OMS Outreach May - August 2015 | Page 2

Behind the Scenes May—August 2015 Our Perfect Model Volume 115, No. 2 OMS Outreach equips Christians to make disciples of Jesus Christ through informative, inspiring, and involvement-driven articles, which leads to deeper mission participation by serving, giving, and praying. Office of the President Editor and Director of Communications Susan Griswold Loobie Associate Editor Lori McFall Senior Graphic Designer W. Foster Pilcher President Bob Fetherlin As I write this note, there is much going on in our world. Heartbreaking news of tragedy and disunity on a daily basis bombards our TVs, newspapers, and social media. Yet, in the midst of such unrest, Jesus brings hope. Jesus IS our hope, our light, our peace. He perfectly modeled love, missions, and mentoring. He taught us how to love him and one another. He showed us how to teach others and bring the Good News to the world. He did this by modeling or mentoring … first he spent special time with his 12 hand-picked disciples, then he choose 3 of those to devote himself to on a more intimate level. As we allow the Lord to pour into our lives, we then, in turn, can pour more abundantly into the lives of others. Aristides, a 2nd century Greek Christian writer, wrote, “They (Christians) live in the awareness of their smallness.” My prayer is that as we recognize our smallness in comparison to HIS greatness, we will be empowered to follow his bold example to make disciples of all nations. Editor, OMS Outreach [email protected] facebook.com/onemissionsociety twitter.com/1MissionSociety youtube.com/user/OMScommunications linkedin.com/company/one-mission-society instagram.com/onemissionsociety Visit our website at www.onemissionsociety.org. 2 Executive Director of International Ministries Randy Spacht Affiliate Countries Australia—Ian Bongers www.omsaus.org Canada—Mark Kroes www.omscanada.org New Zealand—Owen and Avalon Brown www.onemissionsociety.org.nz South Africa—Bruce Bennett www.omssa.co.za United Kingdom—Walter McCorkell www.onemissionsociety.org.uk United States—Rich Danzeisen www.onemissionsociety.org One Mission Society World Headquarters 941 Fry Road • Greenwood, IN 46142-6599 317.888.3333 • 317.888.5275 FAX [email protected] Cover: Training in Rwanda, Africa All photos courtesy of missionaries, volunteers, and partner churches of One Mission Society unless otherwise noted. By God’s grace, One Mission Society unites, inspires, and equips Christians to make disciples of Jesus Christ, multiplying dynamic communities of believers around the world. One Mission Society is an evangelical, interdenominational faith mission that makes disciples of Jesus Christ through intentional evangelism, planting churches, forming strategic partnerships, and training national leaders in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East. OMS then joins with those churches in global partnerships to reach the rest of the world. Subscriptions and Contributions: OMS Outreach is the official publication of One Mission Society and is published three times per year at the One Mission Society World Headquarters in Greenwood, Indiana. Please send all address updates or preference to receive the magazine online (email address needed) rather than hard copy to: [email protected]. Outreach is sent free of charge to all OMS partners, but donations are greatly appreciated to offset the increasing costs of printing and postage. Gifts may be sent to: OMS Outreach • PO Box A • Greenwood, Indiana 46142-6599, project #905420. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Copyright © 2015 One Mission Society. All rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A. Impact of Imperfect The When I met Eddie,* he was 30 years old, still living with his parents, and quite unhealthy in several areas of his life. I sensed he was stuck, needing help. He grew in his trust of my wife Esther and me and indicated his openness to being mentored by us. We took the risk of inviting Eddie to live in our home for a defined time. We will never forget the day he pulled into our driveway in his car loaded with all his possessions. Over the months that followed, Eddie increasingly opened his heart to our influence. With our mentoring and God’s enabling, Eddie began to make changes. Work was done in redefining his self-identity from being fat, lazy, stupid, and ugly to being a child of God, made in his image and deeply loved and valued by him. We arranged for a Christian counselor, medical doctor, and career advisor to work with us in helping Eddie. As healthy eating and daily exercise became the norm, Eddie lost 80 pounds. He started university classes and later received his degree in information technology. Most importantly, as he engaged regularly with God and his Word and several people prayed faithfully for Eddie, deeper 3