One Family’s
Journey
By Ian Bongers,
OMS Australia Executive Director
In February, I had the privilege of seeing the Morrison family off at the airport as they
departed for their first term as OMS missionaries. Scott and Sarah, with one-year-old
Joshua, serve as church planters in Thailand. Joshua is part of a huge network of
missionary kids serving around the world with OMS. Along with other children now
living in Australia, Africa, Asia, Europe, and both Americas, Joshua has placed a hand
print on the wall in the OMS MK Center in Greenwood, Indiana.
The many people who serve our children play a huge role in keeping missionary fam-
ilies on the field. When kids feel like a part of the team, their unique experience is part of
the family’s journey. It is often a precursor to their becoming missionaries themselves.
OMS has taught me the importance of a good missionary kid program. As a home-
land missionary, my role can be seen from the outside as a regular job—and that is
certainly how my family saw it for several years. In 2012, we traveled to the U.S. to at-
tend CROSS Training, the cross-cultural training for OMS missionaries. Many things
about the training impressed me, but I was amazed by the high quality of the CROSS
Training program for missionary kids. Our children were taken through their own ver-
sion of every cultural exercise and lesson in missions that the adults experienced.
Since then, our children have continued to be cared for by Aunt Deanna, the MK
coordinator. Birthday cards, letters, and handwritten notes bring back all the lessons
they learned. These encouragements remind them that they are missionaries too.
Because they were valued and cared for in CROSS Training more than four years
ago, something happened. No longer do my kids say, “My dad works at OMS,” but
rather, “We are OMS missionaries.” I don’t know how far this will take my kids in their
future ministry decisions, but I have come to learn that OMS has a low attrition rate. It
is common to come across missionaries who grew up as missionary kids. Some come
from a legacy of missions, with grandparents who went out as pioneer missionaries
with OMS. As a father and a missionary, I believe this kind of generational dedication
to sharing the Gospel cannot happen unless we value the experiences of our children
and speak into their lives. I’m grateful that OMS sees it that way too.
photo: Ian Bongers, OMS Australia executive director (center), says goodbye to Sarah, Joshua, and
Scott Morrison, heading to Thailand.
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