Haiti relief video to share

Thanks for posting this to your own sites and helping us spread the word about the long-term needs in Haiti.

Haiti Relief from OM USA Video on Vimeo.

team in Haiti after flight change

The donated charter jet leaves Georgia for Haiti.

The emergency response team sent to Haiti by OM USA in partnership with New Hope Baptist Church was diverted to the Dominican Republic. The team had been given a confirmed landing time for Haiti, yet the air space was closed and they were sent to the Dominican Republic. So they traveled by land into Haiti and have arrived at the first orphanage, the one written about here yesterday. Everyone there survived the strong aftershock of this morning.

We will keep you updated on the team's progress. Word has gotten to them that a second orphanage on the other side of Port-au-Prince was also spared, as was a third orphanage farther away. What powerful reminders of God's heart for the orphan, referred to throughout Scripture. Please continue to pray that the team will be able to get food and water to the kids, as well as pave the way for subsequent teams.

partnership gets team to Haiti

The team packs at OM USA.

The search and rescue team that left for Haiti yesterday spent some time at OM USA before they left. They met members of New Hope Baptist, an Atlanta-area church who partners with the same orphanages this team will be serving. New Hope member Rhodena Buck was able to show pictures from the area and brief the team on who they would meet and what they could expect. During the briefing, the team was treated to lunch by a local Chick-fil-a, with plenty left over to take with them.

Former OM member Rusty Garrison put this 6-man team together and watched as the Lord provided everything they needed. First, each man on this team is certified in search and rescue, a must at this stage in Haiti's earthquake recovery. To get there, a local businessman offered the use of his corporate jet, saving the team $6,000 in last-minute airfare. Another business leader is offering his jet for the return trip, possibly bringing a fresh team with him. A local branch of the NAACP was hosting a parade and rally for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and half of the funds they raised will go toward OM's relief work in Haiti.

Thanks for your continued support of this team. As you pray and give, you are joining with them.

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

OM anticipates long-term involvement in Haiti earthquake relief

OM staff continue to investigate the best ways to help with earthquake relief in Haiti. Contact has been made with the two orphanages we have assisted in the past. They have minimal structural damage but are cut off from food and water supplies. We are investigating all possibilities of getting relief supplies into Haiti.

Please be in prayer with us that we can arrange the right logistics to provide some immediate help to these orphanages and surrounding areas. A member of OM USA who has local connections in Haiti will be in the country on the weekend and will further assess the situation and how OM can help. We anticipate having long-term involvement with some local churches once the crisis transitions to a rebuilding phase.

Give to Haiti Earthquake Relief.

How to pray for Costa Rica

OM founder George Verwer talks with the leader of OM Costa Rica about current ministry projects there. Please pray for the needs mentioned here. Thank you.

Give to Haiti Earthquake Relief

OM is sending a leader today to find areas of greatest need, with teams to follow. Please pray for this first responder who will be partnering with members of a Hatian church. Pray he will be able to find the pastor of this church in the chaos of that area, pray for the people of Haiti, and pray for many miracles to happen in these first crucial days of recovery. Thanks for your gifts toward these relief efforts. You can subscribe to this blog for more updates. Continue to pray with us in the coming days.

George in the USA

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

Passion 2010 crushes injustice

In Atlanta at the Passion Conference:
22,000 students (ages 18-25) raised
$668,000 for global projects
One couple matched that --
bringing the grand total to
over $1.3 million.

For OM, that meant not just one but TWO Dalit education centers will be built in India. The Dalits are one of the world's most oppressed people groups. In their culture, they drink out of clay cups and when they are finished smash the cups, so no one else will be made "unclean" by coming into contact with them. Passion attendees paid $30 for two cups, one to take home as a prayer reminder, and another to break as a prophetic act toward the future of the Dalit people, thereby helping to crush injustice. Proceeds went toward the Dalit education centers, where Dalit children are being equipped and empowered. Here's more from the Dalit cup crushing experience at Passion:

OM at Urbana: Anna's story

Michael Kaspar interviews Anna Lyman about how she found OM through the Urbana mission conference. See more of Anna's story here.

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.

Continue to pray for Shiite Muslims

Here are the last two prayer prompts for Ashura (click pictures to read the prompts), a time that ends in many men performing self-mutilation in remembrance of a Muslim martyr.








Shiite Muslims continue to be attacked during this time. Many explosions have gone off during Ashura gatherings all over the Muslim world this week. Pray for the safety of the Shiites and for someone to tell them about the one who shed His blood for them.

Merry Christmas...

...and thanks for partnering with us through the year

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Day 8: Supremacy of Jesus

This Christmas Eve, remember Shiite Muslims who still need to know the love and the supremacy of Jesus.

Click this picture for today's Ashura prayer prompt from cryoutnow.org.

You can subscribe to their email list here.

For an introduction to Ashura, watch this video.

Day 7: Shiite households

While you are preparing your own home for the joy of Christmas Eve, lift up Shiite families who are in a traditional season of mourning, that they might know the hope that you have.

Click this picture for today's Ashura prayer prompt from cryoutnow.org.

You can subscribe to their email list here.

For an introduction to Ashura, watch this video.

Day 6: Influential Shiite Men

As we are preparing for Christmas, Shiite Muslims are preparing for Ashura, a day of ceremonial chest beating, to mourn the suffering of an Islamic martyr, one of Muhammad's grandsons. Join with us in prayer during these 10 preceding days of Ashura.

Click this picture for today's Ashura prayer prompt from cryoutnow.org.

You can subscribe to their email list here.

For an introduction to Ashura, watch this video.

Day 5: obedient followers of Jesus

Click this picture for today's Ashura prayer prompt from cryoutnow.org.

You can subscribe to their email list here.

For an introduction to Ashura, watch this video.

Day 4: stepping out of your comfort zone

Click this picture for today's Ashura prayer prompt from cryoutnow.org.

You can subscribe to their email list here.

For an introduction to Ashura, watch this video.

y 3: seekers of God

Click this picture for today's Ashura prayer prompt from cryoutnow.org.

You can subscribe to their email list here.

For an introduction to Ashura, watch this video.

Day 2: Dreams and Visions

Click this picture for today's Ashura prayer prompt from cryoutnow.org.

You can subscribe to their email list here.

For an introduction to Ashura, watch this video.