Dear friends,

IN THIS ISSUE:

WORLD NEWS

A legacy for the next generation

SOUTH ASIA

No mountain too high

BLOG

God is moving among Muslims, so why aren’t we celebrating?

EUROPE

Tangible hope in Turkey

UNITED KINGDOM

The only Jesus follower they may ever meet

SHIP MINISTRY

Let go and let God

TEENSTREET

The next generation of disciple-makers

TRIBUTES

'History will honour you, and we celebrate you'

Operation Mobilisation

Registered office: The Quinta, Weston Rhyn, Oswestry, Shropshire, SY10 7LT.

Registered as a company limited by guarantee no. 2564320 and charity no.1008196 (England and Wales).

tel: 01691 773388 email: hello.uk@om.org w: www.uk.om.org

EDITOR:

Jane Knoop

STORIES AND IMAGES:

OM International

© Global magazine 2023. No part of this magazine may be copied or reproduced in any form without written approval from the publishers. Country file information taken from Operation World, 21st Century edition.

Bible references are from the New International Version unless stated otherwise.

I first came across George Verwer, the founder of OM, when he was the main speaker at an OM Love Europe event in the early 1990s. Until then, I had never heard anyone speak with such passion, enthusiasm and commitment for the cause of reaching the world for Christ. Could anyone really be that sold-out to this cause?

Over the following three decades I had the privilege of getting to know George personally and saw that the answer was yes. George truly practised what he preached. It wasn’t just his authenticity and passion for reaching the lost that profoundly impacted me, but also his humility and transparency when sharing his struggles.

Hearing George’s testimony of coming to faith, his early journeys to Mexico, getting arrested in the Soviet Union or sleeping and ministering out of the back of book trucks in India, inspired and challenged me – but it has been the personal phone calls, prayer walks and coffee shop meetings with George in recent years that I especially treasure.

I’ll miss George. I’ll miss his short, to the point, encouraging emails. I’ll miss the unexpected packages sent through the post, full of articles or books he feels I should read. I’ll miss the walks, listening to him speak and then suddenly he is weeping and praying for someone or a global situation on his heart. I’ll miss his seven-point messages that would always cover so many more. I’ll miss the book reviews and book tables, the high-octane prayer meetings, where he would grab an inflatable globe and lead us all in a global prayer journey. I’ll miss George’s global passion and dedication to the cause of world evangelism.

We are so aware of the incredible needs that still exist for the gospel to be shared. We also know our Great Commission to “go and make disciples” (Matthew 28:19). As we reflect upon George Verwer’s passion and dedication to that commission, may we respond as George did; "Lord, here am I, send me!”

Yours in Christ,