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 The
beneficiary of our 2020 Christmas Collection was
Operation Mobilisation.
Established in 1957 by George Verwer, OM is a
dynamic, international Christian missions movement. In the OM family of
ministries, there are 5,000 workers representing over 113 nations in
more than 110 countries and in world port communities, through their
ship, Logos Hope.
They are a global community of Jesus followers
united to share the love of Jesus with those that don't know it.
History
Operation Mobilisation traces its roots to
the prayers of an American housewife. In the 1950s, Dorothea Clapp began
to pray faithfully for the students in her local high school. She asked
God to touch the world through the lives of the young people. And God
answered her prayers.
Mrs Clapp's son gave the Gospel of John to one
of the students, who later gave his life to the Lord at a Billy Graham
meeting. That young man was George Verwer, the founder and former
International Director of Operation Mobilisation.
At college, George and two friends met
regularly to pray. They became burdened by the spiritual needs of
Mexico. In 1957 the three friends sold some of their possessions to
raise money and gave up their summer holiday to distribute Gospels and
other Christian literature in Mexico. The friends returned to Mexico the
following summer and the next.
When they graduated in 1960, George and his
friends traveled to Europe. They began work in Spain, sharing the Gospel
and distributing literature. But the task of reaching the whole of
Europe seemed overwhelming. George and his small team realised that
God's plan was to mobilise His Church to reach the nations. As they
began to share their vision, hundreds of Christians responded. So
Operation Mobilisation was born. By 1963, 2,000 Christians had joined
summer outreach teams in Europe. At the same time, teams moved into the
Indian sub-continent and the Muslim world. Their commitment was to reach
those who had never heard the Gospel.
Such simple beginnings have shaped OM since.
Today over 3,300 workers in OM's family of ministries, representing over
100 nationalities, are bringing God's unchanging truth to literally
millions every year.
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Wight
Churches
The
Evangelism and Renewal Advocates (Revs Andrew and Sally Willett)
employed by
The Reformed
Presbyterian Church of Uganda (see
Brian
Harley, our Minister, visited the Reformed Presbyterian Church in Kalasa, (a village about an hour's drive north
of Kampala) in October 1997, April 2002 and
November 2006 during
trips from the UK to encourage the various new congregations
of what was a new and growing church in Uganda. The building in the pictures
below was roofed with the help of gifts from Shanklin and was subsequently
named 'The Shanklin Block'.
