OMS Outreach May - August 2015 | Page 16

Russia Caribbean Ana heard about an OMS churchplanting workshop being held in the capital city every first Saturday of each quarter for one year. She wanted to attend, but she had no car, so she hitchhiked all night Friday to get to the city by Saturday morning. She worked as a night-shift nurse, so she needed to find someone to cover her shift. And because of her responsibilities in her church, she had to hitchhike back home each Saturday night to be in church on Sunday morning. Mexico Sofia, a friend of OMSers Jonny and Gemma Forsythe, along with her family, accepted Jesus and was baptized in December 2014. Here is Sofia’s testimony: “God came into my life in a time of need. He rescued me and took my heart into a place filled with love and light. Not long before this, my heart was like stone. I didn’t want to change my habits. What I didn’t realize was that with God, I don’t need those things. One day, he changed my heart in the blink of an eye! I gave him my life, my heart, and my soul. I know that nothing and no one can separate me from him.” 16 From the training Ana received, she, in turn, began to train those in her local church. In a matter of months, they had 26 new church groups in her city. A year later, the work had grown so large, her church became one of the training centers. Today, Ana has quit her job as a nurse, and she trains people in church planting in several locations in the Caribbean. Pavel studies at the OMS-founded Moscow Evangelical Christian Seminary. He recently led a man to Christ and credits his discipleship course in helping him do this. He also helped a church member resolve a work-related conflict and says his counseling course taught him that rather than giving advice, he should listen and ask questions, leading the person to find the biblical resolution by himself. He now serves as the Sunday school director and preaches once a month at his church. Because of his seminary courses, Pavel feels prepared to take on these ministry challenges. India A pastor serving an Evangelical Church of India congregation participated in the Wesleyan holiness study program in Seoul, South Korea, last year. He shares, “I praise God for the wonderful opportunity to learn the Wesleyan holiness theology. Last year’s program changed my thinking of the Christian sanctified life. We now teach a course called, ‘The Life and Teaching of John Wesley’ in our seminary in Kozhivila.” Mozambique God is equipping the OMS-related Living Word Evangelical Church to communicate the Gospel in word and deed. In Picocco, the Gospel penetrated the heart of a seasoned leader of a church who adheres to many ancestral traditions. He then confessed that he did not know the Scriptures and was ill prepared to lead, so he closed “his” church and brought his flock to be taught the truth at the Living Word church. 17