Bearing Fruit to Generations
From our beginnings, One Mission Society has been committed
to ministry that would bear much fruit among the
nations in which we labored. In John 15, Jesus reveals that
he desires his disciples to “bear fruit” (v. 2), “bear much fruit”
(v.8), and “bear fruit … that will last” (v.16). We take this principle
of bearing fruit so seriously that it is the root of our
ministry strategy: to multiply disciples who bear fruit that
will multiply churches, missionaries, and leaders to build
God’s kingdom worldwide.
The root engine for multiplication is disciple-making. Our missionaries
are digging into the core of the Great Commission
call to make disciples, which is revitalizing our relationships
with our national partners. Instead of focusing only on ways
to produce pastors to lead churches, we are working with
ministry models that engage any believer from any calling as
someone who can share their faith and help others grow as
disciple-makers. In Hungary, for example, our efforts have
ignited a growing number of disciple-making groups that
have grown exponentially in just a few months. Such growth
in Europe is rare, and it has energized our national partner
ministries.
As disciple-making takes root and bears fruit, it leads to the
establishment of new churches as disciples band together
in community in their pursuit of Christ. Church planting is
the natural result of the multiplication of disciple-making. In
Ethiopia, one of our national partners, Mezgebu, has a vision
to plant churches among each of the unreached peoples of
that nation. In one unreached group, their chief asked him
to live among the people to model how to live with good
morals. Instead, he shared his faith and made disciples who
then multiplied other disciples who eventually planted a
church. This is how the church will multiply.
And when churches multiply, they reach not only their own
people but begin to reach across cultures and boundaries
(Acts 1:8). The Gospel bears fruit within us and also rapidly
spreads outward. Many of our fields, like Colombia and the
Philippines, have seen how our church planting growth has
inspired missionary interest among other cultures. This is
how we will see movements of new missionaries spreading
to places where Western missionaries cannot go.
And among all these ministry efforts to multiply disciplemakers,
churches, and new missionaries, leaders from all
nations must be raised up to sustain and guide these efforts.
One such leader that we work with in South Asia has seen
incredible growth in multiplying disciples and churches and
is even combining compassion ministry and business development
to see continued growth in this nation that is highly
resistant to the Gospel.
OMS continues our commitment to bear fruit that will multiply
God’s kingdom in each generation to every nation, people,
and tongue as we work to fulfill the Great Commission.
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