Once a month, the staff at OMS HQ gathers to hear what other departments have been doing and be informed of the health of the organization. I suppose it could be likened to a State of the Union address, except much shorter and without the breaks for obligatory applause.
We had one this morning, and I'm pleased to report that the state of our union is relatively healthy. Deficits are down, particularly in homeland support accounts. This is always a huge concern for our staff, as many of us are underfunded. Many missionaries are at or below the poverty line. But December donations always help.
There was an Islamic Symposium last week, exploring the possibility of intentional evangelism among Muslim populations. We already do that to some extent, but much of it is on the periphery of the Muslim world. Muslims comprise 23% of the world's population, so of course we'd connect somewhere. But the vast majority of Muslims have no contact with the Gospel. Can we do a better job of reaching them? Of course we can.
ECC shared their four Wildly Important Goals for 2015-2016, one of which is near and dear to my heart. We hope to have the production process documented and learned entirely by year's end, so that we can translate 6 new languages and re-translate 8 languages by the end of 2016. It will fall largely on my shoulders to learn the process from Veronica, our partner in London, who is the only person in the world who knows the entire process right now. That is a scary thought. Your prayers, donations, and support are vital in helping us achieve this goal.
The development folks are hard at work finding foundations and donors to assist in funding major projects. There was a dedication in Haiti of one such project, the new radio towers. These towers help Radio 4VEH reach all of Haiti with the Gospel, health advice, and weather notifications.
36 people went through the application process last year to serve in various capacities. They are now funding and training for their new roles. If you received the last issue of Outreach, you saw that we have 134 personnel openings around the world of OMS. Think of how much we could do if each role was filled!
But it's not just work that we talk about. We also talk about personal accountability. Satan likes to attack us any way he can, and often, he attacks through what we see. Covenant Eyes is a new software we're considering to help members be accountable in their internet habits. It is an unfortunate reality with which we must contend. But it makes me feel better knowing OMS cares about our personal walk.
Most of what we talk about, though, is just company stuff. Probably the same sort of stuff your company talks about. Because missionaries are people, too.
We had one this morning, and I'm pleased to report that the state of our union is relatively healthy. Deficits are down, particularly in homeland support accounts. This is always a huge concern for our staff, as many of us are underfunded. Many missionaries are at or below the poverty line. But December donations always help.
There was an Islamic Symposium last week, exploring the possibility of intentional evangelism among Muslim populations. We already do that to some extent, but much of it is on the periphery of the Muslim world. Muslims comprise 23% of the world's population, so of course we'd connect somewhere. But the vast majority of Muslims have no contact with the Gospel. Can we do a better job of reaching them? Of course we can.
ECC shared their four Wildly Important Goals for 2015-2016, one of which is near and dear to my heart. We hope to have the production process documented and learned entirely by year's end, so that we can translate 6 new languages and re-translate 8 languages by the end of 2016. It will fall largely on my shoulders to learn the process from Veronica, our partner in London, who is the only person in the world who knows the entire process right now. That is a scary thought. Your prayers, donations, and support are vital in helping us achieve this goal.
The development folks are hard at work finding foundations and donors to assist in funding major projects. There was a dedication in Haiti of one such project, the new radio towers. These towers help Radio 4VEH reach all of Haiti with the Gospel, health advice, and weather notifications.
36 people went through the application process last year to serve in various capacities. They are now funding and training for their new roles. If you received the last issue of Outreach, you saw that we have 134 personnel openings around the world of OMS. Think of how much we could do if each role was filled!
But it's not just work that we talk about. We also talk about personal accountability. Satan likes to attack us any way he can, and often, he attacks through what we see. Covenant Eyes is a new software we're considering to help members be accountable in their internet habits. It is an unfortunate reality with which we must contend. But it makes me feel better knowing OMS cares about our personal walk.
Most of what we talk about, though, is just company stuff. Probably the same sort of stuff your company talks about. Because missionaries are people, too.
