new mission quotes blog

Have you seen the new OM USA mission quote blog?  Each day features an inspiring phrase from some of your favorite mission leaders.  Quotes are searchable by name, subject and date.  Subscribe at MissionQuotes.com.     

What is the BE?

OM USA is the host for BE, an event for those seeking God's purpose for their lives. Learn more and get a registration form on the BE Facebook page.

Be from OM USA Video on Vimeo.

pastors and youth leaders: take your group to the BE

Andrew Scott, COO of OM USA, talks to youth leaders about the benefits of taking your group to the BE. Learn more and get a registration form on the BE Facebook page.

What is BE? from OM USA Video on Vimeo.

Pray for Mission Retreat this weekend

The Journey Deepens is a retreat for those interested in mission but not sure which step to take next. It is being held on the OM USA campus this weekend. Please be in prayer for those attending. Ask that the Lord would use this time to direct each one in His will. Thanks.

DIY: turning crates into beds for Haitian orphans

When OM announced plans to ship a container full of supplies to Haiti, OM staff member Randy Jury thought the most efficient way would be to build crates to hold the items. When staffer Ray Cooper heard about the crates, he wondered if they could be designed to reassemble into sturdy bunk beds upon arrival. Ray had been to Haiti since the earthquakes and knew kids in the orphanage were sleeping on cardboard mats or on the concrete floor. So Randy went back to work to create the crates.

Randy Jury and Tom Paver begin to reassemble a crate.

Randy, Ray, and the rest of their crew built 25 crate bunks -- that’s 50 new beds for orphaned kids in Haiti. The measurements fit mattresses being made in Haiti, and the bunks will be painted using supplies bought in country. Nearly one ton of sheets and blankets were included in the container shipment.  Each crate took 2-3 hours to construct but will only take 20-30 minutes to reassemble as a bunk bed.  

Thanks to everyone who helped build or load these crates. The final shipment contained 22,394 pounds of much-needed items for Haiti.  Many of you from Atlanta-area churches were part of this project and it could not have been completed without your help.  The container is on its way and due to arrive Monday morning, much quicker than expected!  Please pray for the container's safe delivery and for an easy distribution.  

OM staffers with a completed bunk.
(clockwise from top left:) Randy Jury, Tom Paver, Carl Hoffman, and Nigel Harman.

LAST WEEK: Atlanta-area Haiti drop-off

OM USA is filling a container with very specific items bound for Haiti. If you are in the Atlanta area ONLY  and can bring any of the following items, please do so by March 22. If you are not local but would like to give, give online to Haiti relief. For more information and directions see the OM USA website.




Please choose from only this list:
tarps and tents
mosquito nets
rice in larger bags
black or pinto beans, dry, in larger bags
spaghetti, dry pasta
toothbrushes and toothpaste
bar soap
crutches, walkers, and wheelchairs

The Journey Deepens: a retreat

If you have a heart for mission and are beginning to sense the Lord prompting you to take the next steps, you may want to attend a weekend retreat called The Journey Deepens. OM is hosting the March event on our Atlanta-area campus. For information see the Journey Deepens website.

team en route to Haitian orphanage

Kids before the earthquake, at the orphanage where OM is sending a team.

OM USA is sending out a six-member emergency response team to serve several orphanages in Haiti. Each team member is certified in search and rescue. The group will first search the rubble of a school just outside Port au Prince for possible survivors. As many as 2,000 children may be buried there beneath the rubble. No rescue teams have yet been in the area where they are going.

Water is the greatest need for an orphanage that was miraculously spared. The kids are sleeping outside since it is unknown how safe their building is, but praise God for protecting these children. The town around this orphanage was completely destroyed so the orphanage is providing aid to the neighborhood survivors. Pray for this team as they go, that the Lord will protect them and that they will be able to find anyone still alive. Subscribe to this blog for more updates. And click here to give to OM relief work in Haiti.

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this:
to look after orphans and widows in their distress.
James 1:27

George in the USA

OM founder George Verwer meets with Andrew Scott, COO of OM USA in the Atlanta-area office.

OM at Urbana: Iraqi Bibles

OM VP Michael Kaspar meets with two Urbana participants in St. Louis this week. You can join the students who are buying Bibles for those in Iraq. Iraqi Bibles are $2 each. Just use this form.

Getting ready for Urbana

It's almost time for Urbana 09 and OM USA staffers have been creating the OM booth, a large mixed media display now affectionately termed The Shroud of Tyrone. Read why on our Facebook photo album.

join us in prayer today

We here in OM's US office will be observing a corporate day of prayer for needs and concerns around the OM world. Please join us. Ask the Lord to lead you to specific Scriptures and feel free to post them here. Thanks for your partnership with Operation Mobilization.

Follow OM USA Prayer

OM USA does not have a typical corporate structure. Instead, it is divided into four departments: Pray, Go, Give, and Grow. The latter is where we minister to our own missionaries. The other three are areas through which American believers can get involved in global mission.

The Pray Department has incredible resources for prayer, both within and outside of OM. You can have access to these through the OM USA Prayer pages on both Facebook and Twitter.

We also welcome you to pray for the people and places on the OM photo blog. These represent relationships formed by OM teams throughout the world. Thanks for your ministry of prayer.

Hear powerful mission speakers, get a free book for you, and shop for Christmas

The World Mission Conference continues at First Baptist Atlanta, home of Dr. Charles Stanley. OM's largest book table display of the year is set up near the rotunda and is offering select titles for free. Stop by the book tables during these times:

4-9 pm TONIGHT:
(Note: Dr. Stanley is NOT speaking tonight, Wednesday)
Start with dinner at the International Food Bazaar from 5-6:30 pm in Faith Hall. Then hear from two of FBC Atlanta's missionaries and end the evening with international desserts at the mission display tables. Make sure you browse OM books. Inflatable globes and globe jackets will also be available.

8:30 am-1:30 pm Sunday:
Dr. Charles Stanley preaching
Hear Dr. Stanley's message on missions at either 9 or 10:45 am. Hear missionaries in Sunday School classes during either hour. And finish your Christmas shopping early. OM prices are often less than retail and proceeds benefit mission work around the world.

We look forward to seeing you there! Here are directions to the church. For more information on scheduling see the FBC World Mission Conference calendar.

a mission heart: it's in the genes

Sheila Slocum came to OM to help women like herself. Women hurt by abuse. Though she was called to missions as a child, Sheila turned from her faith in her twenties. She returned to the Lord later in life and was soon drawn back to missions, through an OM speaker visiting her church.

Almost a decade later, she began her own time with OM as a cook in Belgium. She thought, "I don't like cooking but I'll do anything for Jesus". She served in a couple of different roles before finding her current niche, ministering to hurting women. Sheila travels to OM fields to talk with OM members. She is also an OM speaker, just like the one God used to direct her own life all those years ago. She says of her talks, "I just tell my story," which includes a difficult past of rape and abuse. And then the women begin to tell their own stories, often for the first time. Sheila says that many women keep these hurts secret their whole lives, either out of fear or perceived guilt. But Sheila's openness allows them to speak freely and that's when she gets to step into her favorite part of her job: listening. She knows that talking through these issues allows women to walk in freedom and Sheila says, "When women walk in freedom, they are free to serve".

The joy that Sheila gets from her work is infectious. Not only does it affect the women she ministers to but it has been an inspiration to her granddaughter Bekah as well. Sheila took her aboard the OM ship Doulos when Bekah turned 16 and Bekah fell in love with life on the ship. She is joining the crew next year. Bekah finished school with a degree in psychology so not only is she following in Sheila's footsteps to OM but may also follow her into a counseling ministry, too.

Sheila has since taken Bekah's younger sister to Switzerland on her 16th birthday, and the girls' younger brother will likely go on an OM-related trip when he turns 16. It is becoming a family tradition, one that may wind up impacting the kingdom for generations to come.

Would you like to hear more of Sheila's story? Have her speak to your women's group. Contact the OM Speakers Bureau.

George Verwer receives Lifetime of Service Award from The Mission Exchange

OM Founder George Verwer was recently honored in St. Louis as only the third recipient of the Lifetime of Service Award. This award is given by The Mission Exchange, a meta-mission group that facilitates partnership and professional training among mission leaders. OM USA VP Grant Blair said of the event, "It was inspiring to me to hear – both formally and informally – from participants in the audience how George had impacted their lives and/or their ministries in significant ways."

Along with the award, Verwer was given a commissioned portrait painted by Jim Meyer, a missionary with Greater Europe Mission. The two previous Lifetime of Service portraits were done in the traditional boardroom style but that just could not capture the essence of George the communicator. So this painting shows George holding a globe and wearing a globe jacket with a mic in his hand. The entire evening was a fitting tribute to a passionate mission innovator.

Do you want to hear where George is speaking next? Follow his travels and pray through the news items on his website.

[above, l-r:] Rick Hicks, OM North American Area Director,
looks on as George Verwer accepts the Lifetime of Service Award
from Steve Moore, President and CEO of The Mission Exchange.

[below:] Several OM USA leaders were with George
at the award ceremony, including (l-r)
Andrew Scott, Brian Mount, Rick Hicks, and Grant Blair.

World Premiere: George Verwer Tribute

Recently OM founder George Verwer was honored by The Mission Exchange with their Lifetime of Service Award. This video was created for that event, to introduce the audience to our beloved George. Thanks, George, for all you do and all you are.


George Verwer Tribute from OM USA Video on Vimeo.

new recruits experience Outbound

The OM USA office just hosted another Outbound, a week-long introduction to OM for those seeking to go long-term. Potential OM members get to meet with prayer partners [above] and enjoy special events such as a dinner off-campus [below]. Many in this group are headed to OM Ships.

Are you interested in serving long-term? See our current opportunities. Then fill out the inquire page to find out more. The next Outbound is in February 2010. We would love to see you there!

Dancelink team heads to India today

Dancelink, an OM ministry, is flying a team to India today for almost two weeks. Wherever the team goes they use dance to share the love and message of God. The group leaving today will be ministering to the Lord and to the people of India through October 14. Dancelink founder Linda Wells asks prayer for travel today and on the 14th; the flights those days are 15 hours each. Pray for great relationships to be built there in India.

Back in May, Linda Wells was featured in a local magazine which has just become available again online. You can read more about Linda's ministry in this Fayette Woman article.

And learn more about this summer's Dancelink trip to Hungary here.

Travel Grants for Urbana 09

Planning to go to Urbana 09?
It's December 27-31 in
St. Louis, Missouri.

Need funds to get there?
Mission Network News
has a great article about
travel grants being provided
by the Christian Reformed
World Relief Committee (CRRC),
with links to Urbana registration
and the travel grant application.

Look for OM at Urbana 09.
And check out this video
about Anna Lyman,
an OM member who found
the right match for
her gifts at Urbana.