral rehydration. Any further financial gifts will be used in the next two stages, where seed for crops is given to farmers; and rehabilitation for lost or damaged homes. Indonesia: Less than four years after the ninth deadliest disaster in modern history, much of the world has forgotten the Asian Tsunami. Banda Aceh has slowly returned to normal, at least on the surface. Shops have reopened, roads are upgraded and it's business as usual. However, the Acehnese continue to suffer from trauma, fear and broken lives. Almost everyone lost family. In response, Mercy Teams International (MTI) has begun another trauma training course and opened a medical clinic in a village. Two doctors from the USA have been joined by two Indonesian colleagues. After the opening, 100 patients eagerly lined up for help. Public toilets have been added as part of our health and sanitary program. It is a unique opportunity to be welcomed to work in this rebel stronghold, formerly only occupied by Acehnese (Gam) separatists. Pray for continued strength for our workers. World faiths Turkey: One of our leaders compiled the first three editions of the Turkish hymnal used by almost every church, and is now adding the notes of new songs in an upcoming sixth edition. The new hymnbook contains 640 songs, about half of which were written in Turkey. TACO, a creative arts ministry started by OMers coordinated the first-ever worship training camp August 20-25. Musicians, music leaders and creative artists from all over Turkey gathered to receive new training and equipping from local and foreign worship leaders. The camp stressed the importance of incorporating thankfulness in worship. "You seldom hear believers say they're grateful for being saved," notes Pam. "But without a sense of gratitude for what Jesus did, there is no true worship." Australia: At Surfers Paradise Queensland, Tillmann Klein and his MAP colleagues are on outreach to thousands of Arab tourists visiting the Gold Coast (20,000 last year). Forty others join them from Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and PNG, as well as people in Australia with Sudanese, Algerian, Jordanian, South Korean and Argentinian backgrounds. They have 1000 DVDs of the Jesus Film and hundreds of New Testaments to distribute. Pray for open hearts and people prepared by God. Nepal: Our leader writes, "I have always enjoyed OM's desire to push on to the edge. Three weeks ago I stood in amazement as our young men and women did an open air in one of the most populated temple areas in Kathmandu. The team performed three dramas that boldly told of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, one song that depicted the death and resurrection of the Saviour, and the story of the Good Samaritan. I was amazed at the number of people that stayed until the end." Two weeks ago our teams held a two-day sports outreach among 500 kids in a local school. Besides teaching students and teachers about physical fitness, each student and teacher saw and heard the Gospel. In the midst of the chaos and confusion in Nepal, the Lord is opening the doors wide to proclaim the name of His Son Jesus Christ. Times are changing in Nepal. Central Asia: Forty-three believers from Kyrgyz-stan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan joined the Global Challenge program for two weeks, traveling in six different teams to their own countries and northwest China. 730 people heard the gospel and 96 people made decisions to follow Jesus. Hundreds of books and CDs were given out. As Central Asians raising no suspicion, the teams ministered in places and ways that foreigners could not. The Osh team's driver was a Uighur whom, by the time they reached Bishkek, was ready to accept Jesus. The team shared the gospel with 140 people, of which 11 made decisions to follow Jesus. The Fargona team had difficulty crossing into Uzbekistan. Despite this they shared the gospel with 180 people of whom five made decisions to follow Christ. They also encouraged Uzbek believers who face official pressure. People in Dorman asked the team "Who are you people?" The team answered, "We are servants of God". News about them spread very fast to all others there, nearly a hundred people. The Tashkent team also had problems crossing the Uzbek border and started their ministry by going to the parks and bazaars. The team shared the gospel with a mullah who was at first angry but, as the talk progressed, noticed that the team remained calm and peaceful. He asked the team whether there is a Christian madrasa (seminary). The team gave him some contacts in Almaty. The team later traveled to Karakalpakstan, a 20-hour taxi drive from Tashkent, crossing ten checkpoints en route. The perseverance of local believers under time of persecution was impressive. At the tuberculosis hospital they provided food to patients and shared with 39 people; 18 prayed to receive Jesus. Ships Logos Hope: We were planning to sail Logos Hope to Bremerhaven, Germany for its final outfit. Due to restrictive security requirements imposed by the Port Authority, the search was resumed for an alternative in northern Germany. A suitable berth is available in Wilhelmshaven (100 kms NW of Bremen) for several months with unrestricted access. Due to conversion work taking longer than planned, some senior project leaders and experienced crew have had to leave. Some had served for two years and more. We are very grateful for their contribution and they have left significant gaps in supervision and management. Thankfully others are joining soon, including Chief Engineer Onni Hytti. Before we can sail from Trogir, Croatia, more motormen and seamen are needed to ready the ship. The main issue holding up redelivery is the completion of essential drawings and documents to be approved by the classification society. Meetings are taking place with the shipyard management to review progress. Emerging mission movements Hungary: Lake Balaton is a holiday destination but from August 22-26 possibly over a thousand Christians made their way here to hear Luis Palau at 'Balaton-NET' (www.balaton-NET), a family-oriented conference and Mission Expo organised in partnership with the Hungarian Evangelical Alliance and the Keswick Convention. OM Hungary staff who help the Hungarian Evangelical Alliance had key roles in this event; most of the OM team will be part of the mission expo to introduce the new OM Central Europe 'Bus4Life' to Hungarian pastors. Pray for believers to be encouraged and motivated to a deeper walk with God and challenged into missions. Ecuador: Eighty people took part in a 'Be' seminar recently. The intensive weekend of teaching and interaction attracted participants from different backgrounds and church denominations. One said, "This is the first time that I can really understand what is God's purpose for my life," while others shared how they had made life-changing decisions as a result. Two people will join the OM Ecuador training school this year. One has started a missions programme at Bible college and another has committed to working with the children's outreach in his church. Please pray for these and many others who were motivated to get involved in world missions because of the "Be" seminar. Zimbabwe: The national crisis in economic and security terms continues with the future as uncertain as ever. Mike and Linda van Vuuren's car was recently stolen, along with passports, identity cards, and a diary of their contacts. Pray for emotional stamina when life seems like an uphill struggle. Vicky Graham struggles to get medicine-at any price-for the clinic in Siabuwa. Pray for OM teams as all are finding food harder to source especially fresh meat and vegetables. An outreach trip with the local church was cancelled due to lack of transport (no parts to fix vehicles and no fuel). The HIV/AIDS Care Group struggles with a leadership crisis and infighting. Pray for Edwin Derera who needs wisdom as he pastors the group and nurtures a new leader. Edwin's wife, Kuda is expecting their fourth child in October. The Day Care Centre plans to add another ten orphans by the end of the year. Home-based care, however, has been stopped by political activity. Pray for a nurse to take responsibility for this ministry. Angola: The youth group is in its third year. Two dozen young men threw a party and celebrated with worship and swapping stories of what God's been doing in their lives. Pray for the group as it launches a website and programme in local high schools to promote abstinence. Pray for the children's ministry training programme 11 September-20 October, for translation of training material into Portuguese and for 100 participants from twelve churches. Mozambique: Praise God for the safe arrival of Antonio and Maria Nipueda's fourth daughter, Naira. One villager from a Muslim area was recently widowed. Tribal custom dictated isolation from the community for six months to prevent others from dying. Elias, who returned from the OM Bible School last year a changed man, felt compassion for him and determined to eat with the widower despite tradition. They ate from the same plate and drank from the same cup as people waited for Elias to die. When they saw he had not died after a month, three people gave their lives to the Lord. Pray for courage for the team to see further superstitions broken. Jacinto reported that the village's survival was increasingly desperate as baboons and elephants stole crops before harvest. Though churches in Mocuba are living on the breadline, they collected seven bags of maize and three bags of clothes, some of the men removing their shirts on the spot as offerings. South Africa: At the request of the board, Peter Tarantal has agreed to stay for another year as National Director. The Emerging Missions Movement task team consisting of leaders from South Africa, Brazil, India, the Middle East/North Africa and Singapore will meet in Lebanon during September to discuss how emerging missions can be taken further in OM. Praise God for ongoing celebrations of OM's 50 years in various centres. The landmark celebration of two decades of missions training will now be held in the 21st year of the base in 2008. In South African terms this is entirely appropriate, as 21 is the traditional point of coming of age. Praise God for greater cooperation between mission and church leaders flowing out of recent dialogue. It was felt mission agencies should adapt to a changing South Africa and a central database should inform churches of what various agencies have to offer. An indigenous missions movement needed developing and the black township church should be helped with short-term outreaches. Pioneering initiatives Heart Sounds International (HSI) has launched exposure trips for OM recruits that combine short-term outreach with an 'ethno-worship' journey. The first MoveOn team went to Jordan and Lebanon to work with an OM musician and HSI ethnomusicology leader Paul Neeley. The two-week trip included music research with questionnaires, songwriting events, field recordings and attending cultural events. MoveOn 2008 trips will take place in Siberia and Mongolia. Frank Fortunato went to India this summer to launch a multi-recording children's project for kids attending the 62 OM Dalit Educational Centers and others attending 100 plus Dalit schools in North India. Almost 50,000 kids would have access to kids recordings planned over the next few years. Recordings in both English and Hindi, planned over seven years, will result in a curriculum of 150 songs for children across India and will introduce concepts about God, the love of Jesus, and their worth as sons and daughters of God. Fun songs will speak about practicing good health and hygiene. The project proposal includes the creation of Sunday school-type activity materials to help children interact with the words and Scriptural references of the songs. Stoneworks Initiative: Colin Harbinson, renowned arts theologian, educator and practitioner has launched Stoneworks Initiative calling for a new 'Arts Awakening' for the church worldwide. He has asked OM to be its missions and international arm. Bill Drake has join the Stoneworks leadership team, assisted by Fort. Colin will introduce Stoneworks at the ILM meetings next March. India Operation Mercy has launched ten more schools across India, making a total of 64 schools. This bold step of commitment and faith has been taken despite numerous challenges. The economic boom experienced by the 'India Shining' segment of society has increased real estate values all over the country, making the task even more challenging. We are determined to cross the ambitious target of 100 schools by 2010, and make world-class English medium education a reality for thousands of Dalit families.
Your brother in Christ, Peter Maiden ---------------------- It was early in this summer's ArtsLink trip. Our local host was getting us settled into the venue where we were to put on an art exhibition. Mohamed, a student, popped his head into the office. Directly after exchanging names, he blurted, "You know, I am an artist too, but no one ever understands me. So, two years ago I swore I'd never paint again. I haven't painted since." During the next two weeks, our art group kept an open door to our classroom-cum-studio while we worked. Mohamed visited often. At first his melancholic spirits were lifted as he spent time with others-other artists who were determined to encourage him to once again pick up his paint brush. We explained to him he might as well walk around with his arms strapped uselessly to his side: to deny his creativity was to deny the way God had created him to be. Creativity: a natural opening The wonderful thing about Muslim countries is that it is perfectly natural to present the theological reasons that underpin our beliefs and actions. Genesis 1 and 2 teaches us that we are all creative beings, because we are created in the image of the creator God. Or, contextualized to Muslim ears, "It is good for us to create because God creates, in the same way it is good for us to be merciful as He is merciful. This is how God made us different than the animals." Genesis 3 teaches us of the Fall. As artists, we recognize this in the broken imaginations of all people, evidenced so obviously by perverted mass media and by every person's struggle to think creatively. This too is clear to Muslims and requires no contextualization but, with an artist like Mohamed, the weight of our brokenness-our original sin-suddenly became much clearer. With such a realization, good works before God looks less like a solution and Mohamed asked for the solution: the gospel. Though within Islamic theology there is next to no place for the arts, in practice there is a rich history of Islamic arts. Why? Because, despite what anybody believes, we are all created in the image of a creative God. If we do not express our creativity in one way or another, we deny our God-given identity. Creativity and meaning When OM ArtsLink was launched nearly five years ago, it seemed logical to take trips to Europe; surely Europeans would naturally speak the language of the arts. But with the doors that are opening in Muslim countries, we are beginning to reconsider. Five hundred people came to each night of our little art exposition this summer. Though not educated in the 'richness' of Western art, Muslims typically are very familiar with symbolism. And in contrast with the West, they don't yet completely subscribe to the deification of subjectivity. They still actually believe that a piece of art contains an intended, objective meaning. And so our artists, standing next to their works, were bombarded with questions about what they meant. On that last day of the exhibition, Mohamed approached us. "When I used to hear anything about the Bible, I used to get so angry. But in seeing and talking with you, I have become curious. I would like a Bible." Creativity and witness There are many different ways of using art in ministry. But could it be that simply producing art and validating that God-given gift in others might be the most effective approach? Mohamed began his quest into biblical truth, not because of cleverly framed arguments, but because having his artistic gift affirmed to him gave him a glimpse of God's true intention for humanity.
Comments are welcome care of research[at]om.org ---------------------------------------- OM International ¥ Peter Maiden, International Co-ordinator Credit: OM International
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