OMF Billions May - August 2015

May – Aug 2015

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News The Inheritance of Faith

Resurrection!

The Singapore Stopover

Model, Assist, Watch, Launch

Heart for Asia. Hope for billions.

We serve the Church and seek to bring the gospel to all the peoples of East Asia. We help place Christians with professional skills in China and other Asian countries, and share the love of Christ with East Asians worldwide.

Through God’s grace we aim to see an indigenous, biblical churchplanting movement in each people group of East Asia, evangelising their own people and reaching out in mission to other peoples.

UK NATIONAL OFFICE OMF International (UK) Station Approach, Borough Green Kent TN15 8BG 01732 887299 omf@omf.org.uk www.omf.org.uk DIRECTORS National: Peter & Christine Rowan Finance: Darren Wall Mobilisation: Gerard Charles Candidates: Louise Barker Member Care: Beverlea Parkhill AREA MOBILISERS London Allen and Litsa McClymont 07532 053 956 uk.london@omfmail.com

From The Editor 2

The individual’s walk with God is a journey of change.

Through the teaching we receive and the experiences of life, God changes us to become more like Christ.

As it is with the individual so it ought to be with an organisation seeking to follow God and do his will.

Since 1865 we have been adapting our work in response to the circumstances presented to us. Having to leave China, yet moving into new countries and then to other people groups, training indigenous leaders and making the most of evolving technology to reach those untouched by the gospel, all stands as evidence of God using circumstances to shape OMF. In this issue we explore how God has changed OMF International in order to keep us working for his kingdom among East Asia’s people.

Chris Watts Editor – chris.watts@omfmail.com

London – Under 30s Philipa Kalungi 07804 918 707 Philipa.Kalungi@omfmail.com East Tim Jenkins 07557 237 039 tim.jenkins@omfmail.com South & South East Andy & Jenni Stevens 01865 600 024 andy.stevens@omfmail.com South West & Wales Charles & Liz Chalmers 0117 946 6211 uk.waleswest@omfmail.com North Song Tsai 01732 887 299 song.tsai@omfmail.com Scotland Phil & Cathy Steed 0141 959 4180 uk.scotland@omfmail.com Ireland Nathaniel & Donna Jennings 028 9073 1266 Nathaniel.jennings@omfmail.com DIASPORA MINISTRIES Keith Wood 07971 418019 ask.diaspora@omfmail.com Registered Charity England and Wales: 1123973 Scotland: SC039645 Company limited by guarantee England and Wales: 6541911 International Headquarters, 2 Cluny Road , Singapore 259570

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News 4 Arrivals 7 Departures 8

The Singapore Stopover Change marked the CIM throughout the mid-1900s

The Inheritance of Faith Passing the baton of faith

Resurrection! 18 What is our Mission?

The Rebirth of the Chinese Church Consistent for 150 years

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Broadcasting Over Barriers 20 Long distances, disparate people

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Model, Assist, Watch, Launch Cross-cultural discipleship

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DIRECTIONS 10

Financial Overview 2014

Events 26

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News Selected snippets from OMF's work with East Asians around the world.

It’s more fun in the Philippines

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I arrived in a place called Trece Matieres in the Philippines, a relocation site for thousands who had been moved from a rail-side slum in Manila.

I was exhausted from the early morning journey and I fell asleep when I arrived. I was there to help with a medical mission as part of my two-month stay in Manila. When I woke up the medical clinic was in full swing. The place was in chaos. Everyone was too busy to give me a task and I felt completely useless. I had no medical skills to offer and no language with which to communicate. I just wanted to go home. I soon noticed however, that there were many children sitting around with nothing to do. With the few words that I knew, I began to play some games with the children. They ended up loving the games so much that we played into the evening after everyone else had gone home.

I realised after that day that everyone has something to offer, and all of our contributions are equally important. I believe that God valued me on that day just as much as he valued the doctors. We all showed love to the people of Trece Matieres with the skills and abilities that God had gifted us with. We should never be afraid that our abilities aren't good enough, because each and every believer has so much to offer if they put their trust in God and show love to others.

Laura

Our Story Begins…

How do you squeeze 150 years into three and a half minutes? Take one talented animator, an international team of OMF media types and a lot of beautiful archive material. Mix together over a number of weeks. The result, an engaging, thought-provoking, eye-opening look at the story of OMF International.

The fast-paced, wonderfully animated video takes the viewer on a journey from 1865 when Hudson Taylor paced Brighton Beach, through to OMF International today. From the Lammermuir party to today’s Diaspora Returnees Ministry, the animation highlights key moments in our history and some of the people God has used, and is using to fulfill his purposes.

If you only know OMF as it is today, or want to share with your friends, small group or church how OMF began, then please share this great resource.

Watch Online vimeo.com/omfmedia/ourstorybegins

Family Matters

‘Family Matters’ is an anthology of stories focused on family life in cross-cultural contexts – specifically devoted to the CIM/OMF 150th anniversary theme, ‘God’s Faithfulness’.

The stories describe ways in which the protection, provision and presence of God have been experienced in real and personal ways by 29 missionary families.

Most of them describe first-hand experiences, written by those for whom these stories are part of their family history. They are powerful testimonies that will inspire, move, challenge and encourage readers.

Glenys Goulstone

OMF UK National Conference

This year’s conference was entitled ‘Mission Accomplished?’ Reflecting on our 150-year anniversary we wanted to use the weekend to look back at what has gone before us, and pray into what God has ahead of us. We heard from Asian leaders who flew to the UK from all over East Asia to speak to us about their contexts and we had bible messages from Sri Lankan theologian Vinoth Ramachandra. To listen to some of the seminars and bible talks that took place at the conference follow this link–

Listen Online omf.org/uk/2015audio

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Here are some short examples of why people came along, and what they enjoyed: Rachel

Carol

Dick

Chris

‘It’s my third year at the National Conference, I came along to help out with the kids programme.

It has been lots of fun and I have really enjoyed myself.

It was great to meet new kids who haven’t been before.

I also enjoyed chatting to people over dinner, meeting people who’ve led inspiring lives. I managed to get along to some of the Asian Bazaar (while I had a break from the kids programme), it was great to get a glimpse of what it’s like in some of the countries OMF works in.’

‘I really enjoyed the content of the theological track.

It was well pitched and presented.’

‘I came to the conference because I feel that God wants me to go to East Asia. It’s great to meet others who also have a heart for East Asia. I’ve most enjoyed the fellowship and atmosphere at the conference. I have sending churches who are committed to praying for me, but they don’t have the knowledge of what it’s like in Asia, so it’s great to come to the conference and be welcomed by people who know what it’s like, and have wisdom about how to look after me as I go. I’ve been very blessed by the friendship. ‘

‘The weekend has had a fantastic atmosphere.

Over 400 people singing ‘Facing A Task Unfinished’ on Sunday morning was a highlight and Vinoth’s talks have provided much food for thought.’

PEOPLE

John & Sian Newton-Webb

Arrivals

What is your current ministry?

My husband and I have just completed our first term in Japan where we spent two years in language school and two and a half years working under a Japanese pastor being trained for church planting.

Highlight of the term?

One of the highlights of our term has been the opportunity to get to know and work alongside Japanese believers, seeing them encouraged by God`s grace and doing evangelism together with them. Though there have been many challenges along the way, the Lord has spoken through his word and birthed hope and peace in people`s lives through the promises of the gospel.

What can we pray for your field?

Please pray for churches in Japan to overflow with life changing grace and for more Japanese to see that the gospel is good news for them.

What can we pray for your future?

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Please pray for us to use our home assignment well so that we would be ready for this next ministry placement. Also that we would trust God to equip us for all he has in store for us.

When are you returning and where to?

We hope to return Spring 2016 where we will be taking on the leadership of a church plant in Sapporo, the capital city of Hokkaido, the northern most island of Japan.

Pray for churches in Japan to overflow with life changing grace

Steve & Anna Griffiths What is your current ministry?

What can we pray for your future?

Steve & Anna are currently serving at the newly renamed International Center (IC) in Singapore (previously International Headquarters) in the role of interim International Coordinator for Personnel (ICP).

They are eagerly looking forward to handing over to the substantive ICP, Tania English, before starting their home assignment. At the same time they are also nominally the Assistant General Director.

Pray for Steve & Anna during this year of home assignment – that they may connect well with supporters and supporting churches, serve joyfully at mobilisation events, have meaningful time with families, support children through their own transitions and rest and that they would be renewed sufficiently before returning to Asia. Pray too for further clarity regarding what their new role will look like.

Highlight of the term?

When are you returning and where to?

The last four years have been characterised by a steady and constant working towards the organisational change the fellowship has recently been through.

The resulting change in structure and governance should help share out the work of leading OMF International and bring greater accountability.

God willing, in mid 2016 Steve & Anna will return to the International Center in Singapore to take up the new role of Assistant General Director – working alongside the General Director, Patrick Fung, as part of the International Leadership Team.

What can we pray for your field?

The Singapore International Center Field is focused on delivering fellowship-wide services and is no longer the home of the International Directors of OMF. Please pray for Dave and Fi Rickards who, as the Director for Fellowship Services, head up the team of International Coordinators responsible for Evangelisation, Mobilisation, Finance, Personnel, IT and Training & Development.

May they have the wisdom and strength needed to lead this team so that services are delivered across the fellowship to the glory of God and for the extension of his kingdom.

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Departures Matt, Farrah, Zachariah (4) and Nathanael (1) Destination Designation

Starting Sending Church

East Asia Language training, leading to Science and Faith work January 2015 ChristChurch Woking Ruislip Baptist Church

Mission Journey 8

We first visited East Asia as teenagers on a youth mission and fell in love with our host country and its people. Now over ten years have passed and God has brought us on an incredible journey. We are now flying off to live there as a family.

There have been ups and downs along the way, but looking back it's amazing to see how God has gently led us, step-by-step, along the path we needed to tread to be ready for this move. God has encouraged us with prophecies and visions, challenged us by the people we meet, the stories we read, inspired us by his word and his love for people and taught us through joy, sorrow and everything in between.

We will be working in a bustling, prosperous city, and we have a heart to serve people from various walks of life. As a physics researcher, Matt will be working alongside academics, scientists and university students. As a family, we will also meet many other children and parents. As well as that we hope to have opportunities to serve some of the most vulnerable people in the city. Before we are able to do any of this of course, we have to learn the language, which is no mean feat!

The thing that excites us is being part of God's amazing plan for the nations, in which Christians all over the world are joining together. Our small part in this plan is moving from the UK to East Asia, and we know that our Father has already prepared a place for us there.

it's amazing to see how God has gently led us, step-by-step

Simon & Elaine* Destination Designation Starting Sending Church

East Asia Language study, then university teaching January 2015 An Anglican Church in the UK Midlands

Mission Journey Simon & Elaine are looking for a new challenge as they approach retirement age in UK. They fell in love during their first term at university. After marriage and graduation they opened a file called ‘Missionary and Future Life’– later known as ‘MAFL’. They were initially turned down

by OMF with the advice to obtain postgraduate qualifications in order to work in an Asian university. Ten years later they went to Asia with three little children as partners of OMF, teaching in a university and mentoring student Christian leaders. After six years, they returned to UK for the secondary schooling of their children.

They have worked in secular jobs and been involved in international student outreach, over the last 17 years.

They say, ‘Our three children are now grown up, and two are even married, so we see an opportunity to be in Asia again for a few years. Obviously there are many openings to testify to Jesus in secular Britain. But as we have background knowledge of the language and culture of an Asian country, we hope to work and witness amongst an unreached people group there. We pray that we will remain fit, alert and adaptable to serve in a new way in a country that will have changed dramatically since we lived there previously.’ * Pseudonyms

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信仰的 傳承

The Inheritance of Faith

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Hebrews 11 is a wonderful roll call of Old Testament men and women who trusted God. The story of the Church has been one of passing down the baton of faith in the Lord Jesus from Pentecost to the present, generation by generation. Sometimes families have the joy of successive generations following the Lord.

Here we trace one family whose journey of faith began in China in the 1890s.

One day in the 1890s, a Chinese lady watched anxiously as her grandson became ill. This was the eldest son of her eldest son, and in the culture of that time such a child had very special value in the family. The grandmother was a respected matriarch in both her family and village, so when she saw her precious grandson growing weaker, it was she who decided to take him to the CIM hospital. She had heard that the doctors there could do wonderful things, though nobody in her village had ever been there.

As the doctors cared for the child, they also spoke to the grandmother of the living God to whom they looked for healing. ‘We are here in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,’ they said to her, ‘and so we pray to him for healing for your grandson, as well as using medicine.’ The grandmother had never heard of this God before, but she thought, ‘If he can heal my grandson, when nobody else has been able to save him, then I will believe in him.’ The little boy was cured, and his grandmother kept her word. She went back to her family, and told them that because he had healed her grandson, she was going to follow this God. She probably didn’t understand very much, and some resisted this strange new religion. However, little by little, her standing in the village led people to become first curious and

then convinced. Some villagers started going to the church near the hospital.

In addition, three generations of the women of the family would in turn to go to the school set up by the CIM. They embraced faith for themselves.

In time, one of the grandmother’s sons became a pastor. In turn, his son grew up, and soon after World War II, worked for an airline and was posted in Hong Kong. Later, others from the area where he had grown up also moved to Hong Kong, and since they had a different dialect from the Cantonese used there, they established a network of churches in their own mother tongue.

Two generations later, Anna was born in Hong Kong.

When she was 20, Anna met Joe, then 24, when the company for which he worked sent him to Hong Kong for training. Joe himself was born and raised in Singapore, but his grandfather had been a well-known doctor in the same area of China as that from which Anna’s ancestors had come. That grandfather, too, had come to Christian faith through the witness of CIM missionaries. In due course, he sent his eldest son, Joe’s father, to Hong Kong to study medicine. Later Joe’s father moved to Singapore, where he met and married Joe’s mother.

After that meeting in Hong Kong, Joe and Anna kept in touch with each other.

It was to be another seven years before Joe and Anna married, during which time Anna’s family had emigrated to the United States, and Joe had gone to New Zealand for further study. It was there that he gave his life to God. Soon after their marriage, Joe and Anna settled in Singapore. They felt that their calling was to engage in

business, and through that to provide jobs, to serve the community, and to share the gospel. This they did in Singapore till 2011, when their attention was captured by the work of a NonGovernmental Organisation caring for orphans in Cambodia. The Foursquare Church Children of Promise runs over 100 homes for some 3,000 children.

Bringing their business skills, Joe and Anna have been able to contribute significantly. Joe says, ‘We’re helping them with a rice production facility in Banteay Meanchey to produce rice for the needs of these children. Anna has also been able to set up sewing projects in Siem Reap to teach Cambodian women how to sew clothes and handicrafts. These products are sold in other countries, providing employment, serving the community, and giving many opportunities to share the gospel.’

Years later, looking at a photo of Joe’s uncles brought back from a visit to family members, Anna realised she could recognise all of them. They were her relatives, too. Several generations back, some of Joe’s relatives had married some of Anna’s relatives. Their stories were intertwined. Now the seeds of the gospel sown when a little boy was ill, way back in the 1890s, were bearing fruit on three continents, through their extended family.

Joe and Anna are not members of OMF International, but they are part of the fruit of the gospel cascading down through the years.

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PLACES

在 星 加 坡 短暫 的 停 留

The Singapore Stopover Change marked the CIM throughout the mid-1900s, although it drastically altered how the work looked, the mission never lost the traits inherited from Hudson Taylor. Indigeneity remained a focus, inclusiveness was paramount, and innovation was required to cope with immense challenges. Here’s a story of one such challenge.

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October 1949: The People’s Republic of China was formed, and with it came a new obstacle to mission work. Chairman Mao Zedong and his Russiansupported Communism were particularly wary of foreign presence in the new Republic. To many Chinese at the time, white faces represented Western imperialism, the kind they had fought hard to discourage. Missionaries were often living deep in the heart of China, where suspicion of foreigners was most prevalent. Even though the CIM missionaries had no imperialist agenda (imperialism would hinder the growth of a uniquely Chinese Church) they were still seen to represent the West. Things were getting dangerous for many in inland China.

A decision had to made; would the CIM leave China or remain, not knowing how difficult it could get? But the question of whether to leave China was tied to another question: where would they go? The missionaries had spent years with a burden to spread the gospel in China.

Was God calling them to stop that ministry?

Urgent action was needed. The General Director, Bishop Frank Houghton called a meeting in Kalorama, a retreat centre not far from Melbourne. All the CIM’s leaders were to attend. The decision had to be made – would the CIM leave China?

John Sinton, the CIM’s China Director, an unflappable, ‘hands-on’ leader, certainly wasn’t ready to head home yet. After much prayer he was convinced that the way forward was to reach out to the many Chinese overseas from China. But that decision wasn’t

his to make, and he would have to meet with the other leaders of the CIM and convince them this was God’s call for the Mission.

Sinton’s trip from Shanghai to Melbourne was not a straightforward one; the required overnight stop in Singapore was one Sinton could have done without as he made his way to the pivotal meeting. But it was this overnight stop that God would use to confirm his calling for the CIM. As Sinton made himself comfortable at Raffles Hotel in Singapore, awaiting his next connection, a group of Singapore-Chinese churchmen heard of his arrival.

They sought Sinton out and presented themselves to him at the hotel. Sinton did not know the men, nor how they came to find out about his presence in Singapore, let alone the specific hotel he was staying at. As of yet he knew no one in the city and had told few people of his stopover. Nevertheless God brought the men into Sinton’s path. They implored Sinton, ‘bring the CIM down here, to Singapore-Malaya’ and to the Chinese there. The churchmen were impressed by the work of the CIM in China and would value input in their own church planting. If the CIM were to expand it must have been at the call of God and into areas where their work was welcomed. This unplanned meeting confirmed not just the call of God in Sinton’s eyes, but also verified that the work of the CIM would be valuable to the churches outside of China.

Sinton could not make an immediate promise to the churchmen as he was yet to meet with the remaining leaders of the CIM and the decision to leave China hadn’t yet been made. He thanked them and promised to extend their invitation.

Josh Kinghorn and David Huntley

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When Sinton arrived in Kalorama it quickly became clear that the work of missionaries in China would have to come to an end.

Bishop Houghton sent final instructions to all the CIM’s missionaries to leave China.

The long task of withdrawal began; a ‘reluctant exodus’ as Phyllis Thompson dubbed it.

In late autumn the leaders of the CIM assembled to discuss its future ministry. Where would they go? If the CIM were to work outside of China would its name change? Did a change of name accompany a change in policies? It was a long agenda, but nothing could have given the members of that meeting more confidence than hearing of John Sinton’s experience with the Chinese churchmen in Singapore. God’s confirmation to Sinton helped the leaders decide that the CIM would

continue to work; they would use cultural experiences gleaned from China to be witnesses to the Chinese diaspora.

The decision was taken to change the name, and ‘the China Inland Mission’ became ‘The Overseas Missionary Fellowship of the CIM’.

All the historical polices of the CIM remained; finance, indigenous church planting and pioneering into new areas endured with utmost importance.

Many missionaries who were previously in China moved out to Singapore, Malaya, Japan, Thailand and other areas of South East Asia. Through a time of great uncertainty God provided the mission with an answer and a new focus. As we look to the future, we know that we will continue to face uncertainty, but we can look to our past and see that God has always provided an answer.

PLACES

回顾 与 展 望

Resurrection!

The amazing rebirth of the Chinese Church

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By 1952, the ascension of Chairman Mao Zedong meant Western missionary presence in China would cause more harm than good to the Chinese church. It was the end of 150 years of strenuous Protestant missionary endeavour. Many thought this also signalled the end of the Christian faith in China, which to quote one academic, had been ‘swallowed up in the overwhelming tide of Maoism.’

For many years it looked like the pessimists had been right. The Chinese Church entered a dark period of persecution under the atheist regime. ‘Three Self Patriotic Movement’ was set up to oversee the church and to bring it under the ideology of the Communist Party. By 1958 ninety per cent of China’s churches had been closed down.

Then in 1966 Mao unleashed the ‘Great Proletariat Cultural Revolution’. Fanatical Red Guards desecrated any remaining churches. Many Christians were martyred or sent to labour camps. The visible church was totally eradicated.

But then God worked a wonderful thing. Faithful Christians went underground, daring to meet in twos and threes for small prayer-meetings.

As most Bibles had been confiscated or destroyed, Christians memorised whole chapters of the Bible.

China now

I was in China when Mao died, in 1976. Not a single church was open for Chinese believers. But things began to ease. In 1978 I had the joy of giving a Bible to a young man in Shanghai who remembered it as ‘a good book’ from back when he was able to attend Sunday School. In the spring of 1979 I witnessed the reopening of the TSPM churches in Beijing. Elderly believers wept as they took Holy Communion for the first time in 20 years or more. Week by week numbers grew as people flocked back to churches. Something significant was happening.

The Chinese Church had not died. Marxism, failing to deliver the promised atheistic paradise, had opened many people’s hearts to seek God. Even before the TSPM churches opened, house-churches began to proliferate across the country. The sacrificial testimony of men and women who had suffered twenty years or more in labour camps for their faith was now bearing fruit. Elderly saints emerged unbowed from prison; Wang Mingdao and Li Tian’en in Shanghai, Allen Yuan and Moses Xie in Beijing, Pastor Lamb (Lin Xiangao) in Guangzhou, Sister Yang Xinfei in Xiamen and many others.

Dozens and even hundreds squashed into small courtyards and homes as I can testify. Young and old were hungry for the Word of God, so long forbidden to them. In rural areas, preachers travelled by bike or on foot to spread the gospel, they found poor farmers whose lives had been blighted by poverty and famine, but ready to hear the gospel.

By the early 1980s many parts of China were experiencing rapid church-growth, even revival. Government statistics show that the Protestant Christians numbered less than one million in 1949 on the eve of the Communist takeover. By 2015 numbers have soared to at least 70 million.

Tony Lambert

The TSPM now have over 60,000 registered churches and meeting points. Unlike the 1950s and 1960s the message preached is overwhelmingly evangelical. Statistics show that over 23 million believers worship in TSPM churches now – the remaining 50 million or more attend unregistered house-churches.

This spiritual awakening, by any sober reckoning, is the greatest church-growth since Pentecost, and it is still continuing.

Government researchers recently warned the Party leadership that if unchecked, the number of Protestant Christians in China could reach 200 or even 300 million over the next few decades.

2014 saw a massive crackdown in Zhejiang province with the demolition of newly built mega-churches (even government approved ones) which had held thousands of worshippers, and the forcible removal of crosses from over 400 churches.

A new nationalism is stirring and some of those in power still see the Church as a potentially subversive threat. In fact, most Christians in China are apolitical and concentrate on being ‘salt and light’ in society and winning people to Christ. They have the goodwill of the majority of people and despite continuing pressure and even persecution the Church is likely to continue to grow.

A mature Church is developing, attracting people from every level of society. China now has the largest evangelical community in the world. Many young people including students, graduates and professionals, are offering themselves for missionary service to unreached people within China and to the Muslim communities of Central Asia and the Middle East.

In 1865 Hudson Taylor paced Brighton beach before founding the China Inland Mission. Today the wheel has come full circle as grateful Chinese Christians commit themselves to God’s mission. A new era of world mission is beginning in which the Chinese Church will play a major role.

has the largest evangelical

community in the world

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バ リア を 超 えて放 送

Broadcasting Over Barriers Long distances, disparate people, even governments can be barriers to the physical presence of gospel workers.

Broadcasts however, are not inhibited in the same way.

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The large cities of pre-Communist China provided plenty of opportunities for privately owned radio broadcasting. Chinese Christian and wealthy businessman, Mr Lee, owned a Shanghai station known as XMHD which provided Chinese and English Christian broadcasts. The CIM missionary Revd.

George A Scott produced the English language content, including a 30-minute programme called ‘Young People’s Hour’.

He frequently received letters from his Chinese listeners who often referred to him as Uncle George.

The Communists arrested Mr Lee in the late 1940s.

He died before his trial but not before he managed to send $20,000 to the Far East Broadcasting Company (FEBC). This funded the construction of the radio station KSBU in Japan, which was able to continue broadcasting the gospel into China. As technologies developed, countries changed and new ministry opportunities emerged, broadcasting has remained a great way of reaching the unreached across East Asia.

Much of the island of Hokkaido, Japan, consists of bare volcanic plateau and thickly forested mountain slopes. The island is roughly the size of Switzerland and Denmark combined, with a population of 5.46 million people, a third of whom live in the largest city of Sapporo. There are around 400 Protestant churches with an average attendance of only 32. Sixty-two per cent of towns and villages have no church at all.

In the light of such vast need, the ministry of the Hokkaido Gospel Broadcast seems miniscule. It is a major financial struggle to host just two weekly evangelistic programmes: Lifeline TV (30 minutes) and the radio show Light of the World (15 minutes.)

But spiritually, their impact is immeasurable, reaching many who would not otherwise be reached on the island of Hokkaido: Mr Ueki stood on a railway bridge full of despair.

He saw a train in a distant station and decided ‘When the train gets near, I’ll jump’. He waited and waited but the train showed no signs of moving so he eventually gave up and left. The next day he discovered someone had jumped in front of the very train he had thought to end his own life with. Not long afterwards, early one Sunday morning, following a sleepless night, Mr Ueki found himself inadvertently watching a Christian TV programme called Lifeline TV. This programme was the spiritual lifeline he so desperately needed.

Through Lifeline TV he discovered a local church and in time became a Christian together with his wife.

And Mr Ueki’s story is not the only one. A 62-yearold businesswoman wrote that she had been watching Lifeline for two years.

‘One Sunday I was feeling upset and restless at heart,’ she wrote in January 2014. ‘I was wondering if I should find out more about Christianity. As I watched, I felt as though I were being given a push of encouragement from behind. I talked to my husband and then took the step of contacting a pastor.’

What an encouragement it was to hear later that she had been baptised on Easter Sunday 2014.

Mr Maruyama wrote: ‘I was 28 when my mother died very suddenly at the age of 53 of a brain haemorrhage. I was overwhelmed with grief, shock and guilt for not having been in touch with her more. I drank and smoked heavily, kept changing jobs and got into severe debt. I was like a sail flapping in the wind with no rope to hold it down, blown wherever the wind took me in a completely abandoned, indulgent fashion. I was a bundle of anxiety and loneliness. Physically and emotionally at the end of my tether, I came across the TV programme Lifeline one Sunday morning. Usually I would be sleeping like the dead but that morning the smiling face and heartfelt words of the Christian pastor brought a ray of light and warmth to my heart.’

(From the January 2015 Japanese Hokkaido Gospel Broadcast Newsletter.) Subsequently, Mr Maruyama also started attending church and was baptised.

These are just a few stories of how broadcasting has been used, and is being used to share the good news of Jesus Christ in areas scarcely touched by physical means. In China after 1951, radio was used to help support the growth of the Church without a foreign presence. In Japan, bringing the gospel into the privacy of someone’s home is a rare privilege.

Yet broadcasting through TV, radio and the internet has provided unique opportunities to connect with Japanese people inside the privacy of their houses. Let’s pray that God would continue to create opportunities to share the gospel through broadcasting.

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When the

train gets near, I’ll jump

PLACES

Teoloji di Malaysia

Theology in Malaysia A Convincing Experiment – The Rawang Christian Training Centre

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by Keith Ranger After the reluctant exodus from China, the newly named OMF experienced many opportunities.

In the early 1960s in Malaysia OMF took up the task of training more young men and women for the tasks of pastoring and discipling. One of the most innovative forms this training took was at the Rawang Christian Training Centre (CTC).

Keith Ranger was part of that project and recalls this short story: ‘Its ingredients and circumstances were many and varied – a former rubber planter’s bungalow in five acres of land north of Kuala Lumpur, just outside the rural town of Rawang. A student body drawn from Malaya’s villages, including a rubber tapper, tin mine worker, pig farmer and vegetable grower. Its six hundred chickens, eighty pigs, sweet potatoes and limes helped produce ninety per

cent of the income needed to support the students.

Bible teachers provided a two-year course for village Christians who would return to help their churches but continue in their daily jobs, with an optional extra year for those contemplating full-time service as pastors or evangelists.

Life was never dull in CTC. The dynamic Principal David Day, was a gifted Christian communicator with a vast vocabulary in Mandarin, and he could have had as much success as a vet or a racing driver as he had as a missionary! Farm manager Harold Wik, who was married to the effervescent Lucinda, had a degree in animal husbandry and was an excellent teacher of literature evangelism; in Edith Cork we had an outstanding Bible teacher and trainer in youth work; and it fell to me to train the students in both indoor and open-air evangelism, also providing teaching for any student who wanted to learn the piano accordion.

One very lasting result of our accordion use was when a little Chinese girl was attracted to an open-air meeting we held under a palm tree. She decided she wanted to be a Christian there and then and in 2000 she became a missionary in Thailand alongside her husband.

So, did the experiment work? The ministry of returning graduates certainly blessed many rural churches. Some went on to further training and ordination, serving as pastors of village churches, one went into radio evangelism and was appreciated by many as “The Radio Pastor of Singapore”. OMF will perhaps never see quite the like of Rawang Christian Training Centre again, but how very wonderfully God blessed and used it while it was there!’

From Rawang to today

by Allen McClymont Today OMF International continues this legacy of training through its involvement in theological education in Malaysia. It works in partnership with churches by providing lecturers for seminaries.

In West Malaysia it is involved with Malaysia Bible Seminary (MBS) and Seminari Theoloji Malaysia (STM). Both seminaries were started in the late 1970s and are interdenominational. OMF members are involved in teaching full-time and part-time students in both seminaries.

In East Malaysia, OMF has two couples based in Sabah Theological Seminary (STS) and links with the Borneo Evangelical Church or SIB church in Sarawak.

The SIB is the largest Protestant church in Malaysia.

It was started by missionaries from the Borneo Evangelical Mission (BEM), which later amalgamated into OMF, and the main language used for worship is Malay. The church now has branches in Sabah and also in West Malaysia. STS is strategically placed to work with the church there. There is a big need to combat nominalism and train godly leaders in this church, which is surrounded by the teachings of Islam. Ministering in remote villages involves long exhausting journeys and difficult conditions. One UK OMF member describes being taken by one of his students to preach in his village.

‘Up and away at 6 am, noodle stop along the way, the last hour across unmade road. The church service kicked off about 10 am. This is the last village along the road, a collection of wooden houses nestled into the hills, all around a football pitch! ... A simple life – almost everyone in church – and the youth went on singing long after the service, as did the dance group.

Solid Christian place. A nice clean church and a great pastor’s house, but no pastor.’

He concludes, conditions are hard but the work is exhilarating. He then goes on to ask for prayer for his student who does this trip every week because the village doesn’t have a permanent pastor.

All the students face the challenges of living in a majority Muslim country, the seduction of materialism and a significant shortage of pastors. It is a privilege for OMF to work alongside local lecturers to prepare them for these challenges.

19

PARTICIPATE

Modeling

ท ทำ�ให เ้ ขาด ู ช ช่ยวให เ้ ขาทำ� ด ดแ ู ลเขาทำ� ม มอบให เ้ ขาทำ�ต่อไป

Model, Assist, Watch, Launch For missionaries, making disciples in a cross-cultural context consists of four stages; modeling, assisting, watching and launching.

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The OMF teams in Thailand are well acquainted with this pattern; first modelling being a disciples of Jesus, then helping new believers in their faith, before stepping back and ‘watching’ indigenous believers begin evangelism themselves. Finally when the indigenous church is grown and maturing, missionaries are able to ‘launch’; they can hand over all ministries into the hands of the Thai people and praise God for the work he has done.

Tim Noble – Modeling Incompetence A few years ago, our family relocated to the Ayutthaya province to work alongside a church. Our aim was to encourage church planting throughout the province.

I was quite inexperienced in direct church planting, having spent the previous ten years teaching English in a university. What could I – a veritable newbie, offer this church which was already functioning quite well on its own?

Surprisingly, my weakness turned out to be my greatest asset. No one could mistakenly think I had come to lead the church. I was dependent on church members and leaders to help work out how we could bring glory to God in more than our little corner of Ayutthaya.

As we prepared to go on home assignment, I tried to encourage the church: ‘You know that I’ve made my mistakes, and yet God has been at work here in our midst. If God can do this much through me, imagine what he can do through you!’

Just prior to going on home assignment, Mos asked me what he should do. I thought for a moment, before explaining that we need to be willing to work outside our areas of gifting. For example, I don’t consider myself a gifted preacher, but I am always glad to preach whenever given the opportunity. Not long afterwards, Brenda overheard Mos telling Kai, ‘You really should try preaching. Ajaan Tim says that sometimes we need to serve in areas outside our gifting.’

When we returned from home assignment, we were amazed to see that the church had almost doubled in membership. Not only that, they had maintained the vision to plant other churches in neighbouring districts. Now, this church of about 40 members is involved in planting two other churches!

Assisting

Emanuel Zwygart – You do, I Help Our family is part of a church plant that was started in Nakhon Sawan, Thailand, more than three years ago.

Assisting people in ministry is an important part of our life. As we serve the Lord together, we try to assist new believers in the area they serve and where they are gifted.

Me, a student in her twenties, had been watching people from the church hand out tracts for quite some time. Others hearing about Jesus excited her.

Was ‘evangelising’ a gift the Lord has given her?

People without Christ were obviously on her heart.

One day, I saw Me getting involved in a conversation with someone she met. I heard her saying: ‘Your life will get better when you believe in Jesus.’ At this point, I joined their conversation and supported her.

After the experience we went through the discussion again.

First of all, I wanted to affirm her in how I was encouraged to see her sharing Christ. But I also wanted to help her to keep the message of the gospel clear.

I asked her three questions: ‘What would you say is the heart of the gospel? Why should we believe? What do we like to add to the gospel?’ We came to the conclusion: ‘Yes, the Lord can change situations and can do miracles, but there is no bigger miracle than Jesus dying for our sins so that we can have the forgiveness.’

It is not easy being Christian at Me’s university, but since our conversation she has helped a friend to come to know the Lord.

Discipleship takes time and ongoing involvement, it is training on the ‘job’. Assisting does not always lead to success. There are setbacks. But it is worth taking the risk and I am excited to see local believers growing as we support them.

Launching

Watching

Sijmen den Hortag – Displaying Discipleship One day a new lady joined our house group. Niam, one of the church members, introduced her to me as her neighbour, Mae Lop. Though she showed interest in the gospel, she kept it at a safe distance by talking about it as the ‘new faith’ of her neighbour: ‘her God is helping her, her God has changed her.’

I wondered if I had to visit Mae with Niam for a more personal conversation about Christ. But I soon realised that I wasn’t needed. Niam looked after her neighbour, praying together, pointing to God’s blessings in their lives and encouraging her to read the Bible daily.

Weeks passed, but one Tuesday night Mae Lop changed her wording to ‘Our God is helping us and answers our prayers’. From that moment Mae Lop started taking steps to trust God more and more. Just as we were able to help Niam to grow in her faith, she was now helping her neighbour.

Mae Lop developed a hunger to see other people come to know the Lord. She started to pray for her son’s salvation and shares Jesus with her co-workers during harvest season in the fields. If she can’t answer difficult questions from others, she will take them to Niam and ask for her advice.

There are many people to reach in our area of Thailand, and we try to reach as many people as possible. It is an answer to prayer that we now see a young believer training her sister in Christ. Hopefully soon, the church in our town will be able to reach out to others without our help.

This model sounds wonderful, but in our first four years we hadn’t been able to go beyond the ‘assist’ stage. We are still involved in a lot of assisting, but by God’s grace we are starting to ‘watch’ young believers ‘assisting’ new believers.

For an example of the ‘launching’ phase of this pattern, please follow this link – omf.org/uk/launch

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DIRECTIONS

我們的 使命 是什麼?

What is our Mission?

Structures, strategies, and spheres of ministry may have changed but OMF's essential objectives have remained consistent for 150 years.

Every so often we need to re-examine how we express those objectives. What certain vocabulary and terminology meant to one generation can miss the mark or mean something quite different to another, for that reason OMF has adopted a new Mission Statement to communicate afresh what it is we believe we’re called to do…

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Peter Rowan A brief exposition may help unpack what – 150 years on – OMF understands its mission to be.

Partnership

‘We’ encompasses the community of OMF in its widest sense, including the churches from which mission partners are sent, those who stand with us in prayer, together with our brothers and sisters in the churches of East Asia with whom we partner for the sake of the gospel. The effectiveness of what we do in mission often boils down to the quality and extent of our relationships.

A unique, saving message

Our central focus is to bring the good news of Jesus Christ to a sinful and broken world. And central to the good news is the unique, saving message of the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Whatever the starting point for our sharing of the good news, our ultimate goal is to see men and women of all ages become disciples of Jesus Christ and living for the glory of God.

A comprehensive mission

Good news finds its roots in Isaiah 40–66. Isaiah 52:7 is foundational for the New Testament’s understanding of the gospel; the themes of peace, salvation and kingdom are brought to fulfilment in the person and work of Jesus Christ. The good news is that God reigns

and that his purposes for the whole of his creation are centred in Jesus – Saviour and Lord of the world. We exist to make all of this known.

The phrase we share the good news of Jesus in all its fullness is a replacement for the word ‘evangelization’.

Historically, the CIM talked about the mission’s ‘full-orbed ministry’, and understood ‘evangelization’ in holistic terms, encompassing medical care, education, famine relief, confronting the opium trade, working for the liberation of women and the care of orphans, and all the while, and in every context, sharing the gospel, planting churches and seeing lives and communities transformed.

The verb euangelizomai (to announce the good news) is used by the Apostle Paul to describe a range of evangelistic and teaching ministries – from initial proclamation, through to discipleship and the grounding of believers in the faith.

We have a comprehensive mission, and the gospel we proclaim is not a brief ‘formula’ but a person and a story – the whole biblical story of what God has done in Christ to bring redemption to the whole of creation.

We seek to follow the New Testament example of a way of mission that fully proclaims the gospel of Christ by word and deed, in the power of the Holy Spirit (Romans 15:17–18). Our aim in ministry, like that of the Apostle Paul, is for the obedience of faith, not for conversion only, but for the life of obedience that flows from faith in Jesus (Romans 1:5; 16:26).

Appreciating the broader dimensions of the gospel is crucial for a proper understanding of the Church’s mission.

A supreme motivation

Our new statement reaches a climax with to the glory of God. This crescendo underlines our motivation and passion for the mission we believe God has given us. All we seek to be and do springs from the gospel itself and flows from a desire to live and serve for the glory of God. Our supreme motivation is that the one true and living God should be known and glorified among the peoples of East Asia.

Authentic messengers

Finally, statements and words only go so far. As a Fellowship we are committed to communicating the good news of Jesus by our saying, doing and being; by word, deed and character. As Howard Peskett wrote in One Passionate Purpose, the most powerful and effective way of making the good news known ‘is through lives which are themselves characterised and transformed by it.’ [Howard Peskett, One Passionate Purpose, (Overseas Missionary Fellowship), 1990:27–28].

As a Fellowship we want to be characterised by the gospel we proclaim. It’s an incredibly joyful yet serious task. The history of the CIM/ OMF, as well as the experience of East Asian Christians in many places today, testifies to the fact that this good news is so important that it is worth dying for.

Our Mission Statement seeks to express that OMF remains committed to sharing the gospel – speaking it, preaching it, living it, demonstrating it, in all its biblical breadth and richness, and to allowing this good news to have its full effect in us as a Fellowship and amongst East Asia’s peoples.

23

Darren Wall

Director for Finance & Corporate Services

Financial Overview 2014 ‘We assume the responsibility…to give a third of a shekel each year for the service of the house of our God’ Nehemiah 10:32

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I am again pleased to report that during 2014, OMF UK received income to cover 105 per cent of its expenditure requirement (97 per cent in 2013). We praise the Lord for this level of income which enabled all OMF UK members to be topped up to at least 100 per cent support for the year.

Nehemiah 10:32 was part of the commitment of God’s people, after returning to Jerusalem from the Exile, to serve in the mission he had called them to. We are now in our 150th year, in significant part due to those who have faithfully committed themselves to giving to the Fellowship.

Some have been serving in prayer and others have given financially for over 50 years, which have contributed significantly to the good news of Jesus Christ being experienced by East Asians. We are so grateful to the Lord for these and so many others, who have served (and do serve) in various significant ways for shorter periods.

However, later in Nehemiah, we read that within a few years ‘the portions assigned to the Levites had not been given to them, and that all the Levites and singers responsible for the service had gone back to their own fields’ (Ne 13:10).

This can happen today too. When commitments and responsibilities are not maintained, those called to serve may not be able to carry out what the Lord has for them. The question is, have there been some OMF members who had to stop Expenditure 2014 serving because of lack of partnership and resources? This is something I have Other 0.5% reflected on in seeing some of our members low supported. As we see in this Retirement 9.1% account, the Lord graciously intervenes, bringing Nehemiah back to Education 0.5% challenge and address the situation, but not before some damage Admin Support 7.3% has been done.

Mobilisation 19.6% As many have prayed, it is likely that the Lord has also Mission support been gracious to intervene in OMF at different times, 7.4% addressing similar situations to those recounted in Israel’s day. We trust that God will continue to do so, as he desires, in the years to come too. May we all pray for this, whilst Evangelisation 55.5% also being challenged to keep up our responsibilities and commitments in the ministries God calls us to, so that those we are partnering with don’t have to go ‘back to their fields’ prematurely and this work amongst East Asians glorifies the Lord.

Thank you for being a significant part of this.

Subject to audit confirmation, our overall funds together with income and expenditure broke down as follows

OMF Financial report 2015

2014 £000s

2013 £000s

2398

2405

479

457

1919

1948

Support gifts

£4,537

£4,755

General donations

£1,088

£746

£715

£518

Other income

£77

£92

Total income

£6,417

£6,111

Mobilisation

£1,258

£1,220

Evangelisation

£3,556

£4,095

Mission support

£471

£489

Admin Support

£486

£468

TOTAL FUNDS HELD 31 DECEMBER Property & Vehicles Net Current Assets (including cash in bank)

INCOME

Legacies

EXPENDITURE

Education

£33

£36

Retirement

£580

£595

£40

£38

£6,424

£6,944

£(7)

£(836)

Other Total expenditure

Taken to / from reserves

Our reserves policy enables us to hold a maximum sum, based on actual fluctuations in legacy income received since 2000, to buffer the effects of those fluctuations. At the end of 2014, this figure was £827K. Besides those funds, all other funds have been given for restricted purposes or are designated for specific known needs, being mainly advance savings for known extra member costs during home assignment.

In line with our ‘no debt’ principle we always seek to match our income with expenditure, primarily achieving this by reducing the support levels of members, if necessary. The annual cost of the UK support and mobilisation operation is also being constantly reviewed to also seek to match this to the levels of income available to meet it.

Notes: • Support gifts were slightly decreased, largely as a result of member numbers dropping by approx. 4 per cent; the reduction in expenditure on evangelisation is also a reflection of this.

• The reduction in evangelisation expenditure was also a result of the effect of stronger Sterling vs US Dollar and Japanese Yen in 2014 compared with 2013 (in this regard it costs less in Sterling to cover the same amount of member costs in most parts of Asia). In addition extra funds were spent on evangelisation in respect of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines in 2013, which weren’t required in 2014.

• The mobilisation expenses category covers the cost of missionaries involved in UK based mobilisation as well as other related costs such as running the Serve Asia programme, communications and media etc.

• Mission support costs are those related to mission specific support e.g. member care and candidate coordination, whilst Admin support costs are more general e.g. finance and IT.

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PARTICIPATE

Events 1–3 May

‘Declare His Glory’ – Annual Scottish Conference

Windmill Centre, Arbroath Bible readings by Lindsay Brown, International Director – Lausanne Movement Speakers from Japan, Philippines, UK and Diaspora Returnee Ministries.

Contact uk.scotland@omfmail.com 5 May 26

Bristol Day of Prayer

10:30–3:00pm 174 Redland Rd, Bristol, BS6 6YG Light lunch provided.

Contact Charles & Liz Chalmers Phone 0117 9466211 Email uk.waleswest@omfmail.com 21–22 May

Shaping of Christianity in China OCMS, Oxford OX2 6HR. A fresh look at the contribution of indigenous Christians.

Contact uk.leadershipcoord @omfmail.com 22 May

OMF Under 35s BBQ

Belfast Bible College, Glenburn Road South, Dunmurry, Belfast BT17 9JP Contact Claire Harfitt Email Claire.Harfitt@omfmail.com

30 May

Global Outreach Day

Millions of Christians move, pray and act all on the same day and encourage and inspire each other.

Info globaloutreachday.com 12 & 13 June

Celebrate Norwich & Norfolk

OMF and Wycliffe will be sharing stand Contact Tim Jenkins Email tim.jenkins@omfmail.com Phone 07557 237 039 22–24 June

Barnsley

James Hudson Taylor IV speaking at Salem Wesleyan Church, plus other events. See website for more details.

Contact Song Tsai Email song.tsai@omfmail.com Phone 0777 0914341 25–26 June

Brighton

Evening celebration with James Hudson Taylor IV, and Hudson Taylor one man show. See the website for more details.

Contact andy.stevens@omfmail.com

27–28 June

Chinese Church In London

Morning prayer walk and evening celebrations with James Hudson Taylor IV and Hudson Taylor one man show.

See the website for more details.

Contact Allen McClymont Email allen.mcclymont@omfmail.com Phone 07532 053 956 11 July

Bristol Day of Prayer

10:30–3:00pm 174 Redland Rd, Bristol, BS6 6YG Light lunch provided.

Contact Charles & Liz Chalmers Phone 0117 9466211 Email uk.waleswest@omfmail.com 30 August

OMF/IMAP Mission Evening

6.30–8.00pm Grosvenor Road Baptist Church, Rathmines, Dublin 6 Speakers – James Hudson Taylor IV and Gerard Charles Contact Nathaniel Jennings Email nathaniel.jennings@omfmail.com

www.omf.org.uk/events

5 Sept

Hudson Taylor One Man Show

Holy Trinity Combe Down, Bath, BA2 5EE Contact Charles & Liz Chalmers Phone 0117 9466211 Email uk.waleswest@omfmail.com

Sunday 18 October

31 August–4 September

10:30am and 6:30pm services Cambray Baptist Church, Cambray Place Cheltenham, GL50 1JS Contact Charles & Liz Chalmers Email uk.waleswest@omfmail.com

1–7 August

Celebrating OMF’s 150th Anniversary

8 Sept

Bristol Day of Prayer

National Events OMF will be attending:

19 Sept

James Hudson Taylor IV is the main speaker for the weekend

10:00–4:00pm St Leonards Church.

Speakers: Steve & Anna Griffiths, Ian Bowley, Mel Croom, Gerard Charles Contact Charles & Liz Chalmers Phone 0117 9466211 Email uk.waleswest@omfmail.com 10 October

150th Anniversary South Wales Event

Emmanuel Evangelical Church, Newport, South Wales Contact Charles & Liz Chalmers Phone 0117 9466211 Email uk.waleswest@omfmail.com

New Horizon

OMF will be sharing and exhibiting. www.newhorizon.org.uk 21–29 August

10:30–3:00pm 174 Redland Rd Bristol BS6 6YG Light lunch provided.

Contact Charles & Liz Chalmers Phone 0117 9466211 Email uk.waleswest@omfmail.com

Exeter Conference

Forum

28 March–6 April

World Alive 19–21 June

GOFest

OMF at Bangor Worldwide Missionary Convention

James Hudson Taylor IV and Peter Rowan will be speaking on the evening of Monday 24 August.

Jamie Taylor will also be sharing on the final night, Saturday 29 August.

Contact Nathaniel Jennings Email nathaniel.jennings@omfmail.com www.worldwidemission.org/year/2015 18 April

11–31 July

Keswick Convention

Patrick Fung (OMF General Director) is speaking during week 1.

John Newton-Webb will be performing his one man Hudson Taylor Show.

27–31 August

Momentum

Come and visit us in the Tool Shed

Church Under Pressure

10:00–04:15pm Wycliffe Baptist Church Reading, RG1 4LS Contact Andy Stevens Email andy.stevens@omfmail.com

27

SHOP

God’s Faithfulness Our 150th anniversary has provided us with a kairos moment to trace CIM/OMF’s story from a small seed of faith sown in 1865 right through to the present time. We remember God’s faithfulness and rejoice in him as our faithful God. ‘God’s Faithfulness, Stories from the China Inland Mission and OMF’ is a unique anthology of forty CIM and OMF missionary stories, which testify powerfully to the faithfulness of God throughout the 150 years of our history. The stories originate from workers in almost all of the countries where we have teams today. The book also includes a very clear and helpful four-part summary of our history.

We pray that God will use these stories to inspire readers of different generations, backgrounds and experience. We pray that they will encourage and bless those who are familiar with OMF, as well as those who are totally new to OMF. Perhaps, for some, these will be the first missionary stories they read. Wherever readers are in their journey towards understanding God’s heart for the nations, we know that he can use this book to give them courage and faith to take the next step.

£8.00

Visit:

https://ukshop.omf.org/

Call:

01732 887299