In the fall of 2024, we began the first of three six-week online seminars. Each week, we came together to listen and learn, but along the way, God also formed us into a community as we joined from across the globe. Some of us were meeting each other for the first time.
OMS Uruguay missionary John Hamilton led the first training: Emotionally Healthy Discipleship. Each Zoom session included teaching, breakout groups, and interaction through chat features. When we sent out the invitation across OMS, we had no idea how many people would sign up. We hoped for at least 12 participants. When it was time for John to start, more than 40 people had signed up! The disciple-makers were eager to be equipped.
Billy Coppedge, a WGM missionary serving in partnership with OMS UK, presented our second seminar, Engaging
discipleship through house fellowship. We invited Samantha Meadows from Inspire Movement to lead us through a six-week house fellowship practicum. Allar Saard, an OMS Every Community for Christ worker in Estonia, joined us. He took extensive notes and reported that he has been passing along what he learned to the small groups he facilitates in Estonia.
New information, skills, and ideas were important for everyone who participated. However, what I learned through this experience is the importance of equipping
God’ s Word Afresh. He taught us how to become dynamic storytellers of the Word. Here’ s some of the feedback from his seminar:
Anja shared,“ The storytelling class was so practical! I used it in our home church, a chapel devotional, and integrated it into material I taught for a Perspectives lesson!”
Brent said,“ Seeing how our discussions deeply impacted me and others as the process opened Scripture to us, and us to [ the Scripture ], was a wonderful impact of this course.”
Pat added,“ What an awesome way to look at God’ s Word and dig for gold.”
Our third seminar focused on practicing and caring for our own OMS community to empower their disciple-making efforts around the globe. A recent message from OMSer Sara affirmed this:
What I appreciated most about the disciple-making workshops was not only the content( which I loved) but also how it was interpreted and applied by those I was in breakout rooms with. Each person reflected their experiences and current ministry in their interpretation. It encouraged me to go deeper, ask more questions, and listen more to their insights.
Please ask God to guide us as we plan the next seminar series and seek ways to serve everyone across the time zones where OMS has ministry.
photos, page 16-17: Training disciples to become disciple-makers is a core value of OMS.
17