Waiting
on the
God-orchestrated
FLOOD
of
Latin
Missionaries
By Jeff Edwards,
International Regional Director,
Latin America and Caribbean
I remember, as a 9-year-old MK (mis-
sionary kid) in Brazil, participating in
our annual “mission meetings” at Camp
Panorama where I grew up. Leaders from
Igreja Missionária (an OMS-founded
church) would join the missionaries for
meetings. That was 47 years ago, and
the OMS way of doing things always
included working closely with the lead-
ership of each country to establish thriv-
ing churches and seminaries. Now, OMS
is taking a deeper dive into its method of
operation in order to walk alongside our
church partners to jointly recruit, train, and
send out Latin American and Caribbean
missionaries. This strategic step is a pri-
mary focus for OMS to multiply missionary
movements globally.
As a region, we already have sent
Brazilian missionaries to Mozambique
and a Colombian to England. But we be-
lieve this is just the first small drop of a
God-orchestrated flood of missionaries
from this region. How can we, a Western
mission agency, be most useful in God’s
hands as a catalyst toward this end?
This is the question we wrestle with as
we seek God’s guidance for this strategic
focus. The missionary movement from
Latin America and the Caribbean won’t
look the same as it did for OMS in the last
century. It will probably be different, very
different, in structure, procedure, financial
capability, and process. But the call to
obedience to the Great Commission, the
emphasis on making disciples, and car-
rying his love to people of other cultures
remains the same.
Please pray with us for the following:
• Wisdom to know how to stoke the
missionary fire with our partners
in the region.
• Discernment for how to build a
regional support team for this
strategic priority.
• For God to break down barriers
in several countries so that this
partnership can flourish.
My dad (longtime OMS missionary
Max Edwards) often said, “If you lose
your desire to learn, you lose your right
to teach.” Even though OMS has been
sending missionaries for 119 years, we
now must become learners alongside our
partners so that we can understand how
the Great Commission fits into their real-
ity. Pray that we will listen well to them
and to the Holy Spirit in this incredible,
God-sized vision for his kingdom.
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