OMS Core Values
• HOLINESS— By God’ s grace, we commit to submit to the authority of Christ and His Word, living lives of holiness, growing in Christlikeness by word, deed and all aspects of our lives( John 17:17).
• FAITH— By God’ s grace, we commit to live by faith, depending on God for all things, through prayer and reliance on the Holy Spirit( John 15:5).
• DISCIPLESHIP— By God’ s grace, we commit to proclaim the love of Jesus through mentoring and discipleship in ministry, living out our Christianity as part of a community or team and partnering with other community members in a biblical manner( Ephesians 4:11-16).
• ACCOUNTABILITY— By God’ s grace, we commit to be accountable to God, to our leaders and to our constituents through faithful, persevering labor and good stewardship( Luke 12:48b).
• MINISTRY— By God’ s grace, we commit to be involved in the fulfillment of the Great Commission through evangelism, church planting, leader training and partnership with churches to evangelize their nation and the world( Matthew 28:18-20).
Taking Accountability
Seriously
By Travis Hamilton, Chief Financial Officer, One Mission Society
Editor’ s Note: This is the fourth in a five-part series, covering OMS’ core values.
Instantly blinded through an accident at work, Chuck Merrill and his wife Nita raised their nine children in extreme poverty. But blindness didn’ t stop them from using what they had to help One Mission Society in its work around the world. Gifted as a musician, Chuck, along with Nita and their children, drove well over 1 million miles, singing at various churches and other Men for Missions functions, raising money to see the work of OMS continue around the world.
The sacrifices that Chuck and Nita made through traveling for the Lord and investing every extra penny they had into kingdom work was truly remarkable. Their lives epitomized the individuals in the parable of the talents. If Jesus had been talking about their lives in this passage, He would have repeated the words found in Matthew 25:21, which states,“ Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’ s happiness!”
Coming from a humble background, Chuck and Nita touched the lives of countless people. They raised money and awareness for OMS and its ministries, far more than most people will ever know. Chuck always told people,“ I would rather be blind and saved than sighted and lost.”
Knowing that many people sacrifice much in order to see the work of OMS continue, we take accountability seriously. Whether it is the few dollars raised by a children’ s Sunday school class for Bibles for Africa; a 24-year-old daughter, whose parents have entrusted her to become a missionary at OMS; or the thousands of dollars given by a successful businessman, OMS strives to ensure the resources entrusted to us are used in ways that honor
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