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By Rurel Ausley , Mission Director , Alabama Emerald Coast GMC and in the DRC
The GMC
When OMS became an official partner with the newly formed Global Methodist Church ( GMC ), I was thrilled . I had recently accepted the volunteer role of missions director for the Alabama Emerald Coast GMC , and soon after , the Democratic Republic of Congo ( DRC ) GMC invited me to serve as its missions director as well .
The DRC GMC started with nothing after the United Methodist Church ( UMC ) in Africa dismissed several African UMC clergy , including my good friend , Dr . Kimba Evariste . Kimba emerged as a key leader in this fledging GMC movement in the DRC . With 10 to 15 new GMC church buildings established , it became clear that planting new congregations would be central to our mission .
Kimba and I attended the GMC ’ s launch in Indianapolis , Indiana . My wife , Lisa , is a longtime OMS USA Board member , so we were already familiar with OMS ’ Village Church Planting ( VCP ) ministry in Africa . We arranged a meeting at the OMS World Headquarters ( near Indianapolis ) with Kimba and Chuck Rapp , OMS regional director for Africa , to explore a partnership for planting GMC churches in the DRC . OMS has been planting churches in Africa for more than 20 years with great success — so naturally , a marriage in heaven was born !
Now , the DRC GMC collaborates with OMS to train pastors for church planting . The leadership training program spans four years , with an annual week of intensive training . The DRC started with 10 locations , each training 15 pastors . Currently , our annual conference has provided 5 GMC training centers ( 75 pastors ), 4 Anglican training centers ( 60 pastors ), and 1 Free
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