Mountain ranges don’t come higher and harder to hike than the Himalayas. Nevertheless, this September a group of 20 intrepid Brits are setting out to hike the spectacular Nanda Devi range and raise money for India’s oppressed Dalits. Starting at 6am everyday, the group will hike for seven hours a day. The route will take a week to complete and the group will also visit an OM Dalit Education Centre that is providing education to some of the India’s most persecuted people. For more detail about the Dalits’ plight, visit OM’s specially created website here .
Paul was away a long time… Originally when he left the UK to join Doulos, he expected to be gone two years. However, extending that commitment, living in Japan and then serving at the ships head office in Germany saw that time grow to a decade. This weekend, some of those boxes of worldly possessions he packed way back in 1999 caught up with him. Exploring the contents provided a snapshot of life back then – a real trip down memory lane! So much has changed since that time, but it was good to reflect on a decade of stepping out in faith to serve overseas.
Serving God abroad requires practical and mental preparation. OM has always considered the latter to be extremely important and this weekend a group of new OM volunteers are at the UK base for orientation. What can they expect when they head overseas in the coming months and begin a new mission-focused life? The Getting Into Gear conference is a time for the participants to discuss their expectations / concerns and ask questions of us longer term members. Pray for the 20 or so attending, that they will return home fully focused and motivated for the challenging transition that lies ahead.
Getting God’s word out any way they can… United Christian Broadcasters (UCB) are a UK based organisation that recently invited other ministries to attend an open day at their HQ. Paul went along to represent OM and during a busy day he learned a lot about the impact of their daily devotional guides (Word of Life), radio broadcasts and prayer hotline. The time at their base just outside Newcastle Under Lyme was not only a fact-gathering exercise though. Hopefully the contacts that were made will lead to UCB covering more of OM’s work in the future.
It wasn’t exactly a classic sporting encounter… An international team from Logos II challenged the St. Lucia national football squad to a game and were thrilled to have their offer accepted. The small Caribbean island team might be ranked a lowly 166th in the world, but they pounded the ship’s players 6-0. Despite the drubbing, the Logos II team were excited to play against a national team (they even made it in to the St. Lucian half occasionally!). However, more important to them was the chance to share their own experiences of finding faith in Jesus with the other team.
OM has a long-established presence in India. Indeed, the vision behind the ship ministry was to bring books and Christian workers to the subcontinent. Today, OM has over a thousand staff (mostly Indian) helping transform lives and communities across the country. The establishment of many Dalit Education Centres is empowering some of India’s most oppressed and poverty-stricken residents. At the request of communities, these schools are providing a Christian education to children and evening classes for adults. Nobby helps administer a sponsorshp programme to support the students.
Who says young people have nothing to do these days? Each year, OM’s TeenStreet welcomes 4,000 youth for a week of Christian discipleship and crazy activities. Located in Germany, the venue is easy for Europe’s teenagers to reach… at least those who got their booking in before all the spaces went! OM’s most creative couple Dan and Susie Potter ensure the programme has a theme that both challenges the youngsters and helps them grow in their faith. Now two decades on, TeenStreet has become so popular similar events are taking place in countries as divese as Malaysia, Brazil and South Africa.
Actually, there are lots of places called St. Martins. The one that is close to our hearts is the village we live in, located on the English side of the England / Wales border. With just 3,000 residents, St. Martins has a homely feel to it and the local population always greet one another. This is especially true when people meet each other walking around God’s beautiful nature that surrounds the village. With a post office, a large supermarket, petrol station and more, St. Martins has all the necessary local facilities. It’s also less than four miles from where we work – close enough but not too far.
The project to launch a larger ship into ministry is ending! At the outset, OM were warned that renovating an existing vessel would take three times as long and cost twice as much as building a new one. While the length of the project to refurbish Logos Hope reflects that theory, praise God that the finances involved were certainly much smaller. Pictured above is one of the new conference rooms on board that will host training for pastors, Gospel programmes for schoolchildren, HIV awareness seminars and more! Pray that the venue and the whole vessel will be a mighty tool to bless the nations.
The answers are here! The team overseeing British applicants to OM’s short-term outreaches recently asked participants for their feedback. ‘Without a doubt, the experiences impacted me and my future plans,’ wrote Simon about his time among London’s diverse ethnic communities. Lindsay was equally enthusiastic after working with churches in South Africa: ‘It definitely broadened my vision for people in different countries and showed me how those from different cultures are equal in Christ’s eyes.‘ Meanwhile Peter was so moved by his experiences in Bosnia, he is joining the team there long-term.
Posted by shipsbecks 
Posted by shipsbecks 
Posted by shipsbecks 
