Through the years that Sue and I have been together, we have had several times that really stick in our memories – times like going to the Urbana Missions conference together, driving across country with our family from NY to Yellowstone Park and back, the wedding of our daughter Melinda. We have now added another such memory in our trip to Germany to attend the OM GO! conference. The GO! Conference is OM's major training and orientation program for new members as they head out to their various fields and assignments. It's a time of transition, from the comfortable environment of our own home and culture, to another place, often foreign and uncomfortable, but guided by the Lord's hand on our lives. The conference deals with understanding who we are, both as individuals and cultures, and where we are going. It's a time to asses why we are following the Lord into His work around the world, as well as thinking about some of the specifics of what we will be doing.
For us, this was a time to meet people from around the world, and make new friends – a time to break out of our cultural boxes, and even sometimes to laugh at ourselves. It was a time to really get serious about our commitment to God and what He has called us to do, and to think seriously about the price we are willing to pay to see His Gospel carried to every people and tongue.
There were somewhere around 120 participants at the conference (not including staff), from around 20 different sending nations, headed out to 15 or 20 different fields and projects. Of course, some of them were headed to the two ship ministries of OM – the Logos Hope and the Doulos.
We have many stories from the conference, but a couple of the things that really impacted us were the many people we met there, and the day of prayer.
How do you spend all day praying?
Well, that was probably the question on the minds of a lot of the people at the conference on the one day which was set aside almost totally for individual prayer. However, at the end of the day, we all wondered where the time had slipped away. The main conference room was set up with a dozen or so different “stations”, each with a particular focus in prayer. One spot focused on the fears we faced going into ministry. Another focused on freedom from different sins that may have been hounding us. Another focused on praise and worship, and had recordings of the Psalms. Another focused on forgiveness and releasing others who have wronged us. In another area, there were stations covering different unreached nations, or issues like the continued slave trade and the exploitation of children and women, or different world religions. The day was spent in quiet prayer and reflection, with people moving from one area to another at their own pace, stopping to learn about all of the different needs, and then praying. Part of the day was also spent in more collective prayer, with one large room divided up into a dozen different fields represented at the conference. Everyone would pick one of the areas (there was room for about five or six people at each place), and then spend about five or ten minutes hearing about that particular nation or region, getting a list of specific prayer requests, and then spent another ten minutes praying together. Then we would get up and move to another area, and repeat.
What I felt during the day was a sense of beginning to get close to God's heart, not so much for big countries, or broad ideals, but for the very real people who were represented by each of these times of prayer. It's all well and good to have loud, exciting times of praise and worship as a group, but the real foundation of our Faith is built in the quiet moments we learn to spend with God.
Pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers...
One thing that really hit us was the number of people, from college age to retired couples, who were there, ready to leave behind their comfortable homes and jobs, to say goodbye to their friends and family, and to head out to every corner of the globe. Many were headed to the two OM ship ministries, the Logos Hope and the Doulos, but others were headed to countries like Ireland, Bosnia, Afghanistan, Vietnam, South Africa and India. The excitement was palpable, but it was more than just the emotions of going off to see new places and learn new cultures. They were filled with a desire to see the Good News of Jesus brought to the people of these nations, to serve them through medical missions, youth outreaches, teaching, sports programs, and any number of other activities, to build relationships with people, and to see the Gospel make an impact on their lives. Probably very few of them really knew what they were going out to face, but they were ready to follow the Lord, wherever He might take them.
