Rand, Diana, Anderson, they were involved with OM,
I guess, in the early 60s, and shared
with me an interesting story about one of
the old OM trucks, picking them up, OM
lorries picking them up at the station in
Bristol.
And over the years, a number of times,
we sort of thought about whether they should
join full-time.
But about a year or two ago, it
really seemed to be God's timing for them
to join.
At this point, I'd like to emphasize the
fact that we are completely united in our
ministry in Bromley with OM UK, based out
of the Quinta, coordinated by Peter Maiden and
Tony Kirk.
And historically, OM has always had an office
in London, even though our main bases have
been in the north, except in the very
first year or two.
We are responsible to look after the affairs
of OM London, and in some ways, OM
south of England, though not exclusively.
If someone from the north wants to take
a meeting in the south, that's no problem,
and I take more meetings in the north
than, in fact, I do in the south.
But we're dealing with Britain's largest city.
We're dealing with a lot of people passing
through, arriving back from the field.
And so, in many ways, a good amount
of our work, when it comes to actual
time, is OM UK.
On the other hand, OM UK, and especially
Peter Maiden, are helping in various ways internationally.
This has proven to be one of the
most effective ways to operate on less money,
because all the money that we can save
back here in keeping administrative costs down and
the overall coordination costs down, enables us to
put more finance out in India and Bangladesh
and the Muslim world, communist world, and the
ends of the earth.
Of course, most of us end up doing
two or three jobs, and that's perhaps something
that should be discussed.
God brought me to Britain in 1962, sort
of the 25th anniversary of that, with a
great burden for this country to see God
moving among his people, to see revival, to
see vision, and then to see people moving
out.
And our concept from the earliest days was
not just short-term.
The concept of long-term life ministry came,
you know, and really before the concept of
short-term.
In the last couple of years, we've really
sensed that we're on overload on our team.
Far more to do, often, than we can
handle.
Yet some of the tasks that need to
be done can't just be done by some
new recruit, and especially the whole area of
church relationships, counseling, following up on ex-OMers.
Some of the people coming back from OM
find it more difficult to enter into British
society than they did to enter into missionary
work overseas in the first place.
But one of the reasons I felt so
burdened to invite Ray and Diana Anderson into
the ministry was to help me and to
help ICT in connection with our responsibilities with
OMUK.
I mention this because some people just looking
at the whole thing on paper think, well,
Ray Anderson, if his work is Britain, then
he, of course, should be just linked to
the Quintin.
But that's not really the purpose and the
goal.
And if he does that, then I have
another gap.
All the work that I do, that I'm
involved in, which are linked with personal relationships,
long-term church relationships, friends, ex-OMers, people
who are counseled in the meetings except Christ,
it's impossible to grasp what OM is doing
unless you understand relationships.
And relationships can't just be passed off flippantly
from one person to another.
We, in fact, need a whole department just
committed to this if we really wanted to
do it properly, especially considering a number of
factors we're faced with in Great Britain.
All of us, again, have to work together
on this.
And I don't think there's anybody on our
team that's not to some degree trying to
work on church relationships, recruiting, ex-OMer relationships,
prayer partners, all that kind of thing.
We need to do a lot more.
Can't go into detail here.
We praise the Lord that we now have
someone on the team who has this as
their main work, though, of course, Ray Anderson
already has a ministry of preaching and teaching,
would have invitations for that whether he was
in OM or not.
We've not been able to see a breakthrough
in housing, greatest practical problem that we have
continued to face on our team, together with
the lack of finance, the fact that people
don't easily give to ICT.
When people give in a general way, they
think of the ships, they think of India.
If it goes into any of the main
financial offices, and that's for UK, that's Quinta.
If the money is not designated, then it
goes into the general fund for the work
in Britain.
They are also in the midst of a
considerable battle.
So we have lived continually under financial pressure
in ICT.
We're trying to find ways, maybe this tape
will be part of that, to communicate to
our friends and prayer partners the ministry of
ICT so that they will be motivated to
designate money toward this particular ministry and the
ministry of this team of people and all
that they're doing around the world.
Part of the ministry of this whole team
would be completely justified even if such a
thing as OM International did not exist.
But, of course, the bigger challenge of the
team or the equal size challenge is serving,
coordinating, helping lead OM forward internationally and around
the world.
So we're excited about the Andersons.
We hope you'll pray for them.
They did get some financial encouragement for a
home if they were willing to move to
Bristol where they had many friends.
They're living in Chepstow at present, or they're
just moving now.
And we again, as we so often do
in OM, drew up a compromise because we
didn't have proper housing in Bromley, and they
are now based in Bristol.
Ray will generally be coming in two days
a week to Bromley.
Of course, there are positives and negatives about
any move, but this does seem to be
from the Lord.
And we'd really appreciate your prayers on behalf
of their ministry.
Already, Ray's been down to Italy.
He's getting invitations to be involved in various
ways in OM conferences.
And we just pray this can be kept
in balance so that a good part of
his time can still be given to the
churches, prayer partners, ex-OMers, and the extension,
the growth in depth of the work in
Britain, and everything that especially is connected with
our team.
Pray that especially he'll be able to line
up meetings.
Sometimes we have key speakers on our team
who have no meetings on the weekends.
Getting meetings is not easy.
There are many churches who are not interested
in someone coming in to present missions, much
less present OM.
What some people don't realize is that our
men are available for general ministry, general teaching.
You can even assign them a topic.
And of course, we do get some, but
I don't think we really get enough.
Some of us get more than we can
handle.
We try to pass them on to other
brothers.
Some of us are more known than others.
We've been going at it a longer time.
Some churches, some groups are not happy about
that.
Some are.
I'd love to just talk for a long
time just about our ministry in the Christian
unions, because OM's input into the Christian unions
for more than 20 years is an untold
story.
And in a sense, we thank God for
that.
We never wanted to start any separate organization
in the universities, and we certainly want self
-crucified and don't want to be doing things
in order to get the credit.
But we are motivated about working in the
Christian unions.
Naja Lee especially is a very close linking
to the whole Christian union movement, UCCF.
And we just feel that we're partners together
with that great movement, which in so many
ways is one of the main spiritual backbones
in Britain.
And so it's a sad day if we
have to turn down meetings, which I personally
have to do.
And we're praying that people would be willing
to accept one of the speakers of this
team, and that they'll have the confidence in
this team to know that if we send
someone from ICT to take a meeting, that
that person will be able to communicate, that
person will have the blessing and the help
of the Lord in their ministry.
Another family that's just recently joined the team
is Viv Thomas.
Viv and Sheila Thomas.
What an answer to prayer that this couple
decided to, in the many options they had
around OM, to settle on ICT.
For many years, Roger Molstad was my main
administrative assistant for general things.
I mention that because for India, Gary Dean
carries that role.
We'll talk about him in a moment.
Before Roger Neal, John Neal was carrying that.
This was an important responsibility where I was
really delegating a lot of things that I
no longer could keep up with, especially in
connection with the Muslim world, also in connection
with literature, relationships, other organizations, personnel.
And Viv, after much prayer, has stepped into
this task.
Viv was a pastor, then he went with
OM India.
He met Sheila somewhere in the midst of
all that.
Then he went back to the pastorate at
a church in London.
Then he went back to OM Pakistan.
And so he has considerable experience.
He is another person, of course, who just
on his own can get plenty of meetings,
as he's a very gifted preacher and communicator.
And we're thankful for men who have that
gift, who are willing to also develop their
administrative gift.
Every pastor, most pastors, have some kind of
administrative gift, an overall leadership gift.
The key in Viv's job will be relationships.
His wife feels very called to work in
a secular job and to reach out in
that way, which is a whole, in my
mind, important area of witness and ministry.
Some people will be closer to the OM
sort of hub of activities and administration than
others.
Other people feel within OM their greater calling
or strong calling is their own church.
Others feel the call to put Christ into
practice, Christianity into practice, in the marketplace, in
tough secular situations.
And that's something that Sheila senses.
They don't have any children.
And we'd appreciate your prayers for her in
that kind of ministry.
Of course, they're very much together as a
team.
Recently visited the Middle East.
Since it's his first year in this job,
getting to know all the people, the organizations,
the other Christian leaders is a big responsibility.
Involves a lot of reading, a lot of
meeting with people.
And I believe that for the future, they
are certainly destined to be very key people
in the overall leadership and servanship ministry of
OM around the world.
Of course, even tomorrow morning, I often speak
Friday mornings to the team.
Viv will be taking my place and sharing
with both teams as they come together.
Next week, he'll be teaching the study program.
And we're just excited about their ministry and
how thankful we are to God for them.
I'd like to now just talk for a
moment about Gary Dean and his wife.
Gary right now is out in the subcontinent.
He is my main administrative assistant for subcontinent
affairs.
I think there are other ways to describe
his ministry.
The leadership for the subcontinent is basically on
a national basis.
Our goal is eventually to have an area
leader for the subcontinent.
We don't have that person right now.
And since that's where I've been involved the
most in the last 20 some years, together
with my international responsibility, I am the area
leader for the subcontinent.
But in fact, Gary is chief servant, chief
deacon, and really carrying the practical load.
And the people of the subcontinent have really
come to appreciate so much all that Gary
has been able to do on their behalf.
There's five times more involved in that job
than can be seen on the surface.
I know the sheer amount of correspondence that
I receive from the subcontinent would certainly be
enough to keep me busy a couple days
a week, especially if I included in that
some meetings that I do take to present
the vision of the subcontinent and the other
things we do to build relationships for the
subcontinent.
Again, India has been having enormous financial struggles.
And ideally we need a team of people
just out presenting the vision of India, the
challenge of India.
India in regard to world missions today is
old, sort of old hat.
There are not that many people interested.
We praise God this year under the umbrella
of our team, we were able to launch
a subcontinent team, Jimmy Christie, Frank Brooks, Don
Maxwell, partly with that team, partly with me.
And that has been really effective.
Now most of the major fields want to
see similar teams mobilize.
But that takes organization, it takes coordination, it
takes follow-up, it takes general oversight.
In O.M. there's often no quick, simple
way to get certain things done because there's
no great dictatorial powers where one person can
just say do this and everybody sort of
does it.
We have to win people to what is
on our heart.
We have to pray with them.
We have to esteem them.
This is why there's far more involved on
our team along this line than we can
ever even talk about.
The phone calls that have to be made
to bring two brothers into unity or to
get someone to understand what's happening.
Everybody in O.M. wants to know what's
happening.
They don't want to be presumed on and
they don't want to be walked on.
This means a lot of information has to
go out.
If it wasn't for the cassette tapes that
we've sent out, like the financial crisis cassette,
I just don't know where we would be.
Plus all the memos and the other communication
that build unity, like-mindedness, International Weekly Report,
which we've had a lot of good feedback
on lately.
These many, many ministries and functions will only
continue as the Lord gives us a strong,
like-minded team.
Believe me, one of the burdens for sharing
what's on my heart right now is that
we need to see others who are willing
to come in and work on this team.
Most of these men need secretarial or administrative
help.
They are carrying in most cases two or
three jobs.
This is only possible through the faithful work
of secretaries.
We've only been able to get a few
longer-term secretaries, which of course to some
degree we understand because people come and they
get a burden to go out to India
or the Arab world and we rejoice in
that.
I'd like to just again request prayer for
Gary and Sue Dean.
They're crying out to God for the right
people to step into that job for one
year and for all that it involves.
Gary also has a ministry of teaching and
preaching and that gets used not only in
connection with India, but in general.
I'd like to now talk about Vera Zebramsky.
We wish we had more longer-term single
people on our team, though there are hard
people to find.
Vera has now been more than five years
working as my secretary and to be quite
honest, I think most people know she's doing
the work of two or three people.
Tremendous skill, but also tremendous commitment to the
task and she is actually doing far more
than a secretary would do.
Each person like Vera have other ministries, often
the ministry of hospitality.
We have a hospitality house on ICT and
in connection with that, I'd like to mention
Jim and Margaret Osborne, people who look after
that house and have been just such a
blessing to so many.
Few people can understand, however, the pressure that
sometimes comes on that ministry and basically if
we're going to think of hospitality in a
serious way and we must do that and
especially our team must do that, then we
need more people involved in that task or
should I say everyone on the team needs
to reach out in the ministry of hospitality.
With our limited accommodation and the crises we're
often facing in that area, that doesn't always
become, it's not always very easy.
I usually have one other person who works
with me as a trainee for a year.
This year it's Bob Rose, last year it
was Mark Sotoquist, before that Dirk Roth.
This has been such a help to me
and of course it enables us to put
into practice what Dale Roton talks about in
his book Christian Strategy.
We learn from each other.
I generally when I travel prefer for the
sake of the job to have a team
because there are people that need counseling, there's
the book table, there's just so much that
happens when you move out to take a
series of meetings or to take a weekend
conference.
Pray for Bob Rose as he's seeking God's
will about the future.
I'd like to mention our team working in
the AV department.
Donald who's single praying about his future and
Bob McLeod has come in on a longer
term commitment.
I might mention that sometimes in Britain we
have some difficulties in getting longer term visas
and that's another prayer request.
Please pray for Donald and Gail McLeod, their
family come across from Canada.
Again I need a whole tape just to
talk about the AV department.
A department easily misunderstood because a lot of
the work is indirect, it's catalyst, it's information,
it's coordination, it's letting our different teams around
the world know about new videos, new films.
Of course there's a lot of other ramifications
like the duplication of video cassettes, the making
of teaching tapes.
We don't feel we're ready to go into
production in a big way but there are
film strips.
It's something also that Peter Conlon has been
very involved in who helped produce the Lagos
film strip.
So that department is still really just being
born because of the cut back in connection
with finance because we're very slow to add
personnel.
That's linked with the housing.
It's also linked with the huge task that
the team leader faces in keeping all this
together and helping to meet everybody's needs and
how we thank God for that department.
And they're of course still over in the
same building with STL making use of one
of their computers and that's helping that work
to go forward in a very, very real
way.
One of the greatest needs in the whole
of the Bromley operation including STL and ICT
is for a proper maintenance department.
We have a dear brother as a volunteer
John Wilkins helping us a few days a
week.
He's mobilizing some of his friends.
We did have one full-time brother last
year.
We've had years when we had a little
team in maintenance.
A lot of our buildings are old and
most cases we are responsible for the maintenance
of the building especially if we've had it
at a low rent or rent free.
I tell you this is a point where
we really would appreciate your prayers and also
if you know anyone can get involved with
us in that kind of ministry.
Another major hub of our whole operation in
Bromley is the garage where Sam Marshall and
his faithful brothers carry such an enormous load.
They technically are on STL.
We have had some ICT mechanics from time
to time but in fact they serve both
teams.
Again few people can grasp what it is
to keep such a large scale army of
people mobilized.
Sometimes people have asked why do we have
so many families.
I don't believe of course considering the task
that we have that many families but the
way we sometimes think within a land.
One of the reasons for this has been
very clearly our desire to esteem the frontline
operations where often families are not able to
function because of schooling problems, other problems, visa
problems and where they are constantly crying for
committed and dedicated single men and women.
We of course cannot sacrifice all of our
single men and women and they are vital
to the office operation and the behind the
scenes operations and these other related ministries that
we've talked about.
Though we have some hardships in placing families
I don't think those hardships are as great
as often trying to place families in some
of these other countries.
There are people who want to get involved
in world evangelism like the McLeods who have
recently come with us who I interviewed in
Canada a couple of years ago and who
had to correspond and had to go through
all the various sort of interviews and red
tape before they can get involved because they're
a family.
OM is conservative as we take families, getting
to know them, finding God's place and I
think that is basically good.
But I praise the Lord that we've been
able to find vital ministries that families can
get involved in because that in turn helps
us recruit other needed personnel and often releases
sometimes people who are able to travel with
less difficulty further afield where the need is
so great.
One of our greatest burdens as we work
together as a team is to constantly esteem
these other fields.
The international coordination of the work is not
done exclusively by this team.
I'm sure you understand that.
I tried to make it clear in the
beginning.
It's done by various sectors of OM, CAO
and the European operation in Brussels, the ship
coordination base over in Mossbach, Carlisle where Peter
Maiden has his operation.
But one of our responsibilities is to provide
communication, regular continual communication between all coordinating bases.
We believe this decentralized approach is effective but
it will only be effective if this team
at the hub and the center of communication
and coordination functions properly.
We now have a communications committee under Dave
Hicks that usually meet in Bromley.
It seems clear that this must be an
increased part of our ministry in Bromley.
This leads me to wanting to just share
the fact that Jerry and Gene Davey after
their sabbatical year will become a part of
this team.
Already he is working part-time in his
new task as fellowship secretary.
Again, this is the kind of task that
some people don't easily understand.
Feel free to write Peter Maiden for Jerry's
job description.
Ideally, of course, for the work Jerry and
Gene should be based in Carlisle because they're
working directly with Peter Maiden, everything connected with
agendas, the notes at major meetings, getting this
into the policy manual.
This involves research.
By the way, our team initially had a
whole research department, especially under Ray Mayhew.
But through financial cutback and other pressures, this
now is just being done unofficially, I guess
by all of us.
We have some of the greatest files of
information, some of the greatest cross-section of
books linked with research that you'd find anywhere
almost in the OM world.
But because of the family situation, Jerry's family
very much involved in schooling in the Bromley
area, it's clear that Jerry and Gene should
remain in Bromley and will, after their semi
-sabbatical, really become part of this team.
We'll also be involved in consultancy work in
connection with literature ministries around the world as
he had so many years of experience, 18
actually or more, on the STL side in
terms of literature.
So uphold them.
That will be quite a step, transition from
the STL side, which they've already done into
their sabbatical, but then entering into the life
of ICT.
We desire to continue to go forward as
a committed fellowship and a committed community of
soldiers and workers for Jesus Christ.
As we think of even organization, the bottom
line is love.
It's relationships.
It's our heart linking together.
This will have tremendous advantages, but of course,
sometimes in terms of structure and measuring structure,
it will not be easily understood, especially by
people on the outside.
We need people who will stand with us
in this ministry.
We need people who will go back over
this tape and pray about one or two
families that they will particularly stand with in
prayer and in the ministry of practical support
or encouragement.
We would long to, and I know all
of our people on our team, correspond with
others who would like to get involved with
us.
Don't be afraid to ask questions.
We always appreciate questions rather than accusations because
sometimes our team has handled a fair share
of criticism, especially because to carry out an
operation like this, especially when we're living basically
in rented accommodation.
Remember for 20 or 30 years, we have
chosen to put our money into literature, into
national workers, into vehicles, into ships, into getting
the job done.
We have not given much esteem to our
bases.
When we have, it's usually been the national
bases where the recruits are, where the prayer
letters actually go out from, where people at
least to some degree can measure and see
what's happening.
At times, those of us on ICT have
really felt that people didn't understand and were
quick to jump on us if they thought
we were spending too much money.
We have to spend money on airfare.
How can we possibly coordinate a work in
35 nations that has a ministry through literature
and teams and the ships into 100 nations
involving 1,600 people and all their children
throughout the year, another 2,000, even with
all the various modules?
That, by the way, cuts down on expense
in many ways, but it increases expenses in
other ways.
There's no way that anything like this can
be done without seeing a significant amount of
finance.
Of course, we sense as a team, it
is our responsibility to trust and believe God
for the money to keep this going.
Now, the rest of the OM body has
agreed through the leaders to give 1%
of their income to help us with our
expenses.
If we had something very clear that we're
spending on behalf of India, like buying a
spare part for their vehicle, that can be
billed to India.
That is done.
Turn over at this point to continue on
the next side of this particular tape, the
remainder of this message.
Thank you.
There are
many expenses that are indirect.
Of course, the whole thing of travel, telexes,
correspondence, which is huge.
We have so many ministries that are linked
with correspondence.
This has put our team really with our
backs against the wall in terms of finance.
We would ask you to stand with us
and to unite with us in prayer for
a breakthrough in regard to the personnel, both
short and long term, that we need for
breakthroughs in all of our various ministries.
We'd be happy to supply more information about
that and for breakthroughs in the area of
finance.
The greater thing of all is that we
may know the control of the Holy Spirit
in all that we do.
That we may, those of us ministering the
Word, men and women, know the anointing of
the Holy Spirit.
Also, in our evangelism, as we're involved in
evangelism locally, we're involved in evangelistic campaigns, various
parts of the world, evangelistic meetings, that we
would see people coming to know Jesus Christ
personally.
Then we'd see people trained and discipled.
One of our biggest goals in our team
is leadership training, motivating the whole OM body
to be involved in more in-depth leadership
training, helping to supply them with the literature,
the tools, the know-how, sometimes a speaker.
On I could go and just sharing about
the many goals, burdens, things that we're involved
in, in serving the rest of the body.
We feel that God has really brought us
together as a team.
There's a great unity among us at this
present time.
That doesn't mean we don't have problems.
That doesn't mean we get an army of
strong, like-minded, strong-minded people, like the
brothers and sisters I've talked about, and everything
is just rosy.
We're from different nationalities, different churches, different backgrounds.
We have different octane engines, but we thank
God for the like-mindedness and the singleness
of heart he's given us concerning the overall
task and the calling that he has given
us into the ministry.
Thank you for taking time to listen to
this, whether you're someone in OM or whether
you're someone outside, though we believe really as
a prayer partner here on the inside.
It's really through your prayers and support that
we are able to move forward.
I really look forward to getting your feedback
about this tape.
Not so many copies of this tape will
go out.
Again, there's an expense involved.
We're constantly trying to know God's mind about
each piece of literature we do, each tape,
how widely do we distribute it.
If this tape is ever to be used
widely, it will depend on whether you take
it and share it with someone else and
try to stand with us in this ministry
that's literally touching millions of people to enable
it to go forward.
Thank you very much.
Lord, we do pray right now that you
would lead and guide each one of us
concerning what you would have us do.
How should we be involved together in this
great task of world evangelism?
How can we be involved with this team
that ministers to every other team within OM
and to many other organizations and fellowships and
churches outside of OM?
Father, you know my own heart that I
am as excited about this ministry as I
have been about many other ministries that have
been born in OM.
The India work, the communist work, the Muslim
world work, the European work, the South American
work, Dulos and Lagos.
And we just pray that our bases right
around the world will be strengthened.
And Lord, we believe as this base is
strengthened, that it can help each other base
in the various countries to be strengthened.
We look to you, our Father, in Jesus'
name.
Amen.