“I had been resistant to the gospel for a long time,” he recalled. “My brother and my best friend from school had been sharing with me, but it took a promise from God to convince me to follow Him.”

“Growing up, I just wanted to be a loner and was always striving to do things on my own and in my own strength,” explained Tinashe. 

While Tinashe knew about the reality of God and the need to have a growing relationship with Him, he kept rejecting God because of bitterness caused by the pain of the relationship breakdown between his father and mother and their subsequent separation.  

After his brother who had been into drugs came to faith and started sharing the gospel with him, Tinashe took notice of the change and started to at least consider a personal relationship with Christ. The turning point came when his friend at school, who, like his own brother, had been sharing the gospel with him, explained a Bible passage that assured Tinashe that Christ was the light of life and whoever wanted to walk in light needed to follow His example.  

On hearing that—and having seen how his brother’s life had been transformed—Tinashe gained an assurance that God did care for him. From then on, Tinashe desired to share his own story with others. 

Working with the church

Tinashe is passionate about seeing the gospel spread not only in Zimbabwe but to the utmost parts of the world. He believes that strong stewardship and discipleship are important for the goal of effective churches and world evangelisation. He works closely with a team to maximize resource use in order to accomplish the goal of motivating, equipping and connecting others to join missions.

“Many people in Zimbabwe are inward-focused about themselves and their church,” Tinashe explained. “There has been a lack of discipleship within churches too. Therefore, I am motivating the church to look beyond itself and pray for nations, give and start discipleship groups.” 

Motivating the church to be involved in missions has not been an easy task for Tinashe and his team as they are serving against a background of economic hardship and a prevailing belief that Africans cannot be missionaries. “People think that missionaries are white people who come from Europe or America to build mission stations complete with a school and hospital,” said Tinashe. “So, without resources to accomplish the same, [Zimbabweans] think themselves unworthy of the calling.”

Tinashe has been working hard to disciple and show Zimbabweans that they, too, are called to serve, explaining that one does not need to have many resources or build properties to be a missionary but just needs to be faithful in sharing their own stories with others to show the love of Christ. 

“I also used to think missionaries came from Europe and the West,” Tinashe admitted. “However, one day, a missionary came to our church and explained the need for the whole church to take the whole gospel to the whole world.”

From then on, Tinashe’s perspective about missions and missionaries changed, and he desired to correct this misconception by sharing the truth with others. 

Through their efforts and God’s grace, the team has seen God raise local people to go and share the gospel in North Africa and the Middle East and to serve onboard the OM ship Logos Hope. 

Roberto, 31, was raised in a Christian family. But,” he said, “that didn’t automatically make me a Christian. When I was six years old, I met Jesus while in a children’s activity run by missionaries.”

By age 21, Roberto was an industrial engineer, a job he did for nine years. He enjoyed his job, which provided well financially, and also volunteered with ministries in his community.

It was a good life, but God had different plans for him.

“One day, I asked myself, ‘What am I doing?’” Roberto shared. “I had a good life and good things, but as the Apostle Paul said, these things don’t have eternal value.”

“I realised there was more than having a great job and wealth, and God was inviting me into something bigger: investing my time on this earth instead of wasting it. The world is getting worse every day. As a Christian, I need to do something about that. I need to share God’s love with others with my life.”

Roberto was working in a secular job when God spoke to him. “He said, ‘When you are in front of Me in eternity, will you say, ‘I spent my life investing my efforts in this job, and now my boss has a lot of money and employees’? What will you say when I ask you, ‘What did you do with My kingdom?’”

“That blew my mind,” Roberto continued. “I think that as Christians, we think it’s ‘our lives with Jesus’, but it isn’t my life. It’s His life. There’s a big difference.”

Roberto’s passion for missions and the least reached also grew, which others noticed. At the time, he was serving with a youth ministry alongside his girlfriend. “One day, the ministry leader, who is a friend, said to me, ‘Why are you serving in this ministry? Because every time I see you, you talk about people who are dying in Asia or Africa and don’t have the Bible in their language.’”

“I said, ‘I am serving God.’ But he replied, ‘Are you here because you are passionate about this ministry, or because your girlfriend serves here and it’s convenient with your job? You are not going to use my ministry as an excuse to not complete God’s work for your life.’”

“I was shocked,” Roberto shared. “But a few months later, I was no longer with the ministry.”

One day, Roberto saw a flyer on an announcement board at church about a short-term mission trip to El Salvador with Operation Mobilisation (OM). He joined the team sharing the gospel there, and later attended volunteer meetings and missions mobilisation events in Costa Rica. He also went on mission trips to North Africa and Taiwan.

However, Roberto struggled with the idea of joining missions full-time. “I was worried, because by then I was engaged. I knew God was calling me to missions full-time, but my fiancé didn’t want it. She loved to serve God, but she had different plans unrelated to missions.

Eventually they made the painful decision to break their engagement.

“After that, I asked God, ‘If I quit my job, I won’t be able to pay my bills. Please do something in my work.’ A month later, I learnt I was going to be laid off. It was my answer from God, because I could live for a year with unemployment insurance after losing my job.”

“I joined OM in Costa Rica full-time in April of 2018, where I now work in operations, fundraising, administration and with short-term teams who come to Costa Rica to serve. Our focus is raising up missionaries to send to the least reached.”

After over a year as a support-raised worker, God has provided financially in many different—and unexpected—ways. Roberto isn’t worried about the future. “God will provide. He’s my boss. I have a great job because I have the best boss. He is taking care of me.”

Through his journey to joining full-time missions, Roberto has learnt to trust God. “God helped me understand that even when things are hard, the only thing we need to do is obey Him.  He will do the hard, impossible things. He’s not looking for superheroes. He’s looking for you and me.”

How will you invest your life? Does Roberto’s story inspire you to explore how you can share God’s love with others? Click here for more on what God is doing in Costa Rica and how you can be part of it: https://www.om.org/en/country-profile/costa-rica

Janet decided to follow Jesus at age eight and from then on, she had two passions in life: to know Jesus more and to make Him known. “When you know the love, the grace, the forgiveness, the kindness, the gentleness—when you know those virtues in your own life—you want to share that with others.”

Still, Janet might have been content to share God’s love in her own small British village forever if a group of servicemen from the Arabian Peninsula (AP) hadn’t shown up to test some equipment they had purchased. At that time, she’d never heard the words ‘Islam’ or ‘Muslim’.

Several of the men rented her sister’s guesthouse, and many came to Janet, a hairdresser, for regular trims. Those encounters were a turning point in her life. “The Lord gave me a real love for and interest in the Muslim world,” she said.

The connections continued for years after the men left—through long-distance conversations and visits when they returned to Janet’s village for vacation with their families. Janet began to wonder whether God wanted her to do more with the Muslim world.

A couple of ladies from her church happened to watch a programme featuring OM founder George Verwer on television. When they contacted him, they found out he would be visiting their area a couple weeks later. The women arranged for Janet to meet with him. As she listened to George talk about the work OM was doing, “I just thought my heart was going to burst,” she shared. “I was so excited listening to his story.”

When George left, he told Janet to contact him if she needed anything. But she didn’t plan to follow up. “I knew if I got in touch with him, he would have me in Saudi Arabia the next day,” she said, laughing.

For the next three weeks, Janet prayed that God would take away her urge to get involved in missions if it wasn’t from Him. Instead, it got stronger.

Beginning the journey

Janet’s first visit to the AP on a short-term missions trip was a challenging experience for her. “I just felt unusable, and it was a really difficult time,” she shared. “Yet the other leaders knew my story; they knew what was going on…I remember the man in charge at the time saying to me: ‘Janet, you will be surprised on this trip… I think you will find that you fit in very well.’”

The team visited a local neighbour with nine friends. “When they found out I was a hairdresser, they weren’t letting me leave until I was going to cut their hair,” Janet said. As she engaged with the ladies, she remembered the leader’s words. “God showed me that it doesn’t matter who we are; as long as we’re open and available, He can use it.”

After a few more short-term trips, Janet learnt about an opportunity to serve long-term in the AP by working part-time in a bookshop. “As soon as I came here, I felt like I’d come home,” she said.

As Janet interacted with people—women, students, migrant workers, professionals, retirees—through the bookshop, she realised that God was bringing her those He was already drawing to Himself. In the first six months, three migrant workers who spent time talking to her at the bookshop came to faith and were baptised.

During the beginning of Ramadan this year, Janet sold four Bibles to individuals whom she estimated to be in their late twenties, all “searching for truth and feeling that Islam was not giving them what they’re wanting, what they’re looking for.”

Another young woman who had been talking to Janet for a year and a half finally asked: “Janet, when you’ve been brought up [in Islam] and you know nothing different, how do you know the truth?”

“Ask God,” Janet replied. “If you really are seeking to know the truth, ask God, and He will show you.”

The one-on-one interactions at the bookshop suited Janet, who described herself as an introvert. “I was never brave; I was never adventurous, in fact, quite the opposite. I would say I was very fearful, I felt very inadequate and very weak,” she shared. “I’m amazed that God can even use someone like me.”

“It’s His love that compels me; it’s His compassion that drives me. Just the fact that many here are going to be lost for eternity, having never heard, that’s what propels me,” she summarised. "Even at 52, it’s worth it, just to embark on this journey with Him.”

*name changed

One day, she opened her Bible for the first time in many years, and, flipping through the pages, she broke down in tears. She dialled her father, a pastor in her home village. 

“I have something to tell you,” she said. She had turned her back on God and lied to him about reading her Bible ever since moving away from the village at the age of 14. 

“I know,” he replied. 

Choked with emotion, Noy’s voice softens as she describes what followed: “He said he forgave me. And he said God still loved me and wanted me back.” 

Noy decided to commit her future to God. “I don’t know where and when,” she prayed, but “I promise that when I finish college I will serve [You].”   

Four years later, Noy now works at a café run by OM that provides discipleship training and Bible lessons to people from villages who have come to find work. But her long-term plan has evolved beyond preparing fruit smoothies and iced lattes: She hopes to establish a preschool in the same poor, drug-and-alcohol-ridden village that is home to the people who once threatened to kill her father. Her full-circle journey points to a Father who never gave up on His daughter–a God whose peace banishes fear and whose love triumphs over hate. 

“He loved us and He died for us,” she says. “I want them to understand that.” 

Fear and hate

Animist worship–and fear of the spiritual world–dominated the small village where Noy grew up, in one of the provinces least exposed to the gospel. She remembers watching the yearly sacrifices of pigs and cows to appease the spirits and listening with angst to the screams of the witch doctors. 

Her dad served as a Christian pastor, and the villagers hated him for it. Backed by the police, they tracked his every movement, taunted him for his poverty and threatened to shoot him. Held at gunpoint, her father told the villagers he would die willingly. Instead of responding with fear or anger, he continued to serve the community, offering good news and free rice to the poor.

“I didn’t understand why my dad didn’t hate them back,” she says. “I didn’t know [at the time] why he still loved them.” 

As for herself, the fear and hate felt all too real. Though she learnt about God in Sunday school, Noy avoided telling others about her Christian background, terrified that they would come for her life, too. At school, the classmates who did know about her faith mocked and hit her. 

These early experiences left Noy with a sour view of God, and, by the age of 13, she had grown to hate the villagers who wanted her father’s blood, the father who refused to retaliate and the God who seemed to watch with ambivalence as her family suffered for His cause. 

When Noy turned 14, she asked to move into her uncle’s house in a village with a more secular atmosphere. There, under the loose reins of her non-Christian uncle, she indulged in teenage pleasures and reassured her father with lies. 

This lifestyle continued throughout high school and into her years at technical college, where she finally discovered forgiveness. After committing her life to Christ and graduating from college, she began working at the OM cafe as an intern, eventually deciding to stay long-term. 

During this time, her parents asked her to visit them in their village. She reluctantly consented. She recalls seeing two children in the village, a boy and a girl, both crying. When she asked them why, the girl said she had no money to buy books or pens for school. “I will buy it for you,” Noy told her.  The boy explained that he could not pass his classes. “Just go. You’re still small,” she admonished him. “If you grow up and you don’t study, you won’t have work to do. Then what will you do?” Both children returned to their studies. 

Through this encounter, Noy felt God tugging at her heart to help the many other children in her village, who often grow up malnourished, with parents addicted to drugs and alcohol, and roam without supervision while their caretakers toil in the fields.

But the old fears and hatred remained, threatening to engulf her newfound calling. So Noy prayed to God: “If you want me to go back, make me want to go.”  

'...to love them like God loves us'

Since that day, Noy has returned to her village multiple times and soon will begin basic educational activities with the children. OM has purchased land and is currently processing paperwork to begin building a preschool, which will include outdoor activities, English and art classes and a nutritious lunch. 

God has answered Noy’s request–she says she feels “happy” and “excited” about her work, though the fears have not entirely disappeared, and she has no naivety about what the villagers might do to her. But, when she feels scared, she prays and remembers that “God is with me,” she says. “If something happens, it’s part of God’s plan.” Her attitude towards danger echoes that of her father’s: Life on earth is inherently temporary, she says, so “if I die, it’s OK.”

Thinking back to her childhood in the village, Noy now understands that it was God who filled her father with love for his persecutors. “If God didn’t work in him, of course my dad would hate them also,” she says. Her own hatred towards the villagers has dissolved into compassion as she realises the real reason why they hated her father: “They don’t understand what love is.”

Through caring for the children and conversing with the parents, by her actions and, if possible, by her words, Noy wants to help her village embrace the reality of God’s love, the same love that gave her father boldness, that pursued her wayward heart and that sustains her even now. 

“[I want] to show them that God loves them,” she says. “[I want] to love them like God loves us.” 

*name changed

It’s why they’re on board with their skills, to keep the ship functioning. While on duty they’re also alert to the opportunities this form of service for the Lord can yield.

To show appreciation for and better connect with local contractors they worked alongside in Buenos Aires, the maintenance team held a special lunch and shared the hope that motivates them to serve God at sea.

The team had built a good rapport with the Argentinian welders and fitters who helped with steel repairs to the vessel. On their final day, on the ship’s outer deck, an ‘asado’ barbecue was grilled up for around twenty people. As they tucked into various meats cooked in the traditional way – a feast crewmembers have particularly enjoyed as part of their exposure to Argentine culture – the ship’s plumber, Carlos Alarcon (Argentina), shared a message from the Bible.

“I spoke about Jesus telling us that He is the vine and we are the branches,” says Carlos, who also comes from near to the capital city. “I explained that we operate in His strength and He is the only source of true life and growth – apart from Him we can do nothing.”  

The local workmen were presented with gifts from Logos Hope, including a Bible and keychain each. One welder told the team he had recently been able to buy a car, which he considered a great blessing from God. He said he would hang his car key on the new keychain, as a daily reminder of God’s ship, that he had worked on.

“They really liked our ship,” says Harald Smit (Netherlands), OM Ships’ technical manager. “These people work on different vessels in port all the time, but they told us this was different: our crew was friendly and welcoming; nobody barked orders at them in a pressured way, as can happen on commercial vessels.”

The days they spent repairing Logos Hope gave the workmen an insight into the ship’s mission. They noticed thousands of people queuing to visit and were appreciated by the crew, since their input was enabling the vessel to continue as a tool for God.

“It’s all part of what we do; reaching out to whomever we encounter,” says Harald. “Sometimes volunteers in our marine operations roles may not think they have as many opportunities to connect with the public visiting Logos Hope, but here we saw again that the Lord brings people on board who need to hear about Him and we minister right where we are, in whatever we are doing.”

Mom grew up in a Buddhist household and suffered early on from depression and a lack of purpose, twice attempting to take her own life. But, after hearing the gospel at a Christian youth programme, she committed her life to follow Christ and to help others come to know Him. Events like the VCJF training help teach and remind her of this purpose, she says—“to go and share the gospel and make disciples.” 

Before the VCJF training, she says, Mom focused only on sharing the gospel, without following up and discipling new believers. “[I] didn’t care about whether [the new believers] grew up [in their faith] or shared” with others, she admits. A reality for many Christians who never learn that they have a role to play in discipling others.

Lessons from the training have helped Mom realise the importance of multiplication—training disciples so that “they go and share the gospel, too.” She wants to help new believers mature in their faith, growing beyond the infant stages of their Christian walk. She draws an analogy from her own experience as a mother: We expect physical babies to eventually grow physically and intellectually, so shouldn’t we expect similar spiritual growth from new born Christians? 

Since spiritual growth requires spiritual discipline, the VCJF training focuses heavily on Bible study and prayer, practices that Mom sees as vital to effective ministry. Referencing John 15, she says, “If we want to bear fruit, we must connect with God.” The training has taught her to incorporate prayer and study of the Word both in her own life and in her ministry. 

The VCJF training has also equipped her with a clear plan for her outreaches, she says. 
She and her fellow OM workers make monthly visits to eight different villages where they have established contact, bouncing along rutted roads and bringing Bible lessons, praise songs and English classes. She also organises a Bible study in a nearby slum area, where she prays and fellowships with the women who attend.  Her goal: that they would ultimately “share the gospel to other people” and “train the people like we train them.” 

This vision has found fulfilment in at least two people she has discipled: a mother, Sangmao, and her son, Dorn, a former high-ranking Buddhist monk. During one of the village outreaches, Mom met Sangmao and began studying the Bible with her, paving the way for her to become a believer. Sangmao’s son also eventually made the decision to follow Christ after he saw the transformation in his mother’s life. Today, both Sangmao and Dorn participate alongside Mom in the VCJF training and engage in outreach to communities near their village.  

Mom knows there are many others who still need to hear about Christ and who need further discipleship. She wants to help people—in her family, community and nation—discover the truth that has so radically transformed her own life: “God called you, and God has a plan for you.”

It was early evening in Central Asia. The sun was beginning to set, and dogs were barking in the distance as Cecilia, age 20, and her small team from Logos Hope were led into an underground church—a place where followers of Christ met together in secret to worship.

“Our contact didn’t tell us where we were going,” Cecilia remembered. “We arrived at a specific street, and then we were told to enter a door across the street in pairs. We had to wait several minutes after one pair entered before anyone else could follow them into the house. Eventually, we all ended up in a kitchen. I thought maybe we were there to eat with a family.”

“Then our host opened another door and we entered a large, dark room, empty except for maybe 15 people. It was an underground church.”

Cecilia, who plays the violin, had her instrument with her, but she didn’t know why she’d been told to bring it until she realized they were going to have a church service. “It was my first time playing my violin in Central Asia. Being able to worship like that with the brothers and sisters of the secret church was really special.”

Still, they had to be careful. “They weren’t singing very loud, and they were hiding a little bit. There were two guys standing by a window covered by a curtain at the back of the church. They stood on either side and randomly peeked out, looking to see if anyone was outside and making sure it was still safe.”

This was only one of two opportunities for Cecilia’s team to visit a secret church in Central Asia. “The other time, we went to a Chinese speaking underground church,” Cecilia continued. “It was the first day of Ramadan [a holy month in Islam, where Muslims fast and pray every day until dark], so we fasted and prayed all day together, and then, at dark, we took communion together.

“That was so impactful to me. The majority of the people throughout this country were Muslims and were fasting and praying to Allah, but we were worshipping God. Even though I couldn’t understand everything because the worship was in Chinese, I could feel that they were worshipping with all their hearts. It didn’t matter that we didn’t understand the words; we just connected through the worship. And then afterwards, we all went out together to eat at a Chinese restaurant.

“It was amazing because in my home country of Argentina, there is so much freedom to worship and talk freely about God. But there, in the underground churches, they were like, ‘We need to be careful, because if someone outside hears us, they could go to the police.’ They weren’t afraid, but they were careful.

“The faith of the people I met was so incredible. They are kind of heroes to me, even the teenagers. They might have been the only Christians in their families; they have to hide this fact and attend church also while in hiding, but through it all they are trusting God.

“I want that kind of faith, that I really can believe in the Lord through everything that happens.”

Despite being aware of the need for discretion when talking about Jesus and Christianity, Cecilia felt no fear while she was in Central Asia. “We had to be careful there with what we said, but even when we were out in public, people were so friendly. They just want to make friends like everyone else. In that moment, you can see the people, their hearts, and sense just a little bit of how much God loves them.”

“While in Central Asia, God revealed His heart to me in a powerful way,” she said. “The people there were amazing to me. They really need Jesus, because they are so desperate for something to fill their hearts. Making friends there was incredible, as well as being able to share God’s love with ladies in different situations.

“I have so many stories of meeting people randomly on the street. Maybe it was because we spoke English. The youth there want to go to other countries and study, so when they see tourists, they want to talk with them. We connected with so many people that way.”

Cecilia was surprised and delighted to discover similarities between the cultures of her host countries in Central Asia and hers in Argentina. “They also have honour/shame cultures, where they honour the elderly, leaders, pastors, etc. When a pastor enters a room, everyone stands. Then the pastor stops and sits, and everyone else does too.

“Also, connection over food, community and fellowship is very important there. As Latinos, we do the same thing. We have mate (tea) in Argentina and share food around a table as we fellowship together.

“Respect is a big thing there, just like in my own culture. I felt so welcomed there, because I could understand how to treat people—some of the girls even kissed each other on the cheek, just like the Latin beso (kiss)!”

Now back on Logos Hope serving as an events coordinator for onshore events, Cecilia, who will finish her two-year commitment on board in September, has an even greater appreciation for the freedom she has to worship God openly in Argentina. In addition, she has a better understanding about the reality of what it means to be 'least reached' and in a least reached country. “They have so many needs, but the local church is seeing so much fruit because there are so many people there who need help. However, they cannot do everything alone.”

“I want to keep praying for them and be open in the future to going back there—or even to another place—if it is what the Lord wants,” she said. “After that trip, I understand that nothing is impossible for God. Just go, and if God is calling you, why wait? If that is God’s plan for you, you’ll be able to do more things there for God than where you live.”

The visit to the underground churches in Central Asia made a deep impact on Cecilia. “I know now that whatever career I choose, my focus will be not on doing something for myself, but instead I want to see how I can help people. That is my main desire–to serve the Lord through the job I do.”

Please pray for the local churches of closed countries, especially for those who might be the only Christians in their families. Pray for strength, hope and continued obedience to God’s leading in their lives—and for their friends and family to join them in being Jesus followers!

How does Cecilia’s story of the Jesus followers Central Asia encourage you? How can you pray for and encourage them, even from the other side of the world? Click here to find out more about the least reached in Central Asia: https://www.om.org/en/where-we-work

*name changed

From 2009 to 2012, Doron was on board OM’s ship, Logos Hope, as part of the line-up team preparing the ship visits on shore. He served in three line-up ports: a country in the Middle East, Singapore and India. “In all three ports I was in hopeless situations and at the end of my abilities. God had to do a miracle!” In the Middle East, there was no guest of honour to attend the ship's official opening; in India, pastors were arguing with each other; and in Singapore, 30,000 Euros (33,677 USD) was still missing. “In all three situations I went on my knees and told God that I had tried everything I could, but that He now had to work — and He answered my prayers unbelievably, powerfully and faithfully.”

What am I living for?

Doron was born in Berlin, Germany, in 1990, and grew up in a Christian home. When he became a teenager, he went through a difficult time in his family. It was a time when he personally had to ask himself the question: “What am I living for?”

“It was during this time that I went to TeenStreet [an OM summer youth congress] for the first time and experienced God personally for the first time," he shares. "For the first time, I really understood what He had done for me and my natural answer could only be that if He had given everything for me, I would give everything back to Him.”

Mission in the heart

After finishing school, Doron went to Logos Hope in 2009. There he met Lilian, from Chile. Lilian also grew up in a Christian family. “I gave my life to Jesus when I was 13 years old,” she says. “I served in the church, and although it didn't have much to do with mission, mission was in my heart.” Lilian graduated in public administration and went to Logos Hope in 2008 for two years.

Berlin - London

The two started a relationship in 2010, two weeks before Lilian left the ship. To learn German, she went to Germany as an au pair in 2011. Doron stayed on the ship. “I became familiar with leadership and realised that it was my passion to be close to people and to organise at the same time,” he says. He returned to Germany in 2012, married Lilian and started studying public and non-profit management in Berlin.

Their son, Natán, was born in January 2015, and the family moved to London that same summer, where Doron achieved a master’s degree and worked in a business consultancy. Their daughter, Sofía, was born in 2017. The family had loose contact with OM via friends from the ship. But it hit them totally unexpectedly when they were asked in the summer of 2018 to take part in the selection process for the position of director of OM in Germany.

Too soon?

“At first I couldn't imagine it at all,” Doron recalls.

Lilian adds: “I thought it was a brilliant opportunity that came four years too soon.” But God worked in both of their hearts, so that same evening they came to a conclusion: “If God wants to open a door, we don't want to shut it ourselves.” A few weeks later Lilian was sure: “God is calling us to OM in Germany!” On 1 April 2019, Doron was appointed OM’s new director in Germany.

The new task

Even though Doron holds the title of director, both he and Lilian feel called to this task and have set three priorities: that OM's work in Germany brings God’s love to those who have never heard of Him; that the team in Mosbach is living discipleship; and that this overflows and shapes churches in Germany.

No matter what challenges Doron and Lilian face in the future, they know one thing: They can rely on the God of the Middle East, India and Singapore!

*Exodus 3:16 and Hebrews 11

Please pray for wisdom and guidance from God for Doron and Lilian’s role at OM in Germany. Pray also for them to settle well as a family in Mosbach and to find a church and friends. Pray also for the children to feel at home.

However, due to the financial crisis in Argentina, it seemed impossible. “I prayed: ‘God, if you really want me to go, then let me go!’” Ana Maria shared. 

She kept waiting and praying for her opportunity to go, using her time of preparation to study fashion design and dance–eventually becoming a certified dance instructor. Two years later, God opened doors for her to go and even provided flights for Ana Maria through her Swiss friend’s church.

Then the time came for Ana Maria to take a huge step of faith: leaving Argentina to serve in a completely unknown country for one year. She didn’t speak English or German–only Spanish–and had no money of her own.

Upon arrival in Switzerland, Ana Maria became the au pair of a Christian family. It was not how she imagined herself being a missionary in Switzerland, but it was an opportunity to learn German, fall in love with the country and to see snow for the first time in her life.

A year later, Ana Maria returned to Argentina—but wanted deeply to go back to Switzerland. Again, her wish seemed impossible; however, God told her: “You will go back to Switzerland; take this time to prepare.”

And that is what Ana Maria did because she knew what seemed impossible for her, was possible for God.

Sharing God’s love and hope

One day, Ana Maria received a call from her Swiss friends saying they felt God telling them to purchase a flight for her to return to Switzerland. Little by little, Ana Maria received all the money she needed to return to Switzerland for one year, this time as part of a mission discipleship training with OM at the base in Switzerland.

There she learnt more about her relationship with God and how God can use her willingness to serve Him by sharing His love with whomever she meets. Ana Maria was able to work with refugees, children and in the OM café, but something that came as a surprise to her was using her training as a dance teacher.

Ana Maria was able to share God’s love and hope through her profession by giving dance classes to refugee women. Through teaching dance, she was also able to share how God can change lives.

'Everyone can serve God with their lives!'

Ana Maria never thought that one day she would be able to use her job as a dance instructor to serve God overseas. And that was just the beginning: Ana Maria returned to Argentina and began praying for her future, thinking that she would remain in Argentina, but “God changed my plans!” said Ana Maria. “A woman from my church told me she knew of some Christian workers in the Arabian Peninsula who were looking for help.”

Ana Maria kept praying about her future and after two job interviews it was set: Ana Maria would take her next step of faith—she would go to the Arabian Peninsula to serve God as a dance instructor for two years.

Ana Maria’s concluded: “Everyone can serve God with their lives!” The one thing that guided her through the whole time was, and is, God’s help and providence–He was with her every step of the way.

Please pray for Ana Maria as she continues to serve God through her skills and passion in the Arabian Peninsula.

*name changed for security

Gustavo became a Christian at the age of 20, and during his final year of college, he felt God was leading him to work in the Arabian Peninsula. At one point, he started looking for a job there but the logistics of it seemed so overwhelming.

“I thought it was crazy. I didn’t have enough money. So at that time, I closed that dream and I forgot about it,” he recalled.

“Two years later,” Gustavo continued, “I went to OM’s ship, Logos Hope when she visited Central America. I’d read in the paper that the biggest floating bookstore in the world was coming so I decided to go, to purchase books about architecture."

During his visit to the ship, Gustavo met Nathan, the field leader for OM in Central America, and his wife, Ruth. They invited him to OM activities and then asked if he wanted to serve with the ship when it returned. Gustavo said yes, and spent his weekends doing activities with kids and serving in the bookstore.

One day, Gustavo decided to go to a conference on board titled: What is in your Hands? It introduced the possibility of doing work and mission simultaneously. The speakers there were from Chile, the USA and the Arabian Peninsula.

“When the man from the Arabian Peninsula spoke, I remembered the dream from years earlier about going there,” said Gustavo. “That was amazing. I thought: ‘this is for me.' After the conference, I spoke with him and got his contact information.

“From that moment on, my heart was focused on that dream. I felt a stronger calling,” Gustavo declared. “So I spoke with Nathan again and said: ‘This is in my heart, but I don’t know if I should go long-term now, or even if it is the right time to go.’ That’s when Nathan told me about a prayer journey that they do twice a year in the Arabian Peninsula.”

After that conversation, Gustavo began praying about going to the Arabian Peninsula on a short-term trip.

“One day, I asked God: ‘If this is what you want for me, please answer with three different people confirming it.’” This was important to Gustavo because he had just started his own business and had been given several opportunities for work; something that hadn’t happened to him before. He’d actually earned a year’s worth of wages in two months.

So, unlike two years earlier when he’d tried to go to the Arabian Peninsula, Gustavo had the money. But he didn’t have the answer from God yet.

Over the course of the next two months, three separate people—none of whom knew each other or knew what Gustavo had been praying about—all mentioned something to him about the specific city he’d been praying to live in. It wasn’t an easy process and it took a lot of waiting on God in faith because the final confirmation came just one month before he intended to leave.

The next day, Gustavo started looking into flights and visa information. Once again, he experienced a miracle as God provided a visa within 24 hours, and a flight priced so low even his travel agent was amazed. “She’d never seen a price that low for that part of the world,” Gustavo said.

The Arabian Peninsula

“On board Logos Hope,” Gustavo remembered, “The crew talked about OM in Latin America’s initiative, Ellos son como tu! It points out that there are many similarities between Latin cultures and those least reached with the gospel, even including how people look.

“I experienced that myself—twice—on the way to the Arabian Peninsula. During my layover in Spain, a man started talking to me in Arabic before he realised I couldn’t understand him. And in immigration on my arrival, the officer asked me where I was from. When I said: ‘Central America,’ he replied: ‘No, originally—where are your fathers from?’ I repeated that we were originally from Central America. He said that I looked so much like people in his country that he thought I was from there.”

During the following weeks, Gustavo went to tourist areas in his host country; walking and praying around the area. “You can’t evangelise openly there,” Gustavo recalled. “We prayed everywhere we went. I met a lot of Christian families living and working there—even others from Latin America. One of the Latino workers shared with me things I need in order to prepare for long-term work there: how to share from the Bible, how to prepare for the workplace, things like that.

“I love the architecture of the Arabian Peninsula. I was like a kid in Disney World!” Gustavo said. “On my second day, we visited something that was really special to me: a palace. It was the most amazing thing I’d seen in my life.”

“Then, a few days later, I saw the man I’d met on the ship. He remembered me from the ship and was so excited about how God is sending Latinos to that area of the world as professional workers. He even introduced me to a friend of his, an engineer who is also a Christian. We started talking about life in the region, about being an architect there, and he explained specific things to me about construction and design locally.

“Then I discovered that this was the guy who had designed the palace! Only God could have done that.”

This man also shared some contacts with Gustavo, asked for his number and told him to keep in touch. “I felt so thankful; I believe the connection was God-ordained. This is a key person in that country, and he was helping me possibly take my first steps to work there long-term.”

Back in Central America

Now that Gustavo is back in Central America, he is praying about returning to the Arabian Peninsula. “It is so exciting,” he said. “I always want to do something for God, for His kingdom. And what an amazing thing to work and serve Him at the same time.

“Going as a professional to the Arabian Peninsula is a good thing because they have many of the most modern things in the world. As a professional, you can grow your skills and experience. If you can work there, you can work anywhere.

“When I returned to Central America, I saw an OM video that caught my eye. It’s a story about an architect in the Arabian Peninsula. In fact, when I saw it, I felt like God was calling me to go back. On my trip, God taught me that without Him, you cannot do anything. I mean, you can do things, but with the help of God, it will be more amazing. You will see things you had never imagined before, like me meeting the guy who designed the palace.

“It was also amazing to meet Christians in that area of the world. I now feel more comfortable about possibly moving to a completely different part of the world,” Gustavo shared.

Gustavo’s short-term prayer journey in the Arabian Peninsula has fanned into flame the dream that sparked years ago. Now he is waiting on God to see what’s next, willing and excited to see how God will use Gustavo’s skill as an architect for His glory.

Have you ever thought about using your profession overseas? As an architect, Gustavo can work just about anywhere in the world, and as a Christian, he can share God’s love with others wherever he is. What if you could do that?

For more information about going overseas as a professional Christian worker, contact us here.

*name changed

Kristen Torres-Toro loves to tell stories about what God is doing in the world. She currently serves as a Brand Contributor for OM in Argentina.

The crewmembers also welcomed the church to Logos Hope, to give them a training on human trafficking so they are better equipped to protect their own community or prevent crime.

As part of raising awareness of one aspect of human trafficking – prostitution –  two crewmembers performed a drama where a woman, desperate to find work so she can feed her child, accepts a job in Africa. The woman ends up being assaulted, tied up and forced to sell her body.

One of the actors, Tom* (Germany), explained, “Through this drama, people get more insight of what human trafficking is. There are screams; sometimes a drama provokes more reaction than giving information.” Some of the church members were visibly moved by what they witnessed. In this way, crew want to show that each person who is trafficked had a life and hoped for better before they were trapped in difficult situations.

Pastor Analia Coni said her church is going to pray differently from now on, as they had never realised the scale of human trafficking. “Often, people in our country disappear… People with little means don’t have anyone to guide them,” she says. “They should hear what we learnt. I am so thankful to Logos Hope for all the love we received. Christ needs people like you who give their best.”

The ship donated Bibles to the church, as well as audio Bibles for two members who are blind. Analia told one of the volunteers, “In life we have been treated like second-class people, so we never expected to be treated with such respect. My congregation was in tears and said that this is what heaven must look like; all tribes and nations living in peace and worshipping God together.”

*Name changed

The OM team first made a connection with Besim and his wife, Mirela*, through their two granddaughters, who attended the children’s programme at the Emmanuel Centre. The team at the Emmanuel Centre works primarily amongst the Roma community, sharing God’s love in both spiritual and practical ways. With the Albanian culture placing a huge emphasis on hospitality, the team regularly makes visits to families’ homes, where they are warmly welcomed.

One of these homes was Besim and Mirela’s. Through their visits both Mirela and her granddaughters had become believers, but Besim had not. “At that time, our team was all female,” explains Christine, leader of the Emmanuel Centre team. “Therefore, when we arrived at his house, Beism would excuse himself and leave the house.”

This all changed when Besim suffered his first heart attack. As he tells the story of the event, Besim humorously acts out the way he lay on the stretcher, unable to move. From the joy that he exudes, it is easy to see how his relationship with Christ made an impact on his life.

Besim received good treatment and was quickly able to return home. When he arrived home, the team came to visit. Being unable to leave his bed, he had no choice but to stay and listen. The team talked with the family about the gospel and what it meant to follow Christ. During this time, Besim came to realise that although he hadn’t known God, God knew him and had been watching over him, before and after his heart attack. This revelation led Besim to put his faith in Christ.

With prayer and support from his family and the team, Besim made a good recovery, but Mirela remained concerned for her husband, in case it should happen again. She didn’t want to leave him alone at home, causing an obstacle to her regular attendance at the Emmanuel Centre women’s meeting. The first week that she brought him along, Christine gently informed Mirela why she could not allow Besim to attend the meeting. “If I allow Besim to stay, then the other women may feel uncomfortable about talking openly, and their husbands will not like that a man is there,” explained Christine.

However, she did not want Mirela to miss out on the meeting, so Christine suggested that Besim could sit in the church, above the room in which the meeting was held, where he could read the Bible, pray and worship God.

At first, Besim was hesitant, due to still being young in his faith, but when Christine and Mirela returned to him after the meeting, he was captivated by the presence of God and was reluctant to leave. “Now, this has become a regular thing,” tells Christine. “Every week, he really looks forward to it, and his faith has become very strong.”

Growing in faith

After some time Besim suffered a second heart attack. His experience was like the first, except this time he knew God was watching over him. Before leaving the hospital, Besim was told by the doctors that they had put a stent in and, therefore, it shouldn’t happen again. So, it was unexpected when, recently, Besim suffered a third heart attack. At the hospital, he was surprised to learn that the time before, the stent had not actually been implanted, but was informed that this time it truly had.

Since then Besim’s heart has remained healthy. The OM team continues to meet with him and his family, and he continues to grow in his faith, with a desire to share it with others in his community.

Pray for Besim and his family. Pray for continued health and opportunities for him to share his faith with others. Pray too for the Emmanuel Centre team as they seek to show God’s love to the Roma community.

*name changed

Some believers in the city of Rosario had explained to the crewmembers that churches tend to be separate and can focus on their own denomination or congregation, without often working together as one body. Claude*, who has over 30 years of experience in sharing the gospel around the world, focussed his message on unity. 

Claude explained that Christ is the head of one body, the Church, and that each person who follows Jesus is a member of this body. They are called to work together for one shared purpose. “Strategic partnership in world mission is one of the most important things. We see in Scripture that God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. That community is the example for us. Working together is God’s design from the very beginning,” says Claude. 

The conclusion of his focus on unity was to pass on a message Claude had received personally. He told the audience, “I left my home because God said, 'My Church in Latin America is ready.' Ready to send and support missionaries, having previously mainly received them.”

A crewmember from Western and Central Asia shared his perspective on the personal sacrifices made by those who become followers of Jesus from other religious backgrounds. Claude affirmed this, telling the audience, "More people are coming to faith in Christ through dreams and visions… As they get God’s Word and relationships with Christians, they are beginning to grow and even share the gospel too.” 

Camila Babativa (Colombia) ended the meeting by asking for those who were willing to go into mission to stand. More than 20 people rose from their seats, declaring their intention share the gospel further.

*Name changed.

“Before we go out to speak to women on the street and in brothels, we always pray the verse, which says: ‘Greater is He that is in you than he who is in the world,’” shared OM outreach worker Sara*. “It’s a declaration that the light of Jesus in us is stronger than the darkness we go into.”

Sara and OM partners held on to this truth during special Easter outreaches in Central Europe. Small outreach teams talk to ladies each week; however, on this occasion they sought to reach more women, bringing gifts to over 750 individuals. They offered Easter eggs together with a leaflet, which communicates the hope found in Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection. The leaflet was designed by OM EAST’s literature and media ministry and written specifically for those in red light areas.

“The ladies definitely received our gifts happily and we had quite a lot of personal talks,” reflected Sara. “It was hard work, but God gave us strength.”

In one brothel, Sara found Janka* alone. Sara has known Janka for years, but, for the first time, they were able to have a deeper conversation without being watched. “I came to faith through the literature you gave me,” Janka told Sara, sharing some of her journey from the past few years. “Later, in my despair, I called to Jesus; I asked Him to help me and He heard me.” Janka felt Jesus’ presence and she received strength and hope. Since then, she has taken steps towards being able to leave prostitution. “I believe in God—He is real and obviously leading me,” she added.  

“It was special to meet Janka,” said Sara. “Usually it is a long road for individuals leaving prostitution because they are traumatised and there are many consequences. The Holy Spirit needs to, and can, help them—we have seen this happen.”

“For people coming out of prostitution who were not protected from many things, there is a lot more to deal with from the past,” considered OM worker Simon, who designed the leaflet. “But it’s like all of us who come to faith; we decide to follow Jesus and then the process of growing starts, like a plant that needs watering and nurturing.”

Sara and her colleagues continue to speak to ladies, build trust and give them contact details. “Relationship is key in helping healing take place—that’s why we do what we do,” she said. Recently Sara gave her name, and phone number to Nadia*, pronouncing her name clearly. “No,” Nadia replied. “Your name is ‘mama’,” and proceeded to type “mama” into her phone.  

“Even though we don’t see it, we know Jesus is in us,” said Sara, referring again to the verse of Scripture. “It is His kindness, friendliness, love and life reflected in us to those we meet.”

Praise God that in Him there is light, strength and hope! Give thanks that Jesus hears prayer and responds to people in their time of need. Please pray Janka and others will experience God’s provision in enabling them to find freedom.

*name changed

How did you hear of OM?

Jose: I came to know the Lord when I was around 13, and the person who shared the gospel with me was (at that time) the field leader of OM in Argentina. When I was around 17, the Lord gave me the passage Luke 14:25-27: “Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 'If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.'" (NIV)

I felt like God was calling me to something else in my life. He said: ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple has to leave certain things,’ and there were some requirements I didn't fit at the time.

I went to my leader, and I said: “I see this passage, and I am beginning to see that the things of this life can’t fill me up. I don’t want to have a normal life with the things of this world. I want something else.” 

I started to be more involved with OM and also went to different fields in countries around Argentina serving with OM there as well.

What brought you to Southeast Asia? 

Jose: I actually never thought I’d come here, but then I joined a programme of OM in Asia called the Asian Challenge Team (ACT). In this programme, you have to spend a year in two different countries in Southeast Asia. So I did that, and while in my second year, my leader asked if I wanted to help start this programme in a different Southeast Asian country. So I prayed and I decided to go.

After that, I began to realise God wanted me to be here, that He had been preparing many things beforehand for me to serve in this country.

What are you doing in Southeast Asia? 

Jose: There are a lot of opportunities to share the gospel here, but we need the right way to do this because we are in a closed country, so we have a coffee shop. The purpose of it is to help us stay in the country with visas, but this also helps us be near the people of our community.

I can’t go up and share the gospel with a person outside on the street, but inside the cafe, we try to approach them in a way that is most secure for them and for us as well. Having the cafe also lets us employ locals from surrounding villages, people, who if they don’t receive help in the form of jobs, they will end up in prostitution or something like that. We give them housing and a job, share the gospel with them and disciple them.

This is more than just teaching the Bible, even though that is so important. We need to be with them, to help them and to help them make decisions. Sometimes we even have to teach them how to dress for employment and also how to have healthy relationships.

Some of them come from villages where they have nothing and they don’t know anything about the outside world, so we spend a lot of time with them teaching and helping them understand the world today.

How did your life in Argentina prepare you for overseas work? 

Jose: When I was a teen, I had many jobs. I worked in coffee shops and as a carpenter, and many of those things I use now in my ministry in Southeast Asia. 

What is one story you can share from your time in Southeast Asia?

Jose: In the discipleship that we do, we have around 15 young people. Twelve are working in the cafe and in the part of the discipleship, and we have been discipling them for three years. Some of the girls have grown in their faith and are more mature, so we’ve been able to put them in leadership and in different roles in the cafe.

We were even able to send one girl to work on the ship! This was a girl who had a lot of potential, but no one in her family or village could see that. So I started to encourage her that she needed to do something else for God—that He gave her a lot of potential to do something else. We found out a dream of hers was to meet people, help them and to help bring them to God. So I talked with my leader and asked if we could send someone to the ship, then I encouraged and challenged her to go.

At first, she didn’t want to go, but then God showed her she needed to go. Now she is on the ship and she is doing really well. They are even preparing her for some leadership roles there!

With the ship being in Argentina this year, it means ministry has come full circle. I came from Argentina to Southeast Asia, and now there is someone who we discipled in Southeast Asia on the Ship in Argentina, sharing God’s love in my home country.

What are some challenges in your service country? 

Jose: 1. Education: Because I am in a closed country, one way the government tries to control the people is by not giving a good education. So most of the people don’t know and understand a lot of things that happen in the world, because the government also tries to manipulate the decisions of the people. Many people from villages have their own perspective of the world. They think the only thing they need is money. If the government gives them a small amount of money, they will give everything up just to have it.

2. Drugs: My country is one of the biggest growers and exporters of opium. About 80 per cent of the population are addicted because there isn't a good medical system here. Many people use opium to solve health or psychological problems.

3. Prostitution and Sex Trafficking: Many teenagers are being taken across borders for prostitution. People come to our country and tell them they will be given a job in a different country. Those who leave with them end up being sold in prostitution.

There are a lot of young people who want to come out of this system. They don’t want their future to be someone who was prostituted or addicted to drugs. They want a good life where they can achieve something. They want opportunities. So when we started to do discipleship and give them opportunities to make good decisions, I started to see a lot of change in these young people. We are seeing God work in their lives. We’ve been teaching them that God has a purpose for their lives, so many of them are focusing on finding their purpose. They are realising that they can do what God wants them to do.

This is a good example of how serious it is in this country because many young people end up doing things that aren’t good. So when they see these young people doing what God told them to do, it is a really good example and testimony that others can do it too.

What is something God has taught you during your 10 years with OM?

Jose: I have learnt that God takes time in our lives to prepare us for the future. I’ve been in missions for 10 years, serving in different countries, but today I can see many of the things God was doing in my life before I came to Southeast Asia was to prepare me for the season I am in now—like working in cafes and learning carpentry work. Because God has a purpose in this country, and He placed me here and I have to be faithful to what He wants me to do here.

Like Jose, do you have a talent or skill (like working at a coffee shop or carpentry skills) that you can use to serve God overseas? What if God gave you those opportunities and abilities in order to do them as ministry? 

Contact us to explore what it could mean for you to share God’s love overseas through your occupation!

*Name changed

Kristen Torres-Toro loves to tell stories about what God is doing in the world. She currently serves as a Brand Contributor for OM in Argentina.

But then things happened to silence those nagging doubts, like the time Saskia went to visit a Gypsy family in their home. Although her spoken Albanian was barely good enough to keep the conversation going, Saskia and the family ended up singing worship songs and dancing Albanian dances together. “The joy I saw in their faces that day reminded me why I am here,” recalls Saskia. “I might not have been able yet to tell them about God’s love, but He let me show it and let me spread His joy amongst His beloved children.”

One or two months later, at one of the first Roma and Gypsy youth meetings that she attended in Albania, Saskia met a teenager called Elira*. She had an indefinable ‘something’ which made her stand out from her peers. Although most of the girls who go to the OM meetings regularly attend school, Elira was in and out of school, living in one area and then another with various relatives. Would her earlier dreams of an education ever be fulfilled? More importantly, would she become a wholehearted follower of Jesus?

Fast forward about a year from meeting Elira, Saskia had learnt enough Albanian to be able to lead a discipleship group for the Roma/Gypsy teenage girls, and things were changing in Elira’s young life. After a failed attempt in going to school in Durrës, a coastal city in Albania, Elira was back living in her home town. She eventually started meeting one-on-one with Saskia to study the Bible after the other girls had stopped attending the discipleship group. In September 2018, Elira went back to high school and joined a newly-founded church in town, even getting baptised last October!

Saskia has now finished her commitment with OM, but what a privilege to have journeyed with Elira in this way, as the heart of this ministry is to see the lives of the Roma/Gypsy people transformed by Jesus. Saskia was amazed how God changed Elira in the few years that she had known her — transforming her from a troubled teenager to an excited follower of Jesus!

Please pray that Elira would finish high school and grow in the Word as she serves at her local church.

Pray for Roma/Gypsy girls like Elira and those who had been a part of Saskia’s discipleship group for God to be their first priority. It can be incredibly difficult for Roma/Gypsy girls once they are engaged or married to be as free to be a part of meetings or to pursue their education. Pray that Elira will one day marry a believer who will encourage her to pursue most importantly Jesus, as well as education or whatever path God is leading her towards.

Please pray that new OMers will have persistence and success as they study the Albanian language, which can be very difficult for foreigners to learn.

Praise God for times of encouragement which help them see that in His wisdom, God can use them anyway, however they feel!

*name changed

Emmanuel Schwartz (France) spoke to students in a park and met two teenagers with whom they had deeper conversations. When the young men, Marcos and Joaquin, heard that the volunteers were from Logos Hope, they were interested in knowing more about their lives and experience.

One of the local men, who comes from a Christian family but isn’t a believer, was moved by Emmanuel’s story: He explained that he had gone through a phase of struggle and had been living what he called a ‘double life,’ but that God had changed him. Emmanuel said later, “Now I am in mission and to the guys, that is amazing.” One commented that Emmanuel’s coming on board was a miracle.

Marcos and Joaquin asked if they could see Logos Hope and were eager to hear more about the volunteers’ backgrounds and journey. They asked many questions; wanting to know if it is possible to be a Christian without going to church; what being a ‘Christian’ really means; what ‘mission’ is; and other subjects.

“Our testimonies were appropriate; both guys were touched,” Emmanuel recalled, realising that God had placed the right people in their path. “Their reactions to our stories and the fact that they were interested, even though they weren’t Christians, showed me God was at work,” he said.

Before saying goodbye, the teenagers said, “We will remember meeting you for our entire lives.” The team agreed that they felt grateful for the impact they could have on the people they met on this somewhat improvised day of ministry. “God knows what is best and He knows the best way to use us,” Emmanuel concluded. The crewmembers learnt that even in unplanned circumstances, God is sovereign and will work with ready hearts.

Even though Rachel had experience in the Middle East and a strong understanding of Islam, she found it difficult to build bridges with the Arabs in her community in England. It was when she took a little puppet show to a local park that she found her new strategy: Through kids ministry, she was able to make connections with whole families from least reached people groups. Using stories, rather than academic arguments, she found the barriers between her and her Arab neighbours were breaking down.

“Story-telling is a big part of Arab culture,” says Rachel. “I usually start with Old Testament stories that they might be familiar with and then work my way through the Bible. I want to point them to Jesus.”

Rachel has been working with some of the mothers from her church to organise more puppet shows for the local community. One of their events was a 'Light Party': an alternative family event to Halloween. Dozens of children and parents from the diverse neighbourhood attended. The team put on an entertaining evening with games and a puppet show and shared that they didn’t need to fear darkness because Jesus is the light of the world.

As part of the 'Light Party' celebration, the team accompanied children around the local area, not to collect sweets, but to give out candles. They approached a barbershop run by some Arab men, who were a little suspicious at first. “No, no,” they said. “We don’t want to buy anything from you.”

When the children explained that the candles were a gift celebrating Jesus, the men were delighted. They not only accepted the candles but also gave each child a little money. “This is a wonderful idea!” they enthused.

One little girl was so moved by what she heard at the party that when she met other children dressed as witches on the bus home, she informed them that they should be celebrating Jesus instead. “Don’t you know He’s the light?”

Thank God for the way the children’s ministries have been welcomed among Arab families in the UK. Pray that the families would hear the gospel communicated in a way they can understand, and that they would respond to Jesus for themselves.

*name changed

**Joshua Project estimates

The vessel has emerged from six weeks of scheduled repair work and renewal of maritime licences at a shipyard in Montevideo.

Two hundred and fifty non-technical members of crew vacated the ship to allow 130 of their colleagues room to work on a job list of more than 500 tasks. These ranged from lifeboat repair and testing to cleaning and re-chlorinating the water tanks, installing a new transient power supply, repairing the vessel’s emergency generator and laying new soft-play flooring on the outdoor ‘fun deck’ for the children who live on board.

The Ship Ministry’s Technical Project Manager, Matt Blair (Australia), says: “It takes a lot of planning to manage our deck and engine crew working alongside the shipyard and other sub-contractors and sequencing their tasks in such a way that we do not get in each other’s way. I’m glad we have such quality leaders taking responsibility for the areas they were assigned. Morale has been high and we are grateful to everyone who has supported, prayed and encouraged us.”

The International Café on Logos Hope’s Visitor Experience Deck has also undergone extensive refurbishment. The space offering refreshments and promoting connection with crew has more than doubled in size and now has new flooring, furniture, kitchen equipment and will be able to cater for more guests than before.

It’s Harald Smit’s (Netherlands) job to negotiate arrangements with shipyards and suppliers, including timeframes and prices. He’s grateful that the ministry received a discount from the Uruguayan dockyard and enjoys each opportunity to introduce others to the unique concept of Logos Hope.

“Four fishing vessels were being worked on alongside us,” says Harald. “Their crewmen were from East Asia and had been at sea for almost two years without access to facilities like the internet. It was great to see members of our crew who could speak their language connecting with them right away; about food from their countries and the hope that motivates us to serve God from this ship. The Asian seafarers were excited when we gave them each a gift and a copy of The Jesus Film in their language. It was really neat to discover people who might otherwise be hard to reach were berthed right beside us,” he says.

Once the maintenance and clean-up was complete, Logos Hope held a celebratory meal to thank the workforce. Containers of books and food were loaded and fuel was pumped on board.

As the rest of the ship’s community returned to Montevideo, there were joyful reunions with colleagues who had been serving with Operation Mobilisation and other ministries across Latin America and around the world. Catching up on each others’ adventures, crewmembers have been reorganising their cabins and settling into ship life once more. They are now on a short voyage to Rosario, Argentina, where the freshly-painted ship will be open to the public throughout the month of June.

Now, with churches filled and thousands of people coming to faith, the couple recognise a new need: believers in Algeria know about Jesus, but they don’t know about missions.

Algerians for Missions, Youssef and Hee Tee’s new ministry passion, aims to send out 1,000 Algerians for missions by 2025 within Algeria and beyond. By the end of 2018, Youssef reported that 130 Algerians had already been sent on short-term trips.

To facilitate this process, Youssef and Hee Tee advocated for, fundraised and oversaw the building of a new missions training centre: the Timothy Mission School. “That building, as far as I know, is the first in the whole Middle East and North Africa that recruits Muslim-background believers, trains them and sends them out for missions,” Youssef stated.

They inaugurated the building in December 2017 and immediately put it to use. “When we finished the mission building, we invited all the construction workers to come inside, and we shared the gospel with all of them (Christians and Muslims), and now quite a few of them want to come to church,” Youssef said.

With 18 rooms and three apartments, the building can accommodate about 72 students. Though there are still walls to be painted, floors to be tiled, heat and gas hook-ups to complete and a garden to be outfitted, the space has already been a blessing to the community. People regularly stop by the centre for prayer and pastoral care throughout the week, culminating with prayer and fasting every Friday. “Prayer and deliverance are a huge ministry. A lot of people come from many different backgrounds, tough relationships with parents, families, all kinds of things,” Youssef explained. “One of the greatest needs is a safe place where people can come and feel confident that the trust is there. By God’s grace we are building the place.”

Between June and August, the building will be available for churches across Algeria to rent for summer camps, seminars and retreats – a great benefit for groups who previously struggled to find venues that would rent to Christians.

Developing a local missions school was not only strategic but also necessary. “Algeria is very hard to get a visa to come to, and it is very hard to stay as a missionary, so we have to work with the nationals,” Youssef noted.

The inaugural class of nine students already graduated from the Timothy Mission School in June 2018, with a second round of six full-time students taking their place. Drop-ins are also encouraged, so up to 15 people often sit in on the lessons.

“There is huge potential to send out,” Youssef said. “I believe that we’re coming into the stage where we are seriously, practically training and getting teams ready to go.”

In 2019, Algerian short-term teams are preparing to go to places such as Mauritania, Tunisia, Lebanon and Niger. Several workers will also go to Tunisia to serve long-term. One Algerian believer has joined the Near East field’s Arab internship programme, designed to equip people to serve in the least-reached places on the field, which includes Lebanon, Jordan, Syria and Iraq. Two missions organisations plan to visit Algeria to recruit ten Algerians to join them in the Near East as well.

“Truly God has a special plan for the Algerian church, and He is putting all the puzzles together to accomplish His plan,” Hee Tee said.

Praise God for the many doors he is opening for Algerians in missions. Please pray that He would provide financial support for the Timothy Mission School and for the Algerian brothers and sisters willing to serve in other countries.

As a teenager trying to negotiate life without a parent's guidance, she fell in with the wrong crowd. They trafficked her and Anea was sold for sex repeatedly. When she first met an OM worker two years ago, she was in despair, but not yet willing to take radical steps to change her life.

Then she got pregnant. Anea was living with the father of the baby, but when she told him she was pregnant, he said he had never loved her and was engaged to someone in Western Europe. He said that his fiance had found out about Anea and was sending her brothers to kill her and that she could stay with him until the baby was born, but then was it. When Anea's water broke, he threw her out of the house and told her never to come back. He refused to take her to hospital, so, in desperation, Anea called a taxi.

With a new baby in her arms, Anea's choices were stark. Her grandparents had said she could come back, but only if she gave the baby to an orphanage. The alternative, so Anea thought, was homelessness; but she already loved the baby and refused to abandon it. The hospital took her to a local shelter where they taught her to care for the baby. When the government cut funding to the shelter it was suddenly closed. Again, Anea had nowhere to go with her tiny baby.

She got a taxi from the shelter to House of Joy. The staff were surprised to see a teenage girl with a tiny baby in her arms standing on the doorstep. Anea and her baby have been part of the House of Joy family ever since.

Anea's baby has given her the motivation to really change her life around and commit to everything that the programme at House of Joy has to offer. Anea is determined to give her daughter a better life than her own. She is studying hard and hopes to finish her school exams and continue in education. She knows that the House of Joy is a real family; they love her, and she has a home with them.

There are so many girls like Anea in Kosovo, trapped in a cycle of abuse and rejection. House of Joy is the only long-term reintegration centre in the country. Thanks to your prayers and support, it is able to continue to offer hope to those who are in such desperate need.

“We’d been working in Australia [for awhile], so we were praying about how we’d return to Ireland,” David recalled.

Cheryl suggested looking at roles with OM. “We were open to whatever, although we were looking for roles specifically suited to us. At the time, [OM in Ireland] was looking for a youth coordinator and an operations worker with gardening experience. These were the specific jobs we’d been looking for.”

Starting in January 2012, David and Cheryl served with the team at Lacken House. During the next three years, God trained and prepared them for a big step in their future ministry.

“By May 2015, the Lord was putting church planting in Ireland on our hearts,” Cheryl said. “Alastair [OM in Ireland’s national director] approached us about the Philippian Project, which was hot off the press at the time. David kept saying ‘It’s going to be horrible to leave the church we’re attending.’ Then in January 2016, he came home from church one day and said: ‘I actually believe it’s [our church in Ballinasloe] we’re meant to work with.’ David then contacted our pastor, who’d been praying that we would want to come work alongside the church.”

David and Cheryl transitioned into the Philippian Project with their local church at the end of February 2016; Irish witnesses to the community. The Philippian Project places couples or families with a local church to serve full-time, providing the church with support to grow and thrive.

“My heart was there,” David shared. “I knew that the Lord was asking me to get to know these people. I was trying to meet people who were living in the town or connected with the church. I have gotten to know them and work with them in the community. Then they get to know who I am. Through that witness, I can talk to them about the church and about the Lord.”

“In the past couple years,” Cheryl added, “we’ve seen a vulnerability in folks in conversations that we wouldn’t have seen [without being based in town]. We love that you have one Gospel conversation at a Horse Fair, see that guy later, and are able to invite him over for a cuppa to answer his questions.”

The church recently moved to a new building in the town centre which means an opportunity for more interaction, and impact, in the community.

“Key people who are known throughout the town have been dropping in,” David said. “The Lord is bringing people in and weaving this thing together for us. We’ve got a new building and a few new believers. We want to see families transformed in our town and Jesus being lifted high.”

“The more concentrated time we spend in a community,” Cheryl noted, “the more we realise that the fields are ripe. There’s a real beauty in the local church, in knowing that He’s going to work through you. It’s the Lord’s work, church, body, all these various little pockets. Everyone [in Ballinasloe] is feeling a bubbling that God is going to work through His Spirit.”

For David and Cheryl, God brought them from Lacken House to Ballinasloe where they now serve and faithfully wait to see how God will move in their town.

“We’re not [totally] prepared,” David said, “but God is.”

Santa Cruz is Bolivia’s largest city. In one of its poorest neighbourhoods, we partnered with an initiative that cares for children and their mothers. Kids can come every Saturday and receive food (physical and spiritual), while their moms attend different workshops; such as sewing, personal care and how to make the most of the little income they earn.

Our contact, Vanesa, told us that her mother started this ministry more than 10 years ago but when she passed away, Vanessa didn’t know how to continue it. “It was really difficult, not just taking care of these children, but teaching the mothers,” she said. “I didn’t feel prepared because I am not a mom yet, so I thought that they wouldn’t accept my advice.” With the help of her sister and some other members of their church, these ladies continued the outreach and as we helped out, we could see that the kids are blessed by it.  

We also spent time with Kairos Church, working in indigenous communities where children are suffering in many ways: their fathers may be in the grip of drugs and alcohol, mothers can send their children to beg in the street, or their parents may be in jail. Eleven-year-old girls are having babies of their own. These are some of the circumstances the girls we met had faced before they were rescued and brought to a safe house.

The church houses them in groups of no more than twelve people and is developing a scheme of adoption for the girls when they turn 18. Christian families will take in a girl at that stage, so she doesn’t have to worry about paying rent and buying food, but can focus on studying and getting a job. It’s also an opportunity to live with a real family.

We spent afternoons with these beautiful girls; helping them with their homework and English classes. We played games, they showed us some of their traditional dances. Our time encouraging them with the love of Jesus blessed us so much and we unexpectedly received so much love back from them.

In another city, we joined a project that was started by a British missionary twenty years ago. It relies on donations to take care of children whose parents are in prison. Some of the kids even live with their mothers inside the jail, which is permitted until the child is seven years old.

Volunteers pick the kids up from school and bring them to a centre where they have lunch and then help them with their homework. Most importantly, the volunteers teach the children about God and read them Bible stories. Our team was impressed that the kids are learning about different countries and missionaries around the world, and when we introduced ourselves with our flags, the older ones knew each of the countries we come from. We taught them how to share about Jesus’ sacrifice for us by folding and tearing a piece of paper to make the shape of a cross.

During this month away from the ship, I celebrated my 22nd birthday. My birthdate was also my 100th day since I left home to volunteer with Logos Hope. I shed some tears the day before, as I realised I would spend the occasion far from Argentina and away from not only my natural family, but also from my new family – the community on board the ship.

I worried about how the day would unfold, because back home, I’m the one who decides what to do, where to go, what to eat... but this year everything was out of my control. I was nervous that my day would be boring, that no one would notice it was my birthday, that I wouldn’t like the food… But in reality, it was so different!

I received video greetings from so many people: my family and friends in Argentina and my ship family, spread out all around the world. The people on my team here in Bolivia bought snacks and treats and I had a special lunch with the pastor’s whole family. My birthday cake was the biggest I’ve ever had. Everyone sang happy birthday in Spanish, English, French, Portuguese, German and Quechua! A group of kids appeared suddenly in a square, giving free hugs. We visited children in a hospital; in a burns unit and a cancer centre. It was so humbling and rewarding to share Christ with them in their situation and to witness one young boy accept Jesus into his heart.

I realised that I have had 21 years trying to plan the best birthday ever – and I just needed to leave everything in God’s hands to have it!

It has been challenging, but the Chibuye family has grown even more in love with the village as they see God working through their obedience to stay.

Crocodile Island, which is shaped like a crocodile, is an island that consists of four different fishing villages on Lake Tanganyika. There is one community school and no clinic on the island, which is a half-hour public boat ride away from Mpulungu, the main town on the Zambian side of the lake. If one misses the boat, the only way to town is by paddling three hours. The people on the island are known to hold tight to witchcraft for fishing, successful businesses and physical protection.

There were churches on the island, but no pastor was willing to stay and help the people grow spiritually. Occasionally, pastors would visit on a Sunday to preach, but without a strong Christian influence, the issues of witchcraft, polygamy and drunkenness were still common in the churches. Realising the need for biblical role models, OM partnered with a church in Mpulungu to send a local couple, Kelvin and Florence, to Crocodile Island as missionaries in 2016.

At first, the Headman of the village was not open to receiving the couple. He couldn’t believe that outsiders would be willing to stay on the island with a pure motive of sharing God’s love and truth. “The Headman said that he would beat us until we explained why we wanted to stay,” said Howard Sichilima, an OM worker who first surveyed the village. Understanding the need for a spiritual breakthrough from God, the OM team went with Kelvin to fast and pray on the island before they officially moved in.

The couple wants to make sure that people from all backgrounds have a chance to experience the love of God. They don’t want people to just attend church but experience a real transformation from God in all areas of their lives. From house visits to youth and children’s ministry, leadership development to Self Help Groups, they make sure people on the island have opportunities to grow. Every night, there is Bible study and prayer time at their house that is open to all on the island.

Ministering through prayer

In the beginning, people were sceptical about the couple and some even tried to stop their work. However, God protected the Chibuye's without them even knowing.

Kelvin and Florence always seek to love their neighbours. As a result, people have started to ask for prayer. One neighbour who originally was sent to teach about Islam on the island came to know Jesus himself. 

One night, an unconscious young man, David*, was brought to the couple's house. They started to pray for him and continued overnight. “He was troubled by evil spirits and later on we learnt that he was practising Satanism,” said Kelvin. After David came to his senses, Kelvin invited him to stay with them for a while. “I wanted to make sure he understood what had happened and start to live a life right with God.” 

“I am so sorry for what I did to you,” David said to Kelvin and Florence. David shared that he had tried to attack their house. “When I came the first time with my group, we saw a wall of fire surrounding this house. We were not able to harm you.” The couple were amazed at how God had protected them. They forgave David and visited him regularly to help him grow in his faith.

David was baptised and has started sharing his story with other youth.

Challenges

Running a small business on a small island has not able to fully support the Chibuye family. However, the financial challenge didn’t deter their passion.

Now, they work in town for a few days during the week and then go back to the island on Friday and remain there until Monday. The weekend has a packed schedule of ministry.

Over time they have developed young believers to stand on their own and to help with the work. Many share their testimony to others of how God has set them free from drinking and witchcraft. Even the Headman who once was against the family is now open to know more about the Bible. 

*name changed

Dorothea Clapp gave a Gospel of John to one of these students and later he decided to follow Jesus. The student's name was George Verwer, who shortly afterwards founded OM. Dorothea Clapp remained a faithful prayer partner of George Verwer and OM for another 30 years.

Prayer remained a basic part of the growing work of OM. Thus, for example, the ships ministry of OM came into being after years of prayer. Until today, prayer is very important for George Verwer. Wherever he speaks, he prays for the world. In his article "Whatever happened to the prayer meetings?”, which he wrote about 40 years ago, he urgently directs the attention to the importance of prayer.

“We must recognise that an organisation like OM that serves in the frontline of spiritual ministry cannot exist without the covering of prayers," confirms Lawrence Tong, International Director of OM since 2013. “OM was birthed and sustained by prayer and will continue to subsist through the prayers of God’s people. We cannot neglect this spiritual truth.” So OM teams all over the world still meet for prayer meetings and countless prayer partners all over the world support the OM work in prayer.

Prayer makes a difference–and the apparently inconspicuous prayers of a woman became a worldwide missionary organisation. Your prayer can also make a difference and we would be happy if you continued to support the work of OM in prayer!

"Prayer is the most important thing and the foundation of everything we do here. We have already experienced some awesome things: healing, liberation, provision. As a team we learn more and more to listen to the Holy Spirit and get pictures, visions, but also insight into other people's lives. We have found out that prayer and fasting have tremendous power." – Stephan Schmidt, who is establishing the OM work in Lesotho

“When we think of wanting to see vibrant communities of Jesus followers among the least reached, prayer is not just critical but core. It is core because it reinforces our dependence on Him but more importantly it highlights that the mission is His. 'The harvest is plentiful' highlights the promise. 'The labourers are few' highlights the need. Pray therefore that the Lord of the Harvest highlights the call." – Seelan Govender, CEO of OM Ships International

"TeenStreet is an event with over 4,000 people from about 20 countries and we feel that prayer for the youth at TeenStreet is the most important thing. We hope that young people in Europe will be hungry for a personal relationship with Jesus and that they will take responsibility for this relationship and follow it up. But it is also a challenge to make TeenStreet a safe and well-organised place and so, despite all the work, the blessing, favour and protection of Jesus is what we depend on." – Hanna Schultz, TeenStreet Europe leadership team

"I live in a rural area where I, as a foreigner, am not allowed to go to church or speak openly about my faith. That’s why prayer is important. Some local believers tell us about the churches and how we can pray for them. Many of these new believers face pressure to either recant or are told to leave their village. Through prayer, we trust in a God who is greater than our limits." – Paul A.*, worker in a closed country

*name changed

Saskia was, at that time, a new OMer from Germany working in the town of Lushnjë with the Roma and Gypsy community–a marginalised people group whom OM in Albania has worked with for over 15 years doing kids’ clubs, Bible studies, house visits, providing material help, offering support in educational development and running youth meetings which was where Saskia found herself. Saskia–to whom everything and everyone was still new–found 16-year-old Elira outstanding.

Elira lived with her grandmother and was a troubled girl. After some time, Elira just up and left Lushnjë. The OM team did not know where she had gone, and heard different stories concerning her whereabouts. Eventually, they discovered she was with her mother in Durrës, a city on the Albanian coast, working in a factory.

This seemed a long way off from pursuing her dream of education. Elira at age 11 had told Christine, the current leader of the Roma and Gypsy Ministry: “I would like to go all the way to university. People in my family want that for me, too.”

Christine then prayed: “God, as long as I am in Albania, I would like to help this girl reach this goal.” Amazingly, OMers in Durrës were able to connect her to a local school; but Elira quit after a short period.

Back in Lushnjë, with winter around the corner, Saskia started a discipleship group with some of the girls from the youth group. She had a special interest in discipling a girl named Kristina* who happened to be Elira's sister. Saskia asked Kristina and one other girl if they would be interested to be a part of this discipleship group; they agreed, and each had a sister they wanted to join as well. By this time, Elira had moved back to Lushnjë after her failed attempt to go to school in Durrës. Later, a fifth girl was added to their group.

Saskia led the girls’ discipleship group in reading the book of John together and was surprised how much Elira, in particular, knew about the Bible. Saskia enjoyed having conversations with the girls and seeing them grow.

However, pretty soon the group started to get smaller. Kristina got engaged and was not allowed to attend the meetings anymore. Two other girls lost interest, and later the fourth girl also got engaged and moved to Greece. Only Elira was still willing and able to attend the discipleship group.

“It was heartbreaking to see the girls leaving or losing interest,” Saskia remembered. “I really wasn't sure if I would like to continue with the discipleship group after the summer break at all. There was not much of a group left.” Saskia, however, received encouragement from God and decided to continue the meetings and focus on Elira.

To Saskia's joy, Elira decided to go back to school in September 2018. Also at this time, Elira began attending a newly founded church and was baptised. Saskia and Elira restarted their meetings in October, and Elira went every week with her Bible and notebook in hand, and the desire to get to know God more in her heart.

Saskia has finished her commitment with OM, but feels privileged to have journeyed with Elira. She was amazed at how God changed Elira in the few years that she had known her—transforming her from a troubled teenager to an excited follower of Jesus!

Please pray that Elira will grow in the Word as she serves with her local church. Also, pray for the other girls who were part of Saskia’s discipleship group—that God would be their first priority (One of them was baptised at the same time as Elira!).

*Name changed

In this article, we hear from one volunteer who felt unprepared for the challenge of prison ministry but relied on God to give her the right words. Schani Wong (East Asia Pacific) shares her story of receiving a powerful picture of freedom in the most poignant place:

I was nervous when the pastor of the church we are partnering with took us along to a women's prison. When they heard we were coming, the inmates were very rowdy. I told my team I didn't feel prepared for this. As we were coming to the end of the programme, I was put on the spot when the leader asked me to share the message of the gospel through the tool of the paper cross. I was reluctant, but I took a piece of paper and began to fold it and tear it, explaining the story of how God redeems our lives.

A commotion developed. Everyone was screaming and shouting; looking out of the window. We saw that two young women were being released from the jail at that very moment. The room lost all control and nobody was paying attention. I stopped speaking as I just didn’t know how to continue and get people to listen again. I prayed to God for help.

As the chaos subsided, God put something in my heart and I was able to say to the women, “I see how happy you are; cheering for your friends who are getting released and gaining their freedom. I know you are looking forward to that for yourself.” A few girls began to cry.

But I said, “This freedom and happiness is only temporary. The only happiness that lasts forever – the truest freedom you can enjoy forever – is in Christ.” I spoke to them about not giving up and that it is ok to have a shameful past, because everything is new in Christ and you can have new hope in Him. By now, most of the room was in tears.

The pastor who brought us to the jail ended our session by inviting the inmates to pray a prayer of repentance and accept the salvation that Jesus offers. They were crying and praying so sincerely. I could see that God was indeed at work: in them and through us. It was an amazing moment where I experienced God speaking through me when I didn’t know what to do, and I thank God for the souls that accepted Him that day.

Today, church planting has come to play an increasing role in the life of OM in Turkey, a country that even in 2019 is still known in mission circles as the ‘most unreached nation in the world’.

One church plant in the East of Turkey—an area best known for its apricot orchards—is a gateway for ministry in the entire region.

“We moved to [the East] specifically because it is literally surrounded by provinces which have little to no access to the gospel. Also, the church is a thriving church, which really wants to reach other provinces for the gospel and is a sending church. We wanted to be part of that vision to send locals and plant churches in every unreached part of the country, particularly in the East,” said worker Berni*, who grew up in Turkey.

After going abroad for university, Berni said the Lord nudged him back toward Turkey—first through some friends that asked him to translate for a Turkish ministry overseas and later to be a representative at a children’s camp facilitated by the same ministry. While there, “the Lord opened my eyes to see the Turkish people, as Jesus said, ‘like sheep without a shepherd.’ I felt that the Lord had blessed me with the language and that I should obey the commandment in Matthew 28 and go!”

Berni’s wife, Carla*, originally wanted to serve amongst the Japanese and studied Japanese literature to help her reach them. But whilst headed to join an outreach in a Muslim country in 2008, Carla’s team got diverted to Istanbul when a war started in their original destination. Hosted by a local family, Carla prayed every day for opportunities to talk to them about Jesus. Those moments made her decide to serve in Turkey instead of Japan, and she returned not long after the outreach.

Berni met Carla in Turkey, and the two got married. “It is wonderful to serve with a person who loves Turkey!” he shared.

“The East is the new frontier for the work as there are millions and millions of people in the East without access to the gospel. So many provinces around us have no churches, no believers and no workers,” Berni explained. “In addition to this, we love the people of this area. They are just so warm and friendly, and you can have a gospel conversation with just about anyone! Why not follow where the Spirit is already in motion?”

Seeing the boldness of new Turkish believers has encouraged Berni in his ministry. One brother, Kadri*, had become disillusioned with Islam when he was 12 years old. A professed atheist, he also led many friends to quit their belief in Islam. Eventually, Kadri met another believer from the church who shared the gospel with him. Though Kadri thought it was ‘crazy talk’, he started having dreams where he heard God tell him, “I am real.” After 30 days of the same dream, Kadri went online to find something about Christianity that he could make fun of. Instead, he found an article on the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus.

“He has never been the same,” Berni described. “He has since shared the gospel with more than 500 people online and continues to preach the gospel with veracity everywhere he goes.”

A somber history

Despite the growth of the church in the East today, the region has a somber history. On April 18, 2007, three men were murdered for their faith in one of the cities.

During the period between 2004 and 2007, workers living there had seen incredible developments. There was a whole family of believers in one city. The children of this believing family married believing brothers and began to serve around the area.

A publishing house was continuously distributing the good news message in many cities as well, with workers seeking to share the gospel and establish churches in many eastern cities.

Of course, all this activity was not overlooked. Police officers continually stopped the brothers in their activities. In many places, there were good and loving officers, some of whom were interested in the church. But there were also those who hated what was going on.

Suddenly, after the murders in 2007, there was almost no one left in the church in the East. Most of the foreigners had to leave, based on the pressure from their mission companies or from their own fears. Local believers were also dispersed.

Still, the dream of seeing the gospel spread in the East of Turkey continued. Before Berni and Carla even arrived, other workers had been praying for many years that this province would become a sending base for foreign and local believers alike.

“The Lord has shown us that as we have been transparent about who we are and what we are doing…, people are more likely to open up and ask about Jesus,” Berni said.

New life

Praise God in the last 12 months, there have been two visible churches planted in eastern cities! One church is currently run by partners, and the workers in a nearby city do BCC follow up for them. The second church is a direct plant born from a partnership of a local church and OM. Currently the building is not big enough to house the entire church for Sunday meetings. The church would like a bigger place to fit all the believers and interested people into one space. The planting church hopes to send a local couple to the new church in order to do evangelism and discipleship in the next couple of months.

Berni and Carla continue to pray for more foreign and local workers in order to plant visible churches in two other eastern cities before the end of 2019. Meanwhile, they meet with people who have requested New Testaments from the BCC and tell them about Jesus. They also do street evangelism and meet new people who are interested in Jesus and then become believers. “We attempt to immediately have them preach the gospel to their friends and family and be in community with other believers,” Berni said. “We want there to be nobody in our area who does not know that there are Christians who they can find out more about Jesus from.”

*name changed for security

“What brought us down to Lacken House?” Alastair Kerr, OM field leader in Ireland, was asked. “The simple answer: God.”

When a fire destroyed the OM office in Donegal in 2006, the team began exploring options for a place near Dublin, a logical location given its high concentration of people.

“We were quite far along in the process when we first heard about Lacken House,” Alastair said. “The day we drew up plans for the new office, we got a phone call about this property owner in the centre of Ireland who wanted to sell to a Christian organisation.”

The 2008 purchase of Lacken House for €1.1 million was a step of faith, but the relocation proved to be a strategic move. Alastair shared how God’s direction held a deeper purpose for OM’s ministry in Ireland.

“God was directing us to areas where others had not focused very much, giving us an opportunity to minister where the need was the greatest.”

Lacken House’s central location allows it to be a gospel presence to the surrounding communities. Ireland’s population is about one per cent evangelical, and many towns have no gospel presence at all.

“Looking at this year’s St. Patrick’s outreach,” Cornel (OM board member) said, “we were distributed over the whole of Ireland. Being central for that is important, because we can bring participants here first for training, and then send them to places like Letterkenny and Newcastle West. It’s also a key point for staff visiting other teams like the Missionary Discipleship Training (MDT) programme or the Philippian Project, because they can go out and back in a day. It’s important for us to be centrally located, because now we can reach more places more easily.”

A haven away

In its ten years in Rahara, Co. Roscommon, Lacken House has been a home away from home for hosting as well as training to equip volunteers, church workers and short-term teams to reach Ireland and the world.

“It’s safe to say that thousands have stayed here since we bought it,” Alastair said. “Our hope is that each person who’s stayed here better understands the spiritual needs of the nation and would leave knowing something of what God is doing here in Ireland.”

Lacken House can easily accommodate large groups up to 30 people, and is tucked away in a peaceful and rural setting.

“We are remote enough that folks can focus on the preparation and training and learn something of the needs here. Lacken House brings a certain tranquillity, a chance for people to get away and actually spend time with God.”

Lacken House is available for local use, a place to rest for anyone who may need to step away for a time.

“We wanted Lacken House to be a bit of a haven away from all the busyness of life,” Alastair said, “somewhere people can come to get refreshed but also mobilised to go back and make a difference in their situations. I would love to see more local believers and pastors come here and spend time being refreshed. It’s so much more than a good experience. There is a certain peace that comes from connecting with God in the beauty of nature around our site.”

Release to reach

Since the beginning of OM in Ireland, there has been the heart to mobilise more Irish believers. However, one of the greatest restrictions at times has been finances, particularly the payment of Lacken House. Over the past ten years, God has provided for 80 per cent of the cost. The team wants to be good stewards of what He has given, so is hoping to pay the remaining balance with one final campaign.

As finances are freed at Lacken House, more funds will be enabled to reach others through various ministries. One dream is to be able to facilitate more Irish involvement in missions. Would you pray and consider joining with the team in Ireland to finish the last 20 per cent in order that they may be 'Released to Reach'?"

As usual, we were receiving rain because it was rainy season.

[The village] didn’t know about the cyclone. Everyone was surprised at how the rain was cause it was unstoppable. We didn’t have real information that something was happening like what happened. 

I think it was four days [that it rained]. All the time; day and night for four days. 

We didn’t think that it would reach a point where it would collapse the houses and also wipe away all the fields.

The third day, that’s when it got worse. During the night we were hearing something like a gun or someone shooting but it was the walls falling—the houses collapsing.

So the fourth day that’s when it was a disaster now. Many houses were collapsed. People [whose houses had collapsed] came to the OM school asking to stay in the classrooms and dining hall.

There were eight families and 16 singles, so close to 40 people. They didn’t run to their neighbours because everyone was affected. Even if the house didn’t collapse, the house was still affected [usually by cracks in the walls or water coming in through the roof]. So people rushed to the schools. I think they put their trust in the schools because the buildings are cement and plaster rather than like the houses that are mud. 

We encouraged [the people who stayed at the school] saying: ‘don’t lose hope’ and we were visiting them—morning hours, afternoon—to see how they were doing. It was a privilege for us as well to get in touch with them. Some of them were people who were closed people and don’t even usually talk to us because we are Christians and they are Muslims. So it was an opportunity just to encourage them during the two weeks [they stayed at the school]. 

After the rain

The fourth day, that’s when in the evening time the rain stopped. It was like community now. Families coming together and somebody cooking there, somebody cooking there. People were helping each other. 

Some of the (local disciples) were coming to say: ‘I’ve got this, I just want to give, to help.’ So I said: ‘Yes, that’s a very good idea. …You can show love especially at a time when somebody is in need.’

People always experience God in times of trouble. I don’t think that anybody was arguing to say: ‘No, why are you sharing about Jesus?’ everyone was just responding. 

Even the chief came and said: ‘Thank you for keeping our people. We have seen the goodness of having a school in the community; it’s not only just to learn but also in times like this, that’s where we can be helped to have a place to stay.’ So it was like a social time with the community, especially the chief and people who were not understanding the reason why we [are in the village]. 

Because Christ loves me, it isn’t difficult to share with boldness because of what I passed through [in my life]. …To say the truth, I share the love of Christ because [I’ve experienced it] and I can feel it. Even now as I’m talking.

Moving forward

From the radios, we heard OK, in Mozambique there were people affected as well, in Zimbabwe too. That’s when we came to realise, it’s not only for us—it’s other countries that were affected.

The total number who were affected by the cyclone [in this area] according to the numbers we gathered is almost 220. The houses collapsed completely, and some of them, their fields were wiped away. We’re going to do the follow-ups, see how the people are doing. …That’s where we are very much focused—to see that these people are stable, they are cared for and they are encouraged by the Word of God. 

If you help someone with something that they are struggling with, I think that’s when they can experience the love of Jesus.

The OM teams in Malawi and Mozambique are currently planning how to respond to the affected populations. 

OM 在这群福音未及的群体中推动了好些儿童营，其中一个营会特别关注弱势儿童—尤指孤儿及单亲家庭长大的孩子。短宣队里有部份队员是第一次参与穆斯林文化背景的营会。为此，他们发现要确切地服事来自不同背景的儿童实在不易。

「我不是很了解营会的宗旨。我祷告祈求上帝指示我该怎么做，明白我为何而来」 其中一名队员分享道。「上帝垂听我的祷告，祂引导我意识到这群孩子非常孤独，他们需要我们的关心。他们需要有人陪他们一起玩，陪他们聊天。感谢上帝使用我把欢笑带给他们。」

虽然队员们无法公开地分享他们的信仰，但他们透过与其建立关系和教导以圣经为基础的「道德课程」来宣扬真理。

 「我们虽然没有办法公开谈论耶稣基督，但这并不拦阻我们为这群孩子们祷告，分享上帝的爱，成为上帝手中的器皿。我们爱这群孩子。他们乐意亲近我们，且愿意向我们敞开心。」另一位队员说道。

「每天早晨，这群孩子迫不及待等着活动的开始，迎接新的挑战。因上帝那丰盛的慈爱，祂召集义工们和孩子们相聚，使得信徒有机会可以和这群孩子做朋友。」

为这群参加营会的孩子们祷告—祈求上帝能让所撒下的福音种子能在他们心中滋长，但愿他们能渴慕寻见真理。

“We were shocked to learn that 40% of the pupils’ parents are involved with drug trafficking and violence, and at least one parent per household is in prison. The children's mindset seems to have already accepted that, by the age of 17, they will be in jail too. This stunned us.

Four years ago, the school appointed a new principal and Pastor Renato Antinori was invited to bring his programme to the school. On the first day he was there, the children didn't want to listen to him. They threatened him and then proceeded to rob him; stealing everything he had brought except his computer and speaker. The oldest child in the school was 12 years old.

Pastor Renato did not shout at the students or even try to stop them. He simply told the principal that he would not be back, since all his toys, sweets and equipment had been stolen. The headmistress was so impressed by the way he handled the situation that she replied, 'Please come back next Thursday' – so he did. I think I would have run for the hills!

Over time, the children have calmed down and now they love the pastor’s visits. Their response to this programme is nothing short of a miracle. Seeing them interact with him amazed me, considering their history. He has persevered and God has worked wonders in the hearts of many of these young people. This is clear to me that God's love always overcomes evil.

The pastor and his wife work in nine schools, reaching out to thousands of children each week. They run the Peruvian branch of Metro World Child, an international ministry that teaches Biblical values and introduces young people to Jesus. It was our privilege to join their visit to this school; telling the kids how we serve God on board a ship and sharing some of our experiences.

We pray for these young people to be protected from the negative influences around them, that they may come to know the Lord personally and that they will find and fulfil the God-given purpose for their lives.

We praise God for Pastor Renato and his wife, Irma, and were blessed by their example of faithful service and trusting the Lord for all their needs.”

At the age of 15, God placed missions on her heart. “It has been a God-process with me. He told me I would go to the least reached, so I knew that would be my focus,” shared Ariela. “I chose my professional career with that in mind. I knew I’d work with vulnerable, at-risk kids and children with disabilities.” In fact, since childhood, she’d had a desire to specifically work with people from Myanmar.

After earning her degree in child psychology, she asked God: “What now?” A friend randomly told her about a group working with refugees in the Middle East, and she went on a short-term trip there.

“That was when I realised God had called me to work with the most vulnerable kids in the world: refugees,” Ariela declared. 

As she began to pray about opportunities, the Rohingya refugee crisis in Bangladesh had just begun. Part of one of the fastest growing refugee crises in history, the Rohingya are a Muslim people group from Myanmar. More than 800,000 men, women and children fled on foot into neighbouring Bangladesh, due to what the UN has called an ‘ethnic cleansing’.

Soon, working with the Rohingya became Ariela’s primary focus.

In 2018, Ariela boarded a plane to the UK, where she planned to get a visa to Bangladesh and then spend six months serving the Rohingya there.

But God had other plans.

Due to restrictions outside of her control, Ariela was unable to serve directly with Rohingya refugees. Her first two months involved a lot of prayer and waiting, until one night she asked God: “Please, either let the permissions appear, or show me a way out, because I don’t think I can stay here waiting without doing the job I came here to do.”

The next day, Ariela received a message from the OM office in Argentina, asking if she’d consider serving refugees in Serbia or Greece. “I’d never thought about that, but I felt like it was God’s answer to my prayer from the night before,” Ariela explained. “So I decided to go to Greece.”

Greece

On her first day in Greece, Ariela was invited to join a group of women and families at a local beach. “We were on a tourist beach with long sleeves and coverings, and we even taught them to swim. It was a lot of fun,” Ariela remembered. “That day, I realised that God had redirected me to meet up with people from the Middle East. There were a lot of similarities in our cultures, and I felt like I could relate to them.”

Ariela spent two months in Greece volunteering with different ministries. “I went to a church where they did local outreaches like giving out lunches twice a week, handing out clothes, helping with paperwork, etc. That place was amazing. I also helped with kids ages three to five while their parents were in English class. Twice a week they did a devotional there and we saw some amazing things.

“These refugees came from countries where Christians cannot openly share the gospel. But in Greece, there is more freedom to talk about God. They came to the gospel instead of the other way around,” said Ariela.

Serbia

When her time in Greece ended, Ariela went to Serbia to serve at a camp near the Croatian border. Most of the refugees there were from Iran, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Pakistan and Somalia.

“We were able to talk with them and share Jesus’ love with them,” Ariela remembered. “We were in a refugee camp, so we couldn’t have official meetings. But they would ask us: ‘Why are you doing this for us?’ We were able say it was because Jesus loves them. I had some really good talks with the people there.”

Ariela especially connected with a 16-year-old girl from Iran who was waiting with her family to go to Germany. “She was worried because her brother was trying to cross the border and travel to Germany, which can be dangerous.” Ariela recalled. "This girl came to me and said: ‘I want you to pray for my brother because I know Jesus listens to the Christian people.’ I said: ‘Yes,’ but I knew this was God saying to me: 'You need to talk with her, because her heart is open to hear of me.’

“I developed a good relationship with her and gave her the Gospel of John. One day she said: ‘You are a really good person. I want to be Christian, just like you. But I want to be in a better place. So when I get to Germany, I will find a church.’

“It was really difficult to leave her. She was incredibly smart and had learnt English just by talking with people. Because she’s a refugee, she couldn’t go to school and her dad couldn’t work. They were stuck in time. They had dreams just like everyone, and they struggled with not having a future there.

“They were from Iran, which is one of the top 10 nations for persecuted Christians. It’s really hard for people from Iran to hear the gospel and also for people to convert. They could go to jail or even be put to death. The fact that they are in Europe meant they were in a safe environment where they could hear the gospel and even see a Bible for the first time.

“My prayer is that she will find a real hope for life, because they are hopeless without Jesus, but also that they will be in a better physical place where her father can work, and she can go to school.” 

Back in Argentina

Needless to say, Ariela’s trip didn’t look anything like she’d imagined. She ended up going to seven different countries in seven months, including attending a training for disaster response in Germany. While she didn’t get to serve directly with the Rohingya, Ariela said: “I sensed God saying: ‘Right now this door isn’t open to you, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t in the future. Right now the door is open to speak to refugees in Europe. When the war ends, the refugees will stop coming, and it will be harder to get to them.’

“I get this feeling like God is not going to put me in one place for my whole life. He is trying to teach me to be flexible and trust that He is in control. It’s about learning how to rest in Him.”

Now back in Ushuaia, Ariela is preparing to return to Serbia, this time as a long-term worker. “There are so many opportunities to serve at the camp. And recently I heard that even a few Rohingya have come through there!”

When God placed missions on her heart at the age of 15, Ariela had no idea the turns her story would take. The same was true for when she left Argentina for Bangladesh. But through every surprise and each new challenge, God was with her every step of the way—writing a much greater story than she could ever imagine.

It is here that Yaro* is from.

Married with two young children, Yaro was an islamic teacher who was very well versed in the Qur'an. Over time he found himself drawn to Jesus over Mohammed and wondered: Why are we not teaching about Jesus in the mosque if the Quran mentions Him so much and with so much virtue? When he went to his leaders, they told him not to ask such questions.

One teacher did answer him, however. He said: "This is a secret; if we started to teach about Jesus in our mosques then we might as well open churches." That comment stayed with Yaro, and when he heard the gospel, he committed his life to Jesus.

When word of Yaro coming to faith reached the other Islamic leaders and teachers, they confronted Yaro, beating and interrogating him. Despite the pain, Yaro stood by his decision to follow Christ and would not deny his new faith.

Because Yaro was an Islamic teacher, everything he owned had been provided by the mosque. By deciding to follow Christ, Yaro lost a stable income as well as his home and everything in it.

During this hard time Saida*, Yaro’s wife, decided that if her husband was a follower of Jesus, she needed to be one as well and gave her life to Christ. Together with their two children they were stranded, without a home or food and with just the clothes on their back. Family and friends turned them away, saying that as long as Yaro and Saida were Christians, they could not help them.

The OM team in Tanzania, who regularly visit the area, heard about Yaro and his family and started building a relationship with them, finding a house in a different village for them to stay in and helping them grow as believers.

“For me what has been most amazing was just seeing how Yaro has fallen deeply in love with Christ,” said OM worker Ofhentse. “This guy is really eating up the Word of God.”

Yaro has passionately begun sharing his faith with those around him. He says he knows the lies that people are blinded by in Islam because he, too, was bound by them for many years.

After seeing one of their own walk away from Islam, a few people from Yaro’s old village have begun questioning Islam. People who hear his story are amazed that he could know so much about the Qur'an and yet still believe the Bible holds the real truth.

Yaro and his wife were baptised and are growing in their relationship with Christ. Pray for them as they continue to spread the good news with their family, friends and the wider community. A church has been planted in the village; pray for people’s eyes to be opened and for them to see the light and love of Jesus.

*name changed for security

As churches began to pop up in the towns and cities throughout Algeria’s Atlas Mountains, believers continued to fast and pray. “God answers through prayer. It’s very natural,” explained Hee Tee, who with her husband, Youssef, established OM’s ministry in Algeria.

“We have seen the power of prayer,” Youssef agreed. “We have seen God inspiring believers with true vision from heaven. We have seen people getting released (from spiritual bondage) and signs and wonders….People expect God’s going to move.”

Nonetheless, this faith has grown under fire. From the inception of the Algerian Church, Christians faced opposition, Youssef and Hee Tee shared. Some lost their jobs. Some lost their families. Churches wanting to rent space for retreats or conferences found hotels cancelling their contracts when they discovered that Christians wanted to use the rooms.

In September 2017, believers in Algeria faced a new wave of persecution when government officials began systematically inspecting—and then closing—churches for alleged violations of building code. “In the last 17 months, it has been tough,” Youssef said. “We realised the government’s plan; they wanted to close down as many churches as possible, maybe all of them.…Once we realised that plan, we moved into fasting and praying to stand firm, we continued our teaching through house groups, we continued meetings and we started an advocacy campaign outside of the country.”

When the first church was sealed by the government, “we were already praying and fasting,” Hee Tee said. “But the persecution has helped because we pray even more, we fast even more.”

And, this time, all the churches are involved. On 26 September 2018, the Algerian Protestant Association (L’Église Protestante d’Algérie or EPA) announced a year of 24/7 prayer and fasting to its 46 member churches. Each church chose a day of the week, and within the fellowship, people picked which hours they would commit to pray.

As a result, churches are experiencing unity for the first time, and believers are seeing a new move of the Holy Spirit and increased openness to the gospel. One pastor told Youssef that 60 per cent of those attending his church were new believers.

Everyday life is filled with opportunities to share, Hee Tee reported. “I saw a man on a tractor. We were talking about the sewage problem. From there, I shared the gospel and asked him, ‘Do you want this?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Would you like to have Jesus?’ ‘Yes.’ He prayed the prayer. In the shop, when I was talking to the dress maker, of course I shared the gospel.…I asked her, ‘Would you like this?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Would you like to pray?’ ‘Yes.’”

The Algerian Church’s ongoing corporate commitment to seeking God “has helped us overcome fear,” Youssef stated. “I really believe that we have seen this new move of the Holy Spirit because of prayer and fasting.”

Three churches in Algeria remain closed. Pray that the government would lift its ban on use of these buildings. Pray for believers in Algeria to be strong, unified and encouraged to boldly share their faith.

Nicole James is a world traveller and writer for OM International. She’s passionate about partnering with believers to communicate the ways God is working across the globe.

“We had such a large age range too,” Helen, OM office administrator, said. “We had everyone from 16-71 years old!”

“I’m thankful that God is still burdening and calling people to serve Ireland,” Irene (OM Human Resource Director) said, “and that they’re willing to give up time and money to come serve.”

With the guest house and chalets of Lacken House, we were blessed to be able to house everyone onsite. For some, this was their first visit to Ireland. For others, this would be their first time doing street ministry. Trained at and sent from Lacken House, the participants were sent to five different church partners around Ireland: Letterkenny, Cootehill, Longford, Athlone, and Newcastle West.

Each team’s ministry was a little different, based on the needs or plans of the hosting church. Everyone participated in their local St. Patrick’s parade in some capacity. The Big Red Bus was also able to be a part in a couple parades. Teams were handing out gospel St. Patrick’s tracts as well as doing street evangelism.

Letterkenny. “We got to Letterkenny and joined the youth group that night, Benjamin — the youngest member of our group — was asked to share his testimony on the spot. It was his first time sharing his testimony. It was amazing to see,”  Danny (USA).

Cootehill. “During our time doing street evangelism, I was able to share the Gospel with an older lady who brought up the apparent brokenness of politics in the region. I spoke about God’s design for the world and the way that Christ’s death and resurrection makes it possible for God to hear the brokenness in our hearts,” Rebecca (USA).

Longford. “As my husband and I went door to door, God allowed us to encounter a young man who had been dealing with bigger questions: How can there be goodness without a God? How can one maintain an atheistic viewpoint when it is unreasonable? We were so excited that God had already started working in his heart and mind,” Wendy (Canada).

Athlone. “We connected with three young men from the time we got there. Right after we set up, these three guys came up. Gene from our team connected with them through his background in the States. It was incredible to see how easily we were able to connect.

"After the parade on Saturday, God brought one of those guys back to us [even though we were in a different location than the night before]. We talked with him for about an hour. Then on Sunday, we were in a different part of town, and he showed up again. So we got to talk to him a third time," Jeff (USA).

“It’s amazing to see how we’ve never been out witnessing before, but we connected with these teens. The second day they were so excited to see us that they introduced us to their friends. I can’t tell you how excited I am to have been part of OM’s mission ministering out on the streets,” Gene (USA).

Newcastle West. “During our mall outreach, myself and Monja were able to share the full gospel with two guys. It was cool watching their faces as we shared. They seemed like they were really listening and considering what we said,”  Lela (USA).

“It was a joy to see Lacken House full with St. Patrick’s Challenge participants,” Alastair (OM Ireland national director) shared afterwards, “being trained onsite and how they are passionate about going out and sharing their faith. I would love to see more Irish initially equipped here at OM Ireland with for something like St. Patrick’s Challenge and then sent out.”

As I watched the ending scene (it lasted about three minutes) I thought about the “happy ending” notion. Is it real or is it a fairy tale? A utopia created by Hollywood to give viewers a false sense of hope in the reality of a broken world? And so, I said to myself: I believe in happy endings.

As a child, I believed in happy endings because I wanted the fairy tales to be a reflection of reality and my hope was that life could end the same way it ends in movies. However, my belief in happy endings today isn’t based on the movies. Rather it is based on the perfection God promised us to have in His Kingdom for all eternity. There is indeed a true “utopia” awaiting followers of Jesus where there will be no pain, sadness, conflict or any other negative thing that we struggle with. When time ends and eternity begins, it will be a glorious joy that we will never be able to fully imagine or conceive in our minds while on earth.

So yes, I believe in happy endings. This truth has been my hope and helps me to go through the ever-changing journey called life.  

A couple of months ago, I returned home from my first two-year commitment with OM. The re-entry process was harder than I expected, though I’m fully enjoying being with family and friends and being in my home culture. Eating all my favourite foods, hanging out at my usual spots and exploring new places is exciting and relaxing. 

However, the parts that are difficult for me to process mentally are: infrastructural changes that make me feel like a foreigner in my own town, family dynamics that I missed out on, friend dynamics that make me feel like their lives are moving forward while mine is standing still and personal feelings of not being sure where I fit in anymore. 

This all took a greater toll on me than I anticipated. Feelings of ‘happy to be home’ and yet ‘is this my home?’ bombarded my stream of thoughts daily. Being home no longer felt familiar but very unfamiliar and made me wonder how I will continue to navigate a life of entry and re-entry. 

As I spend time with friends, a lot of talks about home ownership, safe places to live, raising a family and travelling, wise financial planning and lucrative career paths came up. While I tried to contribute to these topics, in my mind I thought: I can no longer relate to these things the way they do.

Yes, I’m in the awkward, overwhelming season of learning to say hello and goodbye constantly. I’m learning to settle in and make my home wherever I am, though, by the time I figure it out, it might be time to leave again. Yes, this season is a lot for me but my hope in a “happy ending” keeps me going and keeps me focused on my purpose and the mission at hand.

“But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.” – 2 Peter 3:13 (NIV)

Many people working on the missions field making disciples are burdened with the complexities of darkness. Disappointment when we can’t see lives being transformed, frustration with systemic social ills like human trafficking and aching for believers who are constantly persecuted and killed for their faith overwhelms us. Coupled with this are personal challenges whether it be health, financial or relational issues that also put our faith to the test. Our trust in God is tested time and time again and when these issues arise they sometimes make us wonder: “Where is God? What is He doing?” Trudging through the battlefield called “time on earth” can indeed distract us from the hope we have in our blessed Saviour and the beautiful eternity that awaits us. 

“And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” – Revelation 21:3-5 (NIV)

No matter what we go through on the field or in our personal lives, the truth that one day this will all end should give us joy during the sad days. It should give us the strength to not give up on the mission during the days when we feel weak and peace for the confusing days. 

As I watched that tv show, I didn’t know how the episode would end until it came to the end. I may have had ideas, but I watched it with great uncertainty. As followers of Jesus, we don’t have to go through life with any measure of uncertainty. We have the assurance of salvation through Jesus Christ which means we can rest assured how our life will end or better yet, continue into eternity with Jesus. 

So, we can believe in happy endings. An ending that begins in God’s Kingdom. 

Ava, from the Caribbean, hates to write, but loves having written, therefore she is compelled to write and be God’s voice of power through the written word. She loves to plan for the future, while reminiscing on the past, over a hot cup of tea and a delicious meal.

After two similar outreaches in Vienna, it was a privilege to bring the joy of Easter to the people of upper Austria through music and testimonies. God enabled the team to compile a colourful programme of gospel, classic and pop music with singing, piano, German flute, oboe, English horn, violin, guitar, cajon and ukulele!

Reaching the young and old

When the choir sang quiet songs like “Do You See the Lamb” and “The Power of the Cross” some residents in an old people’s home had tears in their eyes, and they clapped along to “Oh Happy Day.” Even the young caretaker helping the team with the technical equipment was moved. New perspectives opened up for him when a young woman from a partnering church shared with him about Jesus and invited him to church.

Generous hospitality and successful teamwork

The team really appreciated the hospitality and abundant provision of food from partnering churches. An afternoon concert in a church served to dedicate the new premises, as well as enabled the team to contribute to a dynamic church service. Some team members interviewed pedestrians on the street about their thoughts on Easter. A church member made a great video from the interviews that was later used in several concerts and church services.

At another church, the team had the opportunity to provide the musical part of the services on Good Friday and Easter Sunday. The Easter Sunday service was packed. Some guests were there for the first time, including a student from Mongolia. It was such a joy to see a team member’s former employer and her daughters excitement over the clear message of the resurrection.

Our efforts are not in vain

Special highlights included the evangelistic outreach on the streets, and a concert in a smaller town. While walking through the sunny streets, the team met many people who were open to talk about Easter and Jesus. A spontaneous concert on the main town square with Gospel Magic and a short message from an Open Air Campaigner completed the afternoon.

Two days later, about 20 new visitors, together with many Christians, enjoyed a multifaceted concert at the church and clearly heard the gospel. The guests learnt about the concerts in a multitude of ways: through friends, the newspaper or even through the weekly programme of the local rehabilitation clinic.

Walter *, who expected a rather lonely birthday, was overwhelmed after being sung “Happy Birthday” as well as getting a cake and prayer. “I will hang (the birthday card) in the kitchen”, he promised. “When I die that card shall be buried with me!”

Who would have thought a few years ago that out of the small beginnings in this town, God would grow such a dynamic, loving and inviting church? Truly, our labour in the Lord is not in vain. He is building His church. The challenge is to continue to be faithful in labouring.

*name changed

OM serves mainly in Tkvarchal. Until this year there had never been an evangelical church in this town. Once, this was a flourishing industrial town of about 40,000 people. The city suffered badly from the ethnic war of independence in ‘92-‘93 with Georgia, and now only 4,000 citizens remain. Many live in war-damaged houses, which have still not been repaired. Youth face many problems, such as trauma, poverty, unemployment, alcohol and drug addictions and a high suicide rate.

But God has not forgotten this place!

Some years ago, the government granted the evangelical church a building, despite the fact that there were no believers. About a year and a half ago Arayk moved to the city to care for the building.

He was not a typical missionary or a church planter. No one expected anything from him. But as he went out to evangelise on the streets, people started to come to listen to the word of God. Teenagers came to watch weekly biblical movies. People appeared to be very open and receptive for the gospel.

Nowadays, a group of thirty people gather each week. Seventeen have been baptised in the past months and about 25 young people regularly attend the biblical film club.

A year ago, OM became involved in this new church plant. Around Christmas, the students of the Mission Disciple Training centre helped organise a children’s club. Over 50 children attended, and there was simply not enough space for everyone. This year, four students are living for nine months in the church building to connect with the youth and to organise evangelistic clubs in the surrounding villages. They provide practical help and food for poor families, and build up relationships with the youth around the church. The team sees a huge need to disciple these new believers through weekly clubs.

The team hopes to recruit pastors–for short term or long term–to teach the believers. It also aims to help the church buy a plot of land next to the church to build a playground for youth ministries, where there can be a football and volleyball court as well as using the space to organise Bible camps.

It is exciting to see what God can do through one simple man who started a church without any specific training. The team sees it as a privilege to be a part of this new church plant and to come alongside them. However, there is still a huge need for support and discipleship. Baptising people is a big milestone; but becoming lifelong disciples is another big step. Through this promising start, the team prays for more new communities growing in Abkhazia like this one in Tkvarchal.

A simplistic view of salvation is to consider it a legal transaction, a 'get out of jail free' card from the consequences of sin or avoidance of hell—at best, an incomplete and imperfect gospel. The New Testament view is that Jesus came to save His people from their sins (Matt. 1:23), not merely the consequences of those sins. For us to obtain salvation, we first agree that it is a gift of God through Jesus Christ (Eph. 2:9) who freed us from bondage to sin and the evil one. Then comes the process of submitting to the transformational work of the Holy Spirit to form us in Christ-likeness.

I wonder where the concept of people ‘accepting’ Christ came from. It has the scent of a promotional advertisement on it: “Just accept this special offer! You can choose to receive this message now.” So easy, so passive, so deceptive. The heart of the gospel is not that we accept Christ, but that through Him, God accepts us—a difference that is worlds apart. For this reason, we should examine our vocabulary and scripts that we use in presenting the gospel. The cross is not a tattoo or jewellery; it is offensive, and the cost of truly following Jesus causes many to turn away. Salvation in Christ means submission to Him and His agenda for His church and the world. This submission transforms every aspect of our lives. Jesus told interested people to count the cost, with no compromise on offer. Is this clear in the gospel we are spreading? Jesus said, “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last” (John 15:16, NIV). God is the initiator of our relationship with Him. We are in no position to set the terms.

OM has enhanced its mission from merely proclaiming the gospel to making vibrant disciples of those who trust Christ—a process that is long, costly, and utterly necessary to fulfil Jesus’ command. Recently in a Himalayan country, I met with 68 people under the age of 25, all from villages, many semi-literate. They were being trained as disciple makers to be sent a week’s journey away to live among least-reached people. In the last 18 months, they have led and then discipled 154 people to be Jesus followers, forming ten new churches. They are continuing to multiply today. I would rather support that work than invest in thousands who never develop beyond being fans of Jesus.

Fans or followers?

Jesus initially had few followers among countless ‘fans’. The crowds that enjoyed the very best entertainment—miracles, meals, clever arguments—disappeared when Jesus made it personal and risky. Fans are passive spectators and admirers, whereas followers serve a leader, submit to that leader’s teachings, and imitate his example. Many people are fans of Jesus, admiring His values, respecting His teachings, but do so without committing wholeheartedly to His cause. Jesus is looking for followers, not fans. With Jesus, I want to wholeheartedly learn all I can about Him, adopt His ways, and live by His teaching.

Are we sufficiently clear in our own minds that the gospel we proclaim promises these two kinds of people two very distinct futures? Jesus warned false disciples (fans) to be certain of their final outcome (Matt. 7:21–23). Is this central to our message?

In God’s grace, fans can become followers. How can we overwrite ‘accepting’ Christ with the good news that, in Christ, God accepts us? How will this change our effectiveness in mission? Jesus deserves nothing less.
 

Thank you for your prayers and support of all OM ministries worldwide. 

Lawrence Tong

“Two things have been powerful in our relationship,” Val says. “First, that it’s been centred on God. We seek Him first. Secondly, we’re able to listen to each other and process differences well. That’s a special friend who can do that.” 

“They joke about Americans and Brits being two continents divided by the same language,” Jill adds. “We experienced that a lot, but we’ve learnt appreciation for a different culture and that to be roommates, to be what God has given to us, doesn’t mean you have to agree on everything, and we don’t. But you accept the other person for who they are, the way God has made them.” 

In the early 2000s, Jill was leading OM Hungary’s hospitality ministry, while Val was starting up and translating material for Awana. The two would lead children’s camps together in Romania, or Jill might bring Val breakfast after a long night of translation work. Later, the friends led children’s programming for several church plants around Hungary. 

When the refugee crisis in Hungary unfolded in 2015, Jill and Val again served together as Christian organisations including OM, Pioneers, East Europe Mission and the Baptist Aid joined forces to meet the needs of the displaced people pouring into the country. 

“Sometimes we worked side-by-side, other times maybe I was giving out coffee and Jill was giving out backpacks, but we were ministering to the same group of people,” Val says of the refugee outreaches. “To me that’s when it’s more powerful, when you cross mission lines.”  

‘The perfect storm’ 

The summer of 2016 was a particularly busy time for Val. She was preparing for and leading an upcoming youth English camp outreach along with other ministries when unforeseen circumstances began to unravel her usual support system. 

A Pioneers team member went to be with her sister after a death in the family. The location for the English camp was undergoing renovation, forcing the team to delay the camp by two weeks, by which time other team members who had already purchased plane tickets for furlough would be out of the country. 

“I really believe it was a combination of multiple things coming together to create the perfect storm in my life,” Val says. “There was no one physically there to help me. I can be a perfectionist, and I thought it all depended on me. Camp is a key tool that God’s given us, so I was putting a lot of energy into it.” 

Though subtle at first, Val says, the weight of responsibility combined with strong spiritual attacks to create a heaviness she couldn’t shake. She stopped sleeping well–stopped sleeping almost at all. In a haze of tiredness, she says she started believing almost every lie imaginable. 

“For example, Satan would say: ‘Who are you? You can’t do it. You’re not a good missionary,’” she says. “He would show me the past sins that I had committed over again, even as a child, and then hold that over my head. And then I would say in my mind: ‘But God’s forgiven those.’ And then the lie would be–just like it was to Adam and Eve–‘Has He really forgiven you?’ It just spins down, and I didn’t sleep for months. I believe the physical part of the attack was not being able to sleep, and then the more I didn’t sleep, the worse I got. It was like torture.” 

The descent continued for Val after the camp, following her home to the U.S.A. on furlough.  

“It led to me having a really dark night of the soul and not being able to fight for myself like I normally do,” she says. “Normally I would fight very strongly with Scripture and prayer, but I was emotionally and physically exhausted to the point where I just couldn’t.” 

Deeply concerned, Jill and members of the OM team in Hungary prayed fervently for Val. Though separated by the Atlantic, Jill persisted in Skyping regularly with her friend, even when Val began to pull away in despair, thinking she would not be able to return to ministry. 

“Val would be very negative about herself,” Jill says. “She wouldn’t be able to speak. We’d talk on Skype and she’d say: ‘This is just too much.’ I kept encouraging her and saying: ‘God’s not told me you’re not coming back. Don’t worry, you’ll be back.’” 

“It was so overwhelming–just to speak about it was hard,” Val says. “But Jill understood. I think she just invited me to speak as much as I could, and then there were days when I just couldn’t talk at all, couldn’t say anything. And I think she understood.”  

As Val struggled with her battle, Jill wrestled with the fight on her side. 

“I think the biggest thing for me was my own personal loneliness and through that, having to cling to God,” Jill says. “I was in limbo a lot of the time. It was a lesson in dependence on God.” 

Breaking the chains 

The heavy days stretched into months of deep darkness, even seeing Val end up in the hospital. But the prayers of her loved ones did not stop. 

“I learnt about the power of prayer and people surrounding you when you can’t pray for yourself,” Val says. “People like Jill were still praying for me and speaking hope and encouragement into my life, even though I couldn’t sense that at the time. Having people do that for you is powerful.  

“My home church in particular really surrounded me. And I don’t know why, but I wasn’t expecting that. But for some reason–I guess it was believing the lies of Satan–I thought they would reject me or judge me. And yet they surrounded me with love.” 

One turning point was when the pastor’s wife at Val’s home church in the U.S.A. had Val hold a small chain. She prayed that God would break the chains keeping Val in spiritual bondage. It was prayers like these and support from friends, family and counselling who didn’t pressure but instead sought to listen that Val was able to look up from her valley and take her first steps of ascent. 

She wrote Psalm 33:12 on her pillow: Let the beloved of the LORD rest secure in him, for he shields him all day long, and the one the LORD loves rests between his shoulders. 

Val also stresses the importance of seeking medical help.  

“I think a lot of people are told that you know, anxiety, depression – Christians don’t do that, they don’t experience that,” she says. “That’s another lie from Satan. If you read the Bible, you know that Elijah, Job, and others said things like: ‘take my life, I want to die.’ They were pretty depressed, pretty discouraged. It happens. But I think the fear of being honest and coming forward played into it going much further and longer for me than it needed to. If that means medical help, medication, I think it’s OK. Because I think God gives Christians some other tools to help them along.”  

Jill continued to pray from abroad, gently listening and encouraging whenever she could. She also visited Val in the U.S.A. at the end of her own furlough. 

“I think the best thing someone can do when you have anyone in a situation like that is just be there for that person and show them you love them in spite of where they are,” Jill says. “You accept where they are. You know there’s nothing that you can say to fix it, but you just show that you’re still there for them.” 

‘You will serve Me again’ 

Late 2017 marked a full year that Val had been away. 

“That’s the longest I’ve ever been away from Hungary,” she says. “I would dream in Hungarian.” Now that her darkness was lifting, did Val dare hope she might be able to return to her ministry? 

“I had been praying and some days fasting, and God spoke to me through Jeremiah 15:19-20,” Val says.

“I think He was saying: ‘If you come to Me for strength, if you come to Me for the way forward, I’ll return you, you’ll be able to serve Me again,’” Val continues. “That was key because to me when God says it, it’s final. It doesn’t matter if others say no, I was content that God was saying yes.  

“It came together, and my member care team, pastor and counsellor shared that they were working together to get me back.” 

Finally, on January 17, 2018, Jill drove to the Budapest airport to pick Val up. 

“The day was finally here and I went to get my best friend back from the airport!” Jill says. “I felt excitement for her that she was coming back, because it was a day that she felt like for a long, long time was not going to happen. To actually have the day where she’s flying back into the country to come back home–that was a real God thing.” 

Val shared that excitement, though it was tempered slightly with apprehension about sharing her experience with others. But she says she felt peace seeing how God went ahead of her in her return. The Lord gave her some appropriate times to share deeply about her experience, while other times a more general answer was better. She was able to work with a psychiatrist and get the medication she needed in Hungary. Her simple needs were met. 

As Easter approached, Jill and Val had the opportunity to serve together again through OM’s children’s puppet ministry, travelling to schools and churches to perform a Gospel-centred show. 

“For me one of my gifts is evangelism, and being able to share the Gospel, even through puppets, was huge because that’s my heartbeat,” she says. “And I’ve been writing Bible curriculum. I’m passionate about that.” 

Jill says seeing Val enjoy the puppet ministry was confirmation that she was back where she belonged. “That was fun to in a way go back to the beginning of something we did together when getting to know each other–serving alongside each other in children’s ministry,” she says. 

After one performance at a home for youth with special needs, Val saw the reality of the Lord’s promise to restore her to His service. 

“There was a lady right on the front row who began to weep at the end of the show when we were singing,” she recalls. “I could tell that there was a spiritualness that had really touched her. At the same time a teammate of mine said that he was praying exactly when we did that session. He had written me and said the time and everything, so I know that he was praying for our ministry and for someone to be touched by it at the time. So when he wrote back, I thought, OK, God answered that prayer. Those are the things that are exciting to me: evidences that God’s at work.” 

“Klaudia* and Kamil* are the youngest couple in our church. They started coming three years ago after Klaudia* gave her life to Jesus in an evangelistic meeting in Warsaw. Kamil came along only because of Klaudia; he had never had a genuine encounter with Jesus himself. He quietly accompanied her each week, but continued to live a double life as a functioning alcoholic, secretly hiding his drinking habit.

Sadly, his drinking problem became ever more serious. Although he agreed to seek help and attended a support group, it didn’t really help. Then, a few months ago, Kamil hit rock bottom. He was drunk for almost a week.

Klaudia came to us to seek help, and we prayed with her to seek God’s help. We knew nothing could help Kamil unless God intervened. Klaudia asked Kamil to move out of their home temporarily, until he was prepared to seriously deal with the problem of his drinking. Kamil’s reaction was to avoid us.

Finally, Arek got hold of him and invited him to come and see him when he was ready to talk. When he did turn up, we sensed something different in Kamil this time: he seemed to be genuinely regretful. He agreed to return to the support group and, more importantly, he began his journey of discovering God, and himself, through Bible study with Arek.

We praise God that we have noticed a significant change in Kamil’s life, as well as in his relationship with Klaudia. “I was a hypocrite and thought that I could live my old life and pretend everything was OK, but it wasn’t OK. I hurt my wife and made a fool of myself. I am grateful that God has given me another chance,” Kamil shared recently.

“I am very thankful that God has helped my husband and set him free from his addiction. In the same time, I realised that my relationship with God is not always right and I also need to be changed as well. God has shown us a new way to live as a couple, this marriage only works when we both are willing to surrender it completely to God,” shared Klaudia.

Arek and Donna had the privilege of being with the young couple as they walked through this difficult time together.  As they all asked God’s help, He not only rescued Kamil and Klaudia's marriage but also transformed their relationships with God. “It is so exciting to see this young couple’s marriage being transformed by God’s love,” said Arek.

*name changed

Within Turkey, Tunceli is a very different place as it consists of religious and ethnic minorities that have Christian roots. After incidents in the early part of the 20th century, many of these people went into hiding and were too afraid to find out more about Jesus. Some are even outright Alevi Muslims now. This history translates to a modern-day mostly agnostic population, of whom a high percentage do not care about Jesus.

In 2018, there was a Turkey AfriAsia Creative Outreach (TACO) outreach to Tunceli with some fantastic musical and theatrical elements. Alevi people love the arts and, miraculously, permissions to do this outreach were given by the municipality. In the East, these things can be very difficult. Many people gathered to watch the show, perhaps 600 or so in total.

A group of five or six young men were there making fun of the show. Atheists, they were joking about how silly it was that Christians would come and talk about 'religion' in their area. Carla and Berni had the opportunity to speak to these youths for five hours. They spoke of all kinds of things: the Kalam Cosmological Argument, the moral argument, teleology and the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus. Several local brothers also shared their testimonies. The young guys said: “Our teachers ('Dedes' who are said to have descended from Ali, the prophet Mohammed's nephew) don't teach us about these things!”  Berni asked if they could meet for tea the next day.

Lo and behold, the young men all turned up the next morning. Two of them said that they had seen Jesus in their dreams and were baptised. However, they promptly left for another province to study at university and Tunceli went back to having zero believers again.

However, in the last month the Lord has again been working miraculously, and there are now 12 believers in Tunceli! There are so many, a meeting space needed to be rented, and now there is a hope to have some 25 people attending on Sundays. The Lord can do the impossible.

*name changed

Debora* was married to Bashkim* and together they had five children. In 1997, after eight years of marriage, he secretly divorced her and moved to Germany with their children. As is tradition, when Bashkim left Debora remained living with his family. She took care of his parents, and served in their family’s household–doing so with love and respect even though she was not treated well.

However, in 2017, after 20 years without her husband, working for his parent’s household, Debora was suddenly told she had to leave: Bashkim was coming back to Kosovo with his new wife.

Desperately, Debora called her friend Anita, a fellow believer at the local church. Anita works with OM in Kosovo at the House of Joy project: a holistic programme that reintegrates survivors of abuse into society. The two women had met in 2010 at church, but whenever Anita had tried to talk to Debora about her situation, Debora could not talk openly because her husband’s family was always hovering nearby to stop her from sharing what was happening in her life. Ever since they first met, Anita had been praying and asking God how she could help rescue Debora from the house that had enslaved her.  

When the day of Debora’s expulsion from her home came, Anita and two other OMers picked Debora up and took her to the police station to make a report. From there, they took her to a government shelter. After staying for the legal minimum of one month, Debora transferred to the House of Joy, where she has truly brought the word 'joy' into the home.

Debora shares the gospel with the other ladies in the house, sings worship songs at the top of her lungs, studies her Bible in the common areas and invites everyone to church on Sundays.

One Saturday evening, one of the other girls asked Debora questions about her faith and made the decision herself to accept Jesus into her life. The next day at church, after speaking to the pastor, she made a true and official profession of faith.

Debora is a light, despite all of her hardships; she salts the earth as she walks and believes in miracles. She loves everyone with the love that Jesus has for them because she has felt it herself. She is finally free to live out her faith and find healing through the building of her relationship with Jesus, and through spending time with the programme’s psychologist.
  
Please pray for Debora to be a good influence and have success in her time at the House of Joy. Please pray, too, that she would find healing through Jesus, and accept help that is offered.

*name changed

Mercy, a single mother of three living in a village along Lake Tanganyika, has not had an easy life. At one point, her mother took Mercy to the Muslim community to get financial help, which is how she became a Muslim.

Still struggling financially, Mercy was introduced to a Self Help Group (SHG) in a nearby village. The facilitator of the group was Purity*, a local lady from the community. She had a similar background to Mercy—a single mother with three children to raise. However, Purity had found hope in Jesus that took her out of the vulnerable situation. She knew that Jesus was who Mercy needed too.  

During the six weeks of SHG training, participants learn how to connect with God and people, as well as how to address political and economic issues through God’s eyes. In the beginning, Mercy was unsure how to pray and do the Bible study sections; she was not familiar with how to speak to God.

Throughout the weeks, God opened Mercy’s eyes. One thing in particular that she noticed was that the Christians around her sincerely cared for her and wanted to help. Having discovered who Jesus is during Bible study, Mercy decided to follow Him. 

Mercy was afraid to leave the Muslim community, but the members of the SHG supported her. They helped her find a flat to rent in a different area and start a business to sustain herself, as well as connected her with a church. Now Mercy is sharing her story with others and is looking forward to the day when she can share her faith with her former community. She is still part of the SHG where she continues to grow.

Purity was very happy to see how God once again touched a fellow woman though the SHG. Since being trained in 2016, Purity has been the most dedicated and faithful facilitator. She might not have the most education or strong family background, but she has a heart full of compassion and love. God has been using this ordinary lady to transform dozens of vulnerable families and the stories will continue.

Praise God for what He has done through SHGs along the lakeshore. Pray that more vulnerable women will join SHGs and their lives will be transformed by God. Pray that the facilitators will have wisdom, strength and patience from God to know how to bring the participants to follow God.

*name changed

It felt like every little thing came under the microscope. How much did culture shape the way I prayed, expected to hear God, treated people of different backgrounds or ethnicities and disciplined my children? I felt like an alien from outer space – not knowing the rules; not knowing how much of ‘me’ I get to keep.

A small example: I needed to learn to ask: ‘how are you?’ every time I greeted anyone. Easy with friends but more difficult when you’re asking a question of someone in a supermarket. In the UK it would be odd to start a sentence with ‘how are you?’ to a stranger but in South Africa it’s rude not to.

I frequently needed to change my behaviour, my language and my expectations to consider my new cultural norms. Sometimes, however, I needed to resist adjusting. We had a street WhatsApp group and many times people would make racist comments encouraging others to think the same – a hangover from Apartheid days. We would need to hold on to different values; ones we had learnt from an alternative culture. In these instances, we needed to be comfortable in ‘offending.’

As time went on, I started asking myself different questions. What did I need to change that wasn’t helpful in my own culture? What did I need to resist adopting from the culture I was living in? What would Jesus do? Living according to biblical values is the obvious ‘answer’ but sometimes the Bible has been used to argue a point either way. Life isn’t that black and white, and I needed to learn to live in the grey.

A friend of mine explained that South African laws require companies to have a certain percentage of non-white workers. This was problematic for my friend’s company as it was much easier to find white applicants with the right skills, due to a history of preferential education. The company decided to try harder and spend more time looking. They resisted the urge to be impatient. They hired a black lady – not just for her colour but also for her skill. My friend recounted: “We now have someone in our team who brings a different outlook, a fresh voice and sees things from an alternative position. It has made our team that much richer and we are so grateful we took the time to find her. Now everybody wins.”

I learnt that my culture doesn’t have all the answers. It’s not better to be British or worse to be South African. It’s also not better to be South African and worse to be British. I needed to take responsibility for the cultural failings of my home culture and learn new ways of living. This is the most interesting and exciting part of living elsewhere. You learn things you cannot read in a book, understand on a trip or have explained to you by someone else. Investing in deep friendships with locals brings a richness to life that has changed me forever.

Today, after six years in South Africa, I am living back in the UK and I find I feel more an alien than ever before. Starting a conversation with ‘how are you’ gets raised eyebrows! I could easily slip back into conforming to all cultural norms, but instead I find I continue to question if they are helpful. I realise the experience of living in a different culture has changed me and taught me to be a global citizen, always considering culture as an influencing factor. England no longer feels like home like it used to and I miss my ‘other’ home in South Africa. But I am richer for the experience. I seek out people from other cultures, I make the effort with people ‘not like me’, and I hope that means that everybody wins.

I am now an alien wherever I go, and I love it.

Having arrived unexpectedly earlier this year after six years in South Africa, Ali currently lives on the south coast of England with her mum, her husband and her two young children. Ali serves as OM’s Internal Communications Director, working part-time and spending the rest of the time making puzzles, painting and enjoying the English countryside with her kids. She previously worked for global companies in the telecommunications and film industries, joining OM in 2013.

Apart from school, there is hardly anything to do in the town. No sports, no music lessons, nothing. After school you might sometimes go for a swim or hang out with some friends, doing nothing. Many of your classmates have a similar life. Some of them moved away over time. Others are involved with crime. Some are stealing in order to care for their families, but most of them are stealing to buy drugs and alcohol. They just want a few moments to forget the misery in life. Recently your best friend was so desperate that she tried to take her own life. Thank God she survived, but mentally she is still in a bad place. Is there any meaning of life in this terrible mess?  

This life is reality for many children and teenagers in Tkvarcheli. Tkvarcheli is a town in the south of Abkhazia, which was severely damaged in the ethnic war with Georgia. The town once flourished as an industrial centre of the region, but 25 years after the war, the town is still shattered, and almost nothing has been rebuilt. Children are on their own and often drawn to crime. These children live under the spiritual oppression of the pagan traditions, which are common among the Abkhazians. In such conditions, the teenage club at the church is a beacon of light for the children and teenagers in the town. It is a place for kids to develop, learn new things and spend quality time together.

One of the local kids is 10-year-old Tamila*. Tamila has several sisters and a mother, who works only in the summertime, when tourists visit this country. Tamila and her friends like to come to the church to spend time there. When this church started two years ago, one of the believers began to work with kids. He organized a movie club, which gathered a lot of kids and teenagers each week. But it was not enough for the ministry with the kids. They had a great need for quality time and activities. OM, who is partnering with this church, decided to send four second-year MDT (Missions Discipleship Training) students to serve a one-year internship with these kids and teenagers.

Just before the MDT students came to this city, the children were told that new people would come and spend time with them. Tamila and other kids were very happy and looking forward to meeting with new friends. Once the four second-year MDT students came for their internship in Tkvarcheli, they quickly became friends with the local children, especially with four girls (one of whom is Tamila).

The students are responsible for the children’s and teenagers’ ministry. They organize a children’s and teenagers’ club twice a week. More than 15 teenagers and children come to play games, have tea and then discuss some topics. Besides this, students show an example of Christian life and God’s love just by living there. Every morning, the students spend time with God and read the Bible. The children see this. One day Tamila got very curious about the book they read. Sometimes she also took the Bible and sat next to the students. She, too, read the Bible and was looking for what was interesting in this book, which didn’t have any pictures.

The students also befriended the parents of these girls, and they allowed the girls to have sleepovers with the students. It was a nice time of fellowship—they cooked dinner together, drew and did some crafts. Before going to bed, they read stories from the Bible.

One of these nights, after prayer, Tamila suddenly whispered words, that touched one of the students. She said: “I really want to be like you, be a Christian. What should I do for it?” The students suggested to pray, and Tamila called on God. “I know that Jesus loves me so much, and died for my sins,” Tamila shared.

Now the Bible is the most important and precious thing for her. She takes it everywhere and always wants to read it. One day Tamila left her jacket at the church, and when her mother came to pick it up, she said: “My daughter has several jackets, and there is Bible in each of them.” Especially Tamila likes to read it with one of the students because she remembers Bible stories better when they read the Bible one-on-one, rather than with the other kids.

The children’s and teenagers’ club at the church has impacted the lives of the local kids very much. They not only hear the truth but also learn how to make different crafts, sing songs and have fun. “I have never made such beautiful crafts,” said Tamila, delightedly.

Tamila and other girls have changed a lot. They care about others, are more obedient and respect their parents. Seeing the practical Christian life of the students, the local children want and try to be like them.

*name changed for security

‘It blew my mind!’

It was the second time the Easter outreach took place in the City of Music. The team again experienced unity in diversity of cultures, ages (16- to 66-year-olds) and musical abilities. One participant beamed: “This week blew my mind in terms of music and evangelism!”

Open-air outreaches 

On the second day, the team served as a choir for a sketch board outreach in the heart of Vienna with a local evangelist. The reactions were mixed, especially as soon as Jesus‘ name was mentioned, but God gave some good conversations with the international and Austrian passers-by.

At the open-air outreach a few days later, outside a metro station in the north of Vienna, there was a much darker atmosphere. It was distressing to hear how quickly some older people shared about suicidal thoughts or depression but encouraging that several let team members pray with them.

Two teams – more encounters

For some outreaches, the team was split into two groups, in order to sow the seed more widely. At the homeless residence, two encounters stood out: the first between a resident and a viola player, where trying out the instrument led to a deeper conversation and prayer. In the second encounter, a man who already had contact with Christians, and who thoroughly enjoyed the music, heard the Gospel for the first time in a one-on-one conversation with a pianist from the team. He prayed to receive Jesus as Lord and Saviour. May he grow deep roots in Christ!   

Concert at the fitness centre – death and life

A highlight was the joint concert at a women’s fitness centre. 40 people, including many customers and their families, enjoyed the programme of Christian songs and instrumental music. The team member from Singapore testified to God’s faithfulness even while her father was dying of cancer. One audience member, whose father fought exactly the same kind of cancer, found the Singaporean’s faith very moving and thought-provoking. As an encore, everyone joined in with the song “O Happy Day,” and Easter joy stayed with many for a long time after the concert. The Christian manager of the fitness centre branch is now having spiritual conversations with 22 audience members! Let us pray that they find life in Jesus!

The 2019 Sound of Easter outreach is happening from 13 to 21 April in Linz, Enns and other nearby places. Praise God for 13 team members from different countries. The outreach includes training sessions, Bible inputs, rehearsals, four street outreaches, four concerts and four church services.

Pray for open hearts among the audiences—those living in elderly care centres, people at three different churches and passers-by on the street. Pray for divine appointments. Pray for lasting fruit in the team members, local churches and non-Christians who hear something of the music/message. Pray listeners would read the literature they are given.

Sorani Kurdish is the second most widely spoken Kurdish dialect, and is the mother tongue of about eight million people from Iran and Iraq. Now, those eight million people can read the Scriptures in their heart language, allowing believers to edify their faith, grow in their knowledge of God and understand more fully what the Bible says.

For those who live in the Middle East, however, very few bookshops stock the Kurdish Bible, making a paper copy difficult to access.

OM has worked with partners to create a simple Kurdish Bible app, so that Kurdish people can easily download Scriptures in their own language onto their phones.

“It’s hard to carry your paper Bible discreetly if you’re a secret Christian,” explains one OM worker. “They’ll question why you have a Bible, but no one’s going to question why you’re going out with your phone.”

The basic app has been available since April 2017, and has had over 6,000* downloads in its opening year. OM is partnering with developers to make the app available on more devices, including Windows computers. They are also adding functions that will allow users to share verses on social media, highlight passages, and make their own notes.

Pray for the development and distribution of the Kurdish Bible app and for Kurdish believers to take ownership of creating relevant resources.

Pray that the new Kurdish translation would have an impact on the Kurdish church and there would be an increase of Jesus followers.

*Numbers accurate at time of writing

The leaflet, entitled Maria, was designed by OM EAST and written by an outreach worker. The fictional story of a woman called Maria was inspired by the life of Mary Magdalene. It describes her brokenness and how, one day, she met Jesus Christ who told of a new kingdom where anyone can become a child of God through faith in Him. Maria expresses the wonderful change in her life as she experienced her Saviour’s acceptance, forgiveness, love and comfort.

“I was thinking about the verse in Matthew chapter 21 where it says those trapped in prostitution will enter the God’s kingdom ahead of others because they believed,” reflected an OM EAST worker. “This gives such hope that women today would also put their faith in Jesus and receive new life in Him!”

The Maria leaflet has been translated into nine languages, including Romanian, Hungarian, Bulgarian and Chinese. OM EAST will print a total of 4,700 copies to help outreach workers offer hope to hundreds of ladies this Easter.

Please pray many women read the ‘Maria’ leaflet and believe in Jesus and His promises. Please pray they would trust their Saviour to provide them with a way out of prostitution. Please pray individuals receive the healing, restoration and freedom only Jesus can bring.  

“Jesus said to them, ‘I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did.” - Matthew 21:31a-32a (NIV)

OM EAST’s literature and media ministry produces high quality print and digital media in over 25 languages. Always working with partners, they seek to share the gospel, strengthen churches and bring hope to people groups throughout Eurasia.